Who am I, and how do I coach?

An introduction to Ebunola Weekly

"André, I'm doing a coaching course and what they're teaching is what you do naturally - have you ever considered it?" my friend asked.

I didn't realise at the time, but this would prove to be one of the most significant questions of the year. Answering it, changed my trajectory.

Fast forward 9 months and I'm preparing the final hand-in separating me from a diploma in Executive coaching with the AoEC - The Academy of Executive Coaching , accredited by the International Coaching Federation .

The task was to create a presentation answering 2 questions; Who are you? and how do you coach?

That first question? How do you even answer that!? I tried.

Who am I?

I must have burnt through 6 different drafts, and ended up landing on just using my name - André Dennis Ebunola Bright.

In Sierra Leone, we have a naming ceremony, and, like many cultures, this is a big occasion. The name you adorn is how people will refer to you for the rest of your life, and is often believed to be a prophecy.

Though there's more to me, I learned the idea of the prophecy to be true the more I explored the meaning of mine:

• André (French for Andrew) - Man; Warrior - Though still working on balancing the feminine, I am predominantly in my masculine - future thinking, problem solving, and action taking.
• Dennis - "follower of Dionysus." In Greek mythology, Dionysus was the son of Zeus and Semele. He was also the god of festivity and wine. Constant gratitude allows me to love and celebrate life.
• Ebunola - "Gift from God/of wealth." Of Yoruba origin. I give a lot (maybe too much) of myself as service to others, especially through the allocation of my time and energy into social impact projects
• Bright - giving out or reflecting much light. As much as I'm a generator of energy, there's little I enjoy more than helping others bring out the light in themselves, which I get to do through coaching

It's as if my names and I are intrinsically linked - the chicken and the egg!

How do I coach?

I think because of where I am on my journey of cultural reclamation, Ebunola bore the greatest weight for me and through applying the various methods I learned with my clients, became the name and core principle of my coaching practice:

Like a superhero, each client has a gift. My role is to help them find and learn to wield them in order to help them through their daily and life challenges

I do this by mixing the structure of the G.R.O.W method, the 3 levels of listening of the Active method, and the scaling of the solutions approach through 6, 12 and 36 week packages with teams and/or individuals.

I have experienced first-hand the transformative impact of coaching in unlocking potential, and now, I work with businesses who need help to reduce turnover and increase performance by offering their leaders and teams executive coaching packages.?

Ebunola Weekly

This newsletter will document my journey with a new statistic, thought, tool, concept or experience as I develop as an executive coach.

Subscribe to join me on this journey, and if you're interested in working with me to help unlock the full potential of yourself or employees, message me for a call for more information on how executive coaching with me, can benefit you.

Let's embark on a journey of personal and professional growth together.