Embodiment of a Coach (Pt 2)
Part 2 of an interview with an ICF Master Certified Coach, Ms Wang Zhibo and her perspective on "cultivation" of a coach.
Q: I can sense your energy from early sharing. Where do you think a coach's energy come from? Other's opinions of you and self-judgement may hinder your work so if you want to help other, you have to firstly "cultivate" yourself.
A: You are right that continual learning is the key. It's an endless road. Self-development does not end with a qualification or certain level you obtained, in order to be an effective coach.
Let us use an objective perspective to review your work, you are only able to support the growth of others at your corresponding level of competence and skills. If the coach does not harbor the appropriate capacity to expand the client, the client won't go much further.
Therefore, a coach needs to be fully aware of their personal state of energy, on their next stage of growth.
Q: What are the common problems you encountered in your journey as a PCC mentor?
A: The phenomenon of rigidity is often seen in coach who is entrapped in a standardised process or tool. The coach thought that they can be a good coach after learning some tools. The initial learning ought to support their practice and mastery. Once the coach enters into professional level, they must learn not to be bound by the habit of those process skill.
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A sense of presence and listening skills are essential to tailor every conversation for your client.
The second problem is that the coaching conversation remains superficial rather than allowing the awareness goes deeper for the client and coach. The 2 reasons for this could be 1) the eagerness for a solution. Premature celebration of a problem solved prevents the possibility of a deeper exploration of the issue;
2) the reluctance to go deeper to confront the innermost issue which leads to a quick retreat when that innermost issue was briefly touched on.
The third problem I see is the hurry of the coach to express their ability by shooting question after question before the client is able to fully express their thoughts. Coach has to remember that they are providing a service to their client and not to "demonstrate their core competencies". Take your time to build your skills.
Coaching is like slow kung fu, it takes time to experience, digest and build the skills.
In Erickson's coach training curriculum, the mentoring time is designed to last six months to one year, so that the coach-in-learning can systematically practice and experience at a relatively reasonable pace in order to have a solid grasp of what they have learned.
Interested to learn the essential skills of a qualified coach? You may want to consider coach-specific training by?Erickson Coaching International?and?Abundanz Consulting Pte Ltd.
Online Workshop Commencement date: 4 Nov 2022, 2pm to 5.15pm (Singapore time). Click on this link to find out more about?The Art and Science of Coaching