I got introduced to the world of coaching with seminars in global forums but always felt like an outsider, a wild card entry in this world.
For many years the terms coaching, training, and mentoring were synonyms to me. My focus was to learn new tools and techniques to serve my clients.
I would wonder who am I, a corporate trainer, Mentor, or Coach?
If you are considering Coaching as a career option, then you are in the right spot.
I’m sharing three things that worked for me in this journey of becoming an ICF coach.
Firstly, ‘being’ a coach was more important to me than the certification. Just like parenthood, the feeling of ‘being’ a mom is far more potent than ‘discovering’ motherhood.
So, if you can commit yourself to making your coachee win, you are ‘being’ a coach. In the ICF core values, you will see the ‘space’ that gets created in the relationship and how it delivers the ‘goal’ for the sessions. The success of such sessions is a fulfilling experience for both.
So, from day one decide the kind of coach you want to be, and you can go on learning lifelong… it’s not a place to come from but rather a place to begin.
Secondly, coaching is alive, not complex, or theoretical. The best coaches give you the simplest distinctions which are actionable and relatable, without any constraints of right or wrong. The conversation is about listening to the root cause of an issue that the coachee is unable to get on his own. Just like a duet where the coach and the coachee co-create the success of a session, which when reached can be felt as an ‘aha’ moment. In case you are smiling at this point, you have had this experience before and have the makings of a great coach for sure.
Thirdly there are no set rules or laws around coaching, just a framework and freedom of practice. You’re free to play, just like in an open field to play cricket by the rules but in your style. You can play like Dhoni or Tendulkar. It’s like swimming in an ocean to discover the abundance but you need to be aware of the basic rules of swimming to navigate.
These three experiences of mine changed me from feeling like a wild card entry to being and becoming an executive career coach and getting endorsed by ICF rules and credentials. I was able to build a beautiful space through my competencies doing peer coaching and finally felt at home while coming to coach to transform.
What distinguishes Coach to transform from the rest of the world is that you are entering a limitless stadium, and you can if you’re a hungry person like me, learn, and ask questions. Rest assured; you will be patiently heard when you answer all of them with equal importance each time. I deeply acknowledge Arvind for providing the same and thank Saras for taking our ACC-level classrooms so well.
Author Name: Debeshi Chakraborty
