My Tryst with Coaching

International Coaching Federation ICF Mumbai Charter Chapter Coacharya

My mentor recommended Coaching. I was unsure - is it consulting, it is psychotherapy, is it mentoring, is it counselling?

I approached Coaching in order to help myself. That was my why. I knew neither my what or my how. It was almost like a calling with no rhyme or reason.

I started my classes and I told my Coaches - I find this esoteric, it's random. They smiled knowingly. As time went on, slowly the cobwebs began to lift, the beauty of Coaching began to unveil itself albeit really really slowly.

Then I was told to build my "muscle" around Coaching and so I began to Coach, with each session I got stronger, more confident and less stressed about needing to "solve"

Active Listening revealed itself one fine day in its truest glory and what a joy that was!

And then as I did the time and built my Coach muscle, it was time now for a whole new learning curve - the exam.

One of my Coaches told me - the answers are all within you, all you need is yourself.

I tried staying with it and yet I found myself lashing about asking everyone how did you study, what notes did you refer to, how were the questions and so on.

One of my other Coaches appeared one day and said - stay true to the client and all will be well.

Coaching Mindset began to make sense - the fog had been lifted.

I took a deep breath and looked at all that I had - the whatsapp communities, the coaching institute material, links shared by various well intentioned individuals and decided to coach myself with the objective of clearing the exam and becoming an International Certified Coach.

Just like the hallowed 8 PCC Markers, here are my 8 tips and tricks that helped me realise my dream of becoming an ICF certified Coach. #gratitude #blessed

1. Reading and re-reading the Code of Ethics, its' FAQs, the interactive statements and connecting it with actually coaching experiences.

2. Reading and re-reading the Core Competencies and the PCC Markers and once again coupling it with real examples

3. Above two reads with Youtube videos from ICF mentors is a fantastic explanation ground.

4. The 8 questions given as examples on the ICF website - coupled with their explanations with reasoning (the right PCC Marker it aligns with ). 8 Questions - 8 PCC Markers. Lots of videos on Youtube dissecting the same on the grounds of best and worst choice.

5. How does one spot the worst? Best is easy, right. Here, I realised that it is all about the context and the answers do lie within the "case" itself. The verbiage matters, the nuance is essential and most importantly - is this client focussed, helps reveal most answers pretty superbly.

6. Mock Tests help - I did a few just to develop the muscle around ability to sit for 3 hours while being very mindful of every word being read and processed. The world wide web has a lot of tests available. The real exam is a tad more difficult but this provides a good sneak peek into the format of the exam.

7. I unlearnt speed reading (something I have been doing for years!) and taught myself to read slowly.There is enough time in the exam to read slow, even flag the confusing ones (which there are quite a few) and revisit as it provides fresh perspective!

8. Finally, just let go and enjoy the process! A day before eat light meals and get a good nights rest. It is after all a "mind" exam wherein you don your "Coach" hat with real panache!

I enjoyed taking the exam - it was an amazing experience.

It also made me realise that we are never alone - it does take a village to raise a Coach and that's so comforting.

All the best to all future Coaches and so blessed to be a part of this beautiful community!

I pledge to continue on this path and I hope to use the power of Coaching to help unlock and transform lives to the best of my ability.

Thank you to all mentors and coaches who helped me get here - Priya Ramesh, MCC, ACTC, Leadership Coach NS (Subba) Iyer Bhavna Nagar Sandeep Chugh Sindhu G Monica Barnes - PCC - CPC #gratitude #blessed