There comes a time in everyone’s life when you have to take stock if you are the best you can be and by doing the best you can do. Paul Bridle reports
Are YOU Worth I 26 issue 2 • Coaching?
I think it worth starting by defining what coaching is. People talk about mentoring and coaching in an interchangeable manner but in reality they are different. It may be easier to understand it if we saw the two as opposite ends of a line rather than two separate entities. Mentoring is about sharing knowledge that the mentor has with the person being mentored. The dictionary describes it as “a wise and trusted counsellor or teacher” and goes on to use words like “sponsor, supporter, advisor”. In other words, it is someone with knowledge that the person being mentored does not have.
coaching.
At the other end of the line we have Coaching is used a lot in sports
where the coach prepares the team to be able to play their sport or be the athlete they want to be. Again the dictionary describes it as “a private tutor that prepares someone….”. Here we see the emphasis on preparing someone rather than teaching them. Picture Joe: Starting in a new company where he doesn’t know all the rules, procedures, policies or protocols. He doesn’t know anyone and is learning his job in this company. A mentor is able to answer Joe’s questions and give factual knowledge. Now consider Gloria: She has been in the company for a number of years, knows everybody, knows all the rules and the way things are done around the place, she knows what is important and what isn’t.
In this
situation a mentor is not really useful to Gloria. In fact Gloria herself may be a good mentor to new people. However, what Gloria may need
careersuccess
for her own career progress is a coach. You see, one of the main skills of a coach is their ability to ask good questions that make you think differently. In this example, the coach may be challenging the person as to why (s) he still does things the way (s)he always has! The coach will ask the questions that force the person to consider if there is a better way of doing things. So the coach does not give answers - but rather asks the questions that helps the person discover what is possible.
Especially these days when the whole world is changing constantly and business is having to re-invent itself all the time. Coaching requires a level of confidence in yourself and willingness to change. All athletes have a coach and will tell you that it is critical to their success. Most successful people in life have coaches and that includes CEO’s of major companies. So this month I am asking you to be honest with yourself. My questions are in two stages:
Now you can understand the heading of this article:
Are you worth coaching?
Most people find it easy to see value from being mentored. After all, a mentor will answer direct questions and give us information we need. Being coached is different.
The idea that we are subjecting ourselves being challenged and being asked
questions,
may make us feel uncomfortable. Many people are not happy about being challenged, much less challenged in areas where they have significant experience. Yet, often that is what we need the most!
Firstly: do you even deserve a coach? If you are not the person that is open to be challenged and raise your game or willing to embrace change, then you don’t deserve a coach. It will be a waste of your time and money. All you will do is fight back and resist the challenges.
In fact, it will probably make
you entrench yourself deeper in your ideas and soon you will start to blame the coach.
Secondly, if so, are you prepared to take the step and actively find the right person to coach you? The right person is important and it takes work to find the right person, and then work with the coach to ensure they can be the best they can be for you. You don’t want to find someone that is too
shy or does not have the ability to challenge you. If you are worthy of being coached, you will take the time to find the right person and. I hope these questions have given you something to think about! Have a great month and be the best you can
be.
More information from Paul Bridle, Information Contex- tualiser, Bridle International
on
www.paulbridle.com
Personal Development
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