As a certified and practicing Executive Coach coaching experienced professionals, directors and business owners and leaders, I think it’s important to practice what I preach.
I am so committed to be the best coach I can be and that requires continual reflection on my practice and continual professional development. And that includes coaching!
I recently worked with a coach to navigate a challenging decision that I was presented with. I was totally stuck. The decision was something which I hadn’t anticipated and was presented as an opportunity. In this scenario, this opportunity was a shiny bells and whistles opportunity, a “too good to be true” kind of opportunity. But it wasn’t a no-brainer type of opportunity. There were compromises to be made, changes in courses of action required, energy and effort expended on other areas which would have been forsaken. And the biggest block of all, I thought I SHOULD accept it, even though it wasn’t a 100% hell yes of a decision.
SHOULD is my least favourite word. How many times do we operate from a place of thinking we should do something even when it’s not totally what we want, or may not even feel right in terms of alignment with our business or personal values? Can any of you resonate with this?!
Of course I also spoke to my loved ones who are my biggest cheerleaders, and I theirs. But with big and complex decisions, there is no one better than a coach to help guide you to the right out come.
Why?
When I seek counsel from my friends and loved ones, they are invested in me. They are invested in our relationship and they are also invested in themselves and what they take from our relationship. Not in a parasitic way. This is completely normal! Of course we take something for ourselves where we see value. And of course this works the other way round, I am as invested in my friends and loved ones and my relationship with them and what I get from our relationship.
In situations where complex decisions have to be taken, it’s possible that those friends and loved ones will also be impacted by the decisions I take. Directly or indirectly and to varying degrees. So when I seek counsel from friends and loved ones, whilst I know they want the best for me (as I do them), I also know that their advice and guidance is unlikely to be impartial. Because they care about the outcome to some degree. This isn’t typically a conscious process. It just is. Beyond this, they are not me in my specific situation with my specific wants and needs so any advice and guidance they offer, will be filtered through their own lens based on what is important to them, and which may not be relevant for me.
So, this is why I will always look to a coach (and I don’t always use the same coach, it depends on the context!) when faced with difficult decisions or challenging life events. I know that my coach cares just as much about getting the right outcome for me as I do (because that’s part of our guiding principles being a coach, that we want to be of best service to our clients). I also know that my coach will help me to spot the things that I can’t see, help me to understand what is driving the “should” and help me to step through the myriad of different and likely consequences depending on what course of action I take. My coach will be cheering for me as much as my loved ones but my coach won’t tell me what to do, that’s my job. My coach will create the space where I can think all the messy, anxiety-provoking thoughts, the “what ifs” and the “buts” and I know I’ll get to the best outcome for me this way.
Would you like to find out more about working with me?
Get in touch to find out more or to book a FREE Discovery call: