To Be a Coach Is To Be a Dreamer

A coach lives in the realm of possibilities: if we didn't we couldn't coach. We are not phased by the past, present or future because to coach is to believe that each individual, no matter their circumstances, has gifts, talents and skills to share and a dream of how they might use those talents and gifts.

But sometimes, in fact too often, they are too scared to even speak them out loud in case someone tramples on them, or criticises them or judges. They doubt themselves and worry too much what the world will think or how they can make it happen. Sometimes the dream is deeply hidden under "responsiblity;" "common sense;"family, soceital or spouse expectations or just a big lump of fear.

Dreaming has also had a bad name and become a cliche that people throw out. But a dream is not just a flight of fancy it is the beginning of something. Without dreams or dreamers we would not have flight, penicillin, the Sistine Chapel or the iphone. Coaches believe in dreams, imagination, curiousity and continual learning, personal growth and development.

Before a potential client even speaks a coach knows that somewhere in that person a dream of something exists. It could be a dream of love; a dream of a better marriage; of loving themselves more; of doing work that they love; a dream of a travel; of becoming a great leader. Any dream will do: it's the coach that has the faith not only that the dream exists, but that it is worthy of bringing to life.

Whatever wall the coachee may have in place to that dream a coach can nudge them to remove it a brick at a time; to dig deep for courage and ideas. A coach can hold the belief in the coachee to fulfil their dream, temporarily, until the coachee has it in his/her grasp fully: we are like the rock from which the eagle flies.

As coaches, we know that our clients have inner resources, lived experiences, skills and knowledge that they have forgotten or did not even know they had: we trust in the innate potential of our clients. We have no magic wand, we don't fix, but we just provide a temporary platform from which clients create and live their dreams in whichever way works for them.

This is a key part of the joy for coaching for me: to help clients rid themselves of 'shoulds' and create "I really want to:" to watch their faces light up as they share their passion for something. I had a dream of empowering people for change and helping them know how amazing they are and now I live it. Now, I get to help others live their dreams - however small or big. A dream is just a beginning...

"Without leaps of imagination or dreams we lose excitment of possiblities. Dreaming after all, is a form of planning." Gloria Steinum