Coach Development

Put Your Oxygen Mask on First Having just returned to work after the luxury of about six weeks off, I have been reminding myself, that in fact it was not a ‘luxury’ to take six weeks off, it was something I wanted to do and is and was part of my overall plan of looking after myself – what I call self-care. I want to remind us that, in order to do our best work, we need to build and create resilience and reserves in our life and that includes self-care. In today’s world, especially post-COVID, there are many people ...

In a previous article called Science and Art of Coaching, I shared a model by Michael Grinder that inspired the name of our ICF accredited coaching education programme. In his model, Michael shares how, as we develop, we initially focus on the “science” or technique of what we are learning. In this phase, we are seeking to become knowledgeable, confident, and proficient at knowing “what” to do and “how”. As we become increasingly competent with our foundational understanding of our craft, we then transition towards becoming more artistic in our work. At this stage, “when” and even “if” to do ...

The question: “What do I do with clients who talk a lot?” is quite common in both Mentor Coaching and Coaching Supervision conversations. In this blog, I will take a look at various aspects of this question and how we can most effectively engage with a verbose client. First be Curious and seek to Understand The first thing to do, is not a ‘do’ at all, it’s a ‘be’! It could be very easy to assume why the client is talking so much and we know the danger of assumptions in coaching! It is therefore really important that we remain ...

Here are a couple of big questions: Do you have a ‘live’ Coaching Practice and are you practising coaching regularly? If you are not practising your coaching regularly, how are you keeping fit for purpose? If you are practising regularly, are you getting feedback on your coaching to ensure you haven’t slipped into any poor habits. Either way it’s so important that we use our skills. The adage ‘use it or lose it’ really applies. Why is it important as a coach to ensure we have a ‘live’ coaching practice if we want to be called a professional coach? As ...

What is the Grey Space? There has always been a boundary that coaches navigate between coaching and counselling or therapy, or indeed other professional services such as consultancy or mentoring. Knowing how to effectively manage that boundary is important for ensuring that a client is in fact receiving the most suitable, appropriate, and helpful professional service given their wants, needs and circumstances etc. However, whilst this boundary has always existed, there is a noticeable trend of coaches increasingly experiencing conversations with clients around topics such as burn out, stress,  and anxiety. In some cases, the need to refer a coaching ...

Often one of the things that people say coaching is about, is that its  providing ‘feedback’ to our clients. How I like to characterise that is that feedback is like holding a mirror up to our client, in support of them, to see what perhaps we and others see in them that they may not see themselves… Sometimes, and perhaps many times, we don’t always see our strengths and attributes that make us who we are. By holding up that mirror and offering feedback through an acknowledgement, we are in my belief, acknowledging the person and celebrating who they are ...

The term ‘Reflective Practice” is being increasingly used in the context of coaching and is explicitly referenced in ICF Core Competency 2: Embodies a Coaching Mindset: “Develops an ongoing reflective practice to enhance one’s coaching”. Learning to reflect in order to improve one’s own practice is perceived as important across a range of professions, from teaching to counselling, and from management to clinical work. Knowing the self and managing the self are key skills for every coach. This self-awareness enables us to be in best service of our clients. In this article we consider what reflective practice is, why it ...

Just recently I noticed, in different conversations, people talking about the need to be creative and how difficult it was to find the time and space to be creative. The conversations were around various topics such as creating new products, creating a website, business development etc. I became curious to explore what it takes to find the time and space to be creative. I also wondered how that might link to how we coach our clients. Do we allow them the space and time to be creative? In this blog I am going to look at : What do we ...

“In life, we can’t always control the first arrow. However, the second arrow is our reaction to the first. The second arrow is optional” The Buddha This Buddhist parable explains that life sometimes presents us with situations, events, and circumstances that create pain for us. They are some of life’s inevitable arrows that come our way… misfortune, accidents, loss, separation, illness, bereavement, etc. However anytime this happens, there is also a second arrow that comes along with the first one – and that one is even more painful! The second arrow is our reaction to the first one. Whilst we ...