My coaching journey from facilitator to coach

From facilitator to coach

I have been a self-employed consultant and trainer for several years. My area of speciality being governance and leadership. The initial skills I brought to my role as a trainer/facilitator were knowledge of the law, finance-matters and experience of organisations and sectors. As I worked with and saw other facilitators (who were also working as coaches) in action, I really appreciated, perhaps more than before, their focus on people and behaviours rather than mainly on processes and procedures. The consultative approach to decision-making, and the importance given to respecting other viewpoints, believing that everyone (well most people!) are better motivated and can be held accountable, when they make their own decisions and understand that they have a role in delivering the vision of their organisations. This led me to start wanting to adapt my facilitation style to more of a 2-way exchange where we learn from each other rather than me feeling the burden of having to know all the answers; what freedom! Of course, I wanted to know and do more to fully appreciate that freedom; the journey started, and to some extent led me to coaching as the answer.

What coaching has taught me

Being a coach is both humbling and rewarding. I am less quick to make judgements (or more self-aware when I do!) because I have seen how important it is to really listen to other perspectives and be less directive in my dealings with others, both on a personal and professional level.

I continue to be struck by how much I learn and develop myself while coaching others. My clients' perspectives provide a space for me to explore other views and experiences that sometimes are quite different from mine.

I have been fortunate enough to work with clients who have felt empowered to make some significant decisions in their lives including change jobs, explore different career paths, and even work on changing certain dynamics in personal and professional relationships.

Training to be a coach can be life changing, you learn more about yourself, are more supportive of others and thus can make better decisions yourself. As we feel more empowered, we appreciate the values of accountability and responsibility. Even if you decide that being a full-time coach is not for you, the skills and experience acquired during coaching training are so useful in professional development across the board: better listening, self-awareness, other awareness and respect are just some that come to mind.

How I coach today

I currently offer one to one coaching services, mainly executive level and business coaching, and have recently expanded my offering to facilitating group coaching sessions also. Group coaching seems to be welcome when delivering governance programmes, allowing participants to learn from, and support each other; in this way I am fortunate to be able to apply a more recent skill to what used to be my core career.

Generally, clients welcome the opportunity to really be listened to, and although sometimes they initially ask for advice from me, in the long run they appreciate the "power" of making their own decisions. A recent client admitted that my challenging her during a coaching session forced her to look at other options relating to a matter she was uncomfortable with at work. She had that difficult conversation at work and reports that space has now been created for her to communicate more easily with the colleague she had been having problems with.

Where I'm headed next

I would like to continue to offer leadership development programmes that incorporate group coaching sessions and optional one to one coaching to participants on the programme. An identified niche area is supporting women at a critical family/career stage in their lives. As a black woman I feel I can bring my personal experiences to others walking a similar path.

I recommend you go for it too! Start by attending The Coaching Academy's Introduction to free How to become a successful Life Coach live webinar and signing up for a Coaching Diploma, where you can start practising your new coaching skills from day one. Keep learning and getting feedback as you develop your niche. The Coaching Academy ‘Coaching Conversations’ and other resources are excellent to tune into at all levels of your career!

As someone committed to encouraging leaders to adopt coach style conversations with their staff, I can see that effective leadership would encourage coaching style conversations. Coaching really helps to empower staff, while also holding them accountable for decisions they have made, at the same time providing support as they learn and grow as leaders.

I hope to be able to use group coaching more, to help make the governance of organisations and their key staff more effective. In addition, I hope that businesses will see the benefits of supporting these staff with one-to-one coaching opportunities.

Thank you Jacqueline for sharing your coaching journey with us and the impact you are having on those you coach.