From Experience to Self-Awareness: My Journey into Coaching
With over 20+ years of experience in sales and marketing, having lived across multiple cities and countries and gained exposure to 30+ countries, I have always believed that experience gradually transforms us into advisors, mentors, and eventually coaches, with coaching vs mentoring being a natural progression.
But my journey into coaching has challenged that belief.
About two years ago, I began exploring what the next chapter of my professional life could look like. An Executive MBA was one option I seriously considered, until I discovered the world of professional coaching through the International Coaching Federation (ICF).
Around the same time, experiencing coaching through an MCS Coach as part of my leadership transformation journey helped me appreciate its depth and impact. I realised that sometimes, growth does not come from receiving advice, but from having the space to reflect, challenge assumptions, and discover answers within ourselves.
In 2026, I decided to formally embark on my coaching journey, learning how to become a life coach, with Coach To Transformation (CTT).
To be candid, I initially thought it would be relatively easy. After all, years of leading teams, solving business challenges, and mentoring people had given me considerable experience working with people.
However, I soon realised that coaching vs mentoring is not a gradual step: coaching is fundamentally different from advising or mentoring.
Coaching requires us to resist the urge to provide answers, listen without judgement, ask meaningful questions, and allow others to discover their own perspectives.
Perhaps the biggest learning so far is that becoming a coach begins with working on yourself.
Much like emotional intelligence coaching, it requires self-awareness, emotional regulation, and the ability to recognise our own assumptions, biases, and triggers. It means learning to pause rather than react, listen to understand rather than respond, and remain curious even when we believe we already know the answer.
Experience is undoubtedly valuable, but it does not automatically make us effective coaches. The real challenge lies in knowing when to draw upon our experience and when to consciously set it aside.
I am still at the beginning of this journey through life coach programs, with much to learn and unlearn.
What started as an effort to add a new dimension to my professional journey is gradually becoming a deeper process of personal transformation.
I am learning that coaching is not merely about acquiring a new skill; it is about developing a different way of being with people.
And perhaps, that is where the real journey begins.
Regards. Rohit Mehta
