When you hear the term “coach” you might think about a coach in sports. It is pretty close. A coach of an athlete doesn’t actually play or compete, but they bring out the best in the athletes with whom they work. They encourage, push, care, and comfort. Athletes will seek out a coach that will help them be the best they can possibly be. This is why professionals seek out a coach, to bring out their best. Here are some of the ways working with a coach can bring out the best in your personal and professional life.
Working with a Coach Helps You See Your Blindspots
We all have blind spots or places that we have trouble seeing in our lives. Maybe it is a personality that we try to gloss over. Perhaps it is a bias keeping us from seeing a bigger picture. Sometimes it is a hesitation or even fear of something we may not even realize. A coach pays attention to the details–what you say and what you leave unsaid. Working with a coach will help you identify these areas, thereby helping you to make decisions, set goals, or work through issues with clearer views.
Working with a Coach Encourages Your Best
If you have ever had an opportunity to second guess yourself or have self-doubt about your abilities, you know that this can immobilize us at critical times. Having to make a decision at a crucial point is not the time you want to doubt yourself. A coach can help you realize that your instincts are often exactly what is needed at the moment. Further, a coach can help you figure out where the doubts are coming from and deal with them head on.
Working with a Coach Helps You be More Productive
No really, it’s true. The little things in life can often keep us from being as productive as we would like. Maybe we find that we get caught up scrolling through social media and avoid more unpleasant tasks. Perhaps it is simply discovering your prime work rhythms. Are you more productive in the morning or afternoon? Do you try to multitask and get distracted so that nothing gets accomplished. Whatever it is, a coach can help you work to be your most efficient productive self. It is as important to make time for self-care and personal improvement as it is for setting goals for your professional life. This includes having a healthy work/life balance, working on key relationships; becoming healthier in body, mind, and spirit; and knowing when you let one or more of these areas take a back seat. A coach can also be an accountability partner to encourage you and help you see the progress you have made.
Working with a Coach Provides a Sounding Board
In this instance a sounding board isn’t necessarily a shoulder to cry on, but a way of processing through something verbally so you can hear what you are telling yourself. After all, you are the expert at your own life. You are the expert in your position. However, we often miss the wisdom and knowledge that lies within us. A coach provides a listening partner that helps you say and hear what you already know, or perhaps have forgotten that you know.
Working with a Coach is an Intentional Exercise
We can live life floating from one thing to another hoping we land in the right place at the right time, or we can live life with intentionality setting and meeting goals. We know what we need to be thinking about or working through. Avoiding these issues creates a bigger, messier problem. Maybe it is a staffing issue at the office that we want to handle well. Or maybe we want to accomplish something specific and set goals. Each goal has a series of steps that enables us to reach these goals seeing our progress or lack of progress. Each session will be dedicated to identify what area you want to work on, and be intentional in addressing it. Maybe you can’t think of exactly what you want to work on. Don’t worry. There are tools and resources coaches use to help you think through things in different ways and sometimes think of things for the first time.
Time spent with a coach is worth it
Of course, as with anything else, you get out of it what you put into it. If you value your time, then a coach can help you use it to its fullest. As in sports, you can find coaches from little league to major league. A coach can walk with you through stages of your life to help you be your best.
- Going to or already in college and trying to figure out what direction you want your education to go? A coach can help with this.
- Just starting out in your profession? A coach can help you define your skills, find a niche, and set goals to become proficient in your field.
- Looking at a career change or advanced education? A coach can help save time and money working through the process to decide what is right for you before major, costly decisions are made.
- Contemplating retirement? A coach can help you finish well and set the stage for success of those who follow you.
Wherever you are in your career, a coach can help you be your best. If you are thinking coaching may be right for you, we can begin with a free 30-minute introductory session.
Sonja Tobey 