Still Yet Flowing

We started our coaching journey a little over 3 weeks now. These 3 weeks have been a great revelation. Coaching is less about the coachee and more about the Coach is what I think. At some level I believe it is a spiritual journey. Gaurav, less of a trainer and more of a genuine, loving human being, told us that “Coaching is the most natural form of conversation”. As usual I did not read the fine print and I learnt the hard way that natural is much more difficult after growing up!

And then one fine evening, early in this journey, Gaurav asked us “What is your coaching metaphor?”. Thinking it is a question for me (on Zoom everything appears to be directed to you one on one) I started framing an answer as I would do in my school “Coaching for me is …” ?And before I could make a fool of myself, Gaurav mentioned “Start thinking of it and write an article or make a video”. Procrastination is a Prefix to my name hence I conveniently forgot this assignment.

Gaurav has this knack of bringing you back to examining yourself. At times I find it scary. I don’t want to meet the person in the mirror! But whatever my plans he got me hooked on to thinking ‘What does coaching mean to you?”. Is coaching a money making instrument, Is it a retirement plan, Is it a spiritual journey… what is coaching for me and what does it mean to me. After thinking on it for long hours I finally had the answer. Blank! Yes I drew a blank. So I stopped thinking on it and let it fade in the background. And kid you not, a picture started forming.

Firstly, who is a coach? Does a coach reflect, be a mirror or a God who knows all the answers? To my mind coach is like water. Water is always pure. It takes form of the vessel that holds it. So if the coach is water, is the coachee the vessel holding it? Nothing throws a better reflection of oneself than still, clear water. Stillness and clarity these are the hallmarks of a good coach and in fact of any good human! As a coach if my mind is muddled (like black clouds in an otherwise clear sky) how do I be one with the coachee. If I am experiencing under currents what will I reflect? If I go with the intention that I have to make a difference will I be able to make any meaningful difference? The "I" has to melt in a coaching conversation. There is no I or We. There is just a conversation and an underlying emotion. Water is just there, it just exists. It is form less. You take it in a cup it becomes the cup, you store it behind a dam it becomes the topography of the land. And it flows!

Nature of water is to be clear, pure and keep flowing! May be that is why it is so refreshing to see water flowing and refreshing to drink pure water! May be that is what coaching is: a coachee feels refreshed to find their peace and make their own meaning! ???