So far… (My coaching experiences)

“…and this is what I look forward to from our session….”

“……”, “……………………”; “…………………………………..”; “…….”;

“…………”, “…………”; “………..”, “………………”; “………..”, “……………”;

“…yes, this is what I would work upon to reach there….”

Just a part of the many dialogues I continue to experience while navigating my journey as a Coach in-the-making…

The process (of Coaching), intense in itself, at times demands looking beyond the obvious.?What appears a simplistic narrative may conjugate manifold feelings, yet unexpressed.?To the rescue is the art of paraphrasing and thought-provoking questions which facilitates unearthing latent thoughts, feelings and at times ‘wants’ pointing towards the ‘trigger’ for this expectation to reach somewhere, achieve something, overcome it and at times just let it all out for haziness to transform to clarity.

‘Much ado about something’…the thoughtful interpretation of client’s expressions and curating questions that enable client to ‘think by self’ and yet curtail the urge to solutioning is a sheer experience to sustain through the coaching session(s).

Herein, I am reminded of a quote, by George R. R. Martin-

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.”

Reflecting on my learning process, I draw parallel to the quote above, but with a tinge of mindfulness.?While you ‘read’ a book and travel all along as the author takes you, walking the journey with the client is an opportunity to live through the experience by yourselves and yet be fully conversant with the fact of not getting engrossed to the extent that ‘you start living the client’s experiences in your life’ and eventually seek coaching for the question ‘as if it is your very own’.

If something what it entails is your sheer presence as a coach, your commitment to facilitate the client navigate through their realms, your questions invoking client to introspect and come abound as an individual who identifies the cause, builds on possibilities, defines the actions and acts to achieve, to overcome, to reach or to fulfill what they set-out for at the beginning of this journey.

While each engagement would impress upon ‘The Coach’ to deep dive and steer through the client to reach closest to the agreed outcome, it also adds-up to one’s realization that ‘vulnerability’ if managed rightly in a trust-based setting (also guided by ethical code) creates opportunities for client to experience wonderful happenings.

?--Mahesh Phadke