Is this the time for coaching?

Have you been feeling that now is a good time to consider seeking some support as you make some life decisions? If you haven't ever tried coaching, or don’t really know how it helps or 'works', maybe the guidance below will help to answer some questions. 

Coming out of lockdown

Many of you may be reeling from losing your job so suddenly and often, at present, coldly on Zoom - coaching helps you to identify problems, find solutions and take steps forward to your next goal.

Many will be returning to pre-March jobs - coaching can help you keep looking ahead, monitoring the job market 'just in case' or for your next challenge or promotion. Remember we never stand still!

Some people will be recovering - from illness, from the shock of a pandemic first, then a lockdown and restrictions, value assessing civil rights and liberties perhaps, and being more lonely or alone than they may have been before.

An even larger amount of people will be re-assessing their lives and situations, their previous and current circumstances wondering or planning their future circumstances. You may even be worrying about that.

Coaching helps you to clarify the various thoughts and feelings arising for you, helps you to re-focus on what matters right now to get you stepping forward again, no matter how cautiously.

There is also the impact of being told what we can and cannot do, and responding to that as well as living and working with that; we have been ruled by fear as well as by compassion for others - socially, we have developed more consideration, compassion and friendliness - an openness - that continues, even as lockdown winds down.

With a stranger's offer of a smile and a hello, making way for each other - making it easier for those coming towards us like joggers and cyclists and those managing children and dog walkers. We have had more consideration for diversity than before - about vulnerable older people or illness; those frontline workers deserving of respect and those behind the scenes getting no recognition but carrying on. And even politicians doing difficult jobs in light of pleasing everyone and caring for the country. Businesses caring for staff and giving a bit more than normal.

Some resentments also rising from the stress of it all with bickering, online posts and aggressive labelling at times, and sometimes with work colleagues at home or in work depending on your situation, or companies making people redundant. It's helpful to remember in all of this though, that it's not always what you do but how you do it that matters.

Coaching helps you to see what is before you and various ways of interpreting it. Your perceptions of it and how you can see other perspectives too that can help you to see new opportunities, have gratitude for what you have rather than resent what you don't.

Coaching can help you to see your strengths more than before too, and to learn how to build on them.  We have all learned greater resilience in the light of fear and uncertainty, of workplace uncertainty and family life pressures different to the work-life balance that is familiar if not comfortable!

• Consider now how you will manage moving forward again, step by manageable step.

• Remember you have developed new skills like resilience and adaptability, flexibility.

You will no doubt have relied on strengths you had before and maybe on the strength of people around you that you haven't needed to before. But hopefully, you can now recognise and acknowledge this - how you've been working through difficulties, developing your management skills, adapting to new situations and balancing more than usual between home and work.  Perhaps your children have been much better at adapting to homeschooling than you thought, or have worked hard to support you supporting them or maybe you've seen sibling support. Maybe your partner stepped up when they had to because before, you did it all and now, going forward you realise you don’t have to.

How coaching can help

Having your own coach, even for a short time:

Coaching is much more valuable for life than for just work and performance improvement! There are so many more options to find when you begin coaching for any aspect of your life - lifestyle, work/life balance, business, executives, personal development, sports, promotions, change management all require coaching to do it your way, ways that work best for you because they are from you!

Having a coach means someone helping you to find the best bits of yourself, find ways to develop other parts that you may have neglected because you didn’t even know they were there before.

Having a coach on your side, on your wavelength is like having another you to talk to, to share with and to develop with - reflections of you, seeing things differently, realisations that always sat within you but there wasn’t the light shining on them that comes with adversity.

A coach will be an extension of you with added skills, experience and viewpoints they can share with you, draw things from within you and encourage you to use what you see but may not yet trust about yourself.

The GROW model of coaching sets 'Goals, Realistic aspirations, looking at Options and Opportunities and with your Willingness to undertake your personal and professional development - that as a person, a human being, you are naturally made to strive and grow, keep learning and developing skills, tendencies and talents until you become the person you are meant to be…