Coachwise

I sometimes get frustrated by some of the nonsense that goes by the name of coaching. So this month’s blog is about what coaching really is.

https://coachwise.co/what-coaching-is/

Here in the UK, it is nearly two weeks since the general election and the best of new government’s plans, in my mind, are where they are applying common sense. By that I mean doing things how someone with lots of experience in the relevant sphere would naturally do it — the way a skilled plumber would tackle a leaky pipe, for instance, or how a skilled mechanic would fix a problem with a car’s electrics.

Our new government has put someone who knows the ins and outs of prison reform in charge of the prisons and they’ve appointed a highly respected lawyer as attorney general to keep them straight on legal matters. They seem to be valuing know-how over posturing.

I was thinking about this over breakfast and came to the conclusion that this is similar to what good coaching does. The coach doesn’t provide any special advice — it is the coaching that's the expert in their own life — but we can help them apply their expertise and, though thinking things through and putting their insights into practice, become more expert still. We don’t help them apply any particular theory. We help them apply common sense.

Earlier this week, I drove my Dad to the Eye Centre in Clydebank so that he could have one of the 18,000 cataract replacement operations they carry out each year.

Many big themes ran through my head that day — the importance of health, of family, the great work a slick team can carry out, the power of advancements in many fields, … — and the next day I connected all this with coaching. The better we understand how things work in the world, the better we are able to understand our coachees’ situations and dilemmas, and the more able we are to serve them well.

One thing I love about coaching is when I check in to see if a coachee has followed through on their commitments to themself and I find out that they’ve done really well.

This sometimes gives me a feeling of pride that I know is ridiculous, for it’s them that has followed through and not me. Sometimes I also have an urge to tell someone how well they have done and how proud I am. I can’t of course. Confidentiality has to be complete.

So I’m left with a smile upon my face that I only I can understand.