Bouncing Back: Reflections on a Year of Coaching

An Update

A little over a year ago I started in my first coaching role. Since then, I have become an accredited Spotlight Practitioner (a performance psychometric tool for performance development), undertaken a postgraduate certificate in coaching (accredited by the Association for Coaching ), had to take some time off work for personal reasons and completed my first surfing lesson . I also took up painting (more on that below!).

I thought this might be a good time to share some personal reflections from the last period. If there is a theme to it, it’s ~bounceback and resilience.

Pulling Back

The Olympics are on at the moment. (You might have heard.) An Olympic sport that I had a go at when I was younger is archery.

There are a lot of lessons to learn from archery. One that I have learned the hard way in recent months is that sometimes you have to pull back in order to go further.

Like I mentioned above, I took up painting recently. I was on holiday on the west coast of Cumbria, and a friend of a friend, Jamie Oldham , who is an artist and art tutor took me out for a morning on the beach. Looking over the Solway Firth to Scotland with the wind whistling and blowing spots of rain against your glasses and onto the sketch paper in front of you is a great way to be immersed in the experience. I’m not brilliant at it, but I have noticed since then that painting is great for mindfulness. It’s a good way to draw your attention off anything else that might be troubling you, and it’s restorative, creative and fun. Plus, you have something to take away from it and keep as a visual memento of where you are at that point in time.

Pushing Forward

Sometimes it’s valuable to take stock of your surroundings. In a recent 1:1 with my manager, we discussed my personal development. A very wise point that my manager made was that as I progress in my role I may identify specific areas of coaching in which I want to develop.

There is a temptation to specialise too soon. To pick up the sporting analogy again, when I was in school I took part in track and field events. Initially, I had thought I wanted to be a 100m sprinter, but I was never really fast enough. I also wasn’t fit enough (or didn’t push through with enough endurance) for the 400m, or longer-distance running.

So, I was excited to learn about the 200m sprint and I decided to go it. Not many others opted for this event, and I discovered that over that mid-short distance I was fast enough to compete. My strategy was simple: run as fast as you can, and then over the last 100m increase your speed by going up a gear every 10m. I won a silver medal.

Knowing my options (that the 200m race existed) was a good starting point in my – short-lived – athletic career. Sometimes, we need to get out of our own head and learn from others to understand what options are out there. Exciting times.

Reaching Out

It’s a point that’s been made before, but it’s so, so important to ask for help. Keep your friends close. I am so grateful to the many people who’ve supported me through some tough times, and I’m really privileged to be able to help some of them in turn. Paying it forward is one way of giving back – helping those less fortunate than ourselves can be such a blessing, not only to them but to ourselves as well.

During this year I had a career-related decision to make. Thankfully one of the benefits of undertaking my Postgraduate Certificate in Coaching is the camaraderie and support available from the rest of my cohort. Not only am I fortunate to have supportive work colleagues, but I also have been able to build a network of coaches (or fellow coaches-in-training) who are able to help. In this case, I had a call with one of my coursemates. My coach in this conversation pointed out that the question I was asking wasn’t really the question I wanted answering.

Deep stuff. A different set of perspectives might stop you getting lost in your head.

Conclusion

You might be wondering, ‘What does all of this have to do with coaching?’ In supporting professions, such as coaching, it is super important for the practitioner to function well in their role. Indeed, for the Association for Coaching, their Code of Ethics states that ‘Members will be fit and healthy enough to practice. If they are not, or are unsure if they are able to practice safely for health reasons, they will seek professional guidance or support.’

I had to take some time out this year. That was humbling, frustrating, embarrassing: one of the breakthroughs for me came when I realised that I could get through this and bounce back. Another was the realisation that I could come back stronger for having done so.

If you’re taking a summer holiday soon, enjoy it! Make the most of spending time with loved ones (or some alone/introvert time), and maybe have a go at picking up a new hobby: surfing or painting on the beach might be a good place to start.

Oh, and if you ever need someone to speak to, reach out. Just to warn you though, I might be on the beach.