Challenge Blog

Does it seem like every networking event you go to there are these magic people who call themselves coaches?  Do you often wonder how someone else can have all the answers to things that worry you!? 

How can other people know how to help YOU? 

Does working with a coach really work?

How can it work……..?

Imagine you have won the Open at St Andrews.  How did you get there when from being just a good golfer? 

Yes - you had a coach.  A coach who knew what your strengths and weaknesses were, a coach who knew the game of golf [maybe who knew the best players!]  You worked together, you set goals together.  Coach gave you feedback, and showed you the difference between a good shot and an excellent one.

You won the Open, your coach didn’t and at the next tournament he’ll still be your coach constantly helping your strive for perfection. 

This is the same for tennis players and other sports people so what’s the difference between these games and the game of life?

A coach [some people would call this person a mentor] knows people, understands potential, believes in YOU.  They understand that you have the answers somewhere even if you can’t find them right now.

They ask the right questions.

They see what your face is saying but your mouth is not.

They pull threads together and present back to you possible links in the threads. 

Being coached can help you with an immediate issue or an old chestnut.  Have you always had a problem with relationships, a new challenge, that type of manager/client/member of staff and you’d really like to resolve it now? 

Did you know the rugby player Matt Dawson had a drama coach to help him improve his dancing when he was in the competition Strictly Come Dancing?

I would like to tell you about someone I coached who we’ll call George.  He was a young manager who had ambition but he was not progressing very well and felt he was undervalued.  He was recognised as a skilled technical member of staff but had very little credibility with his team. 

I noticed he had a young face and manner, in fact childish mannerisms.  We built trust and confidence and worked on different aspects that he was frustrated with and needed to change including his gravitas and maturity as well as his communication and management style. 

Yes this story has a remarkable and happy ending.  George became accepted and respected by his team [not an easy journey but rewarding one].  As part of the journey, he revealed and accepted help with learning difficulties that no one knew about and following that he became more confident. 

He could measure the value of changes; in just one meeting his new adult behaviour saved the company £10,000.  That was just one of many changes he recorded.  He went from being on a performance improvement plan to being a highly respected manager.  He felt more confident and significantly raised his level of performance.

George used the coaching skills he experienced to coach his own team.  Exercises I did with him he used with them.  They supported each other learning and growing!

Your challenges may be different to George’s, but you may have an area in your life where you want to improve your performance, and know more about this growing process which will support your improvements and give you tools to use with others at home or at work!

Article written by Coach and Mentor

Lynne Ewer Carrington

Director

Challenge Manager