Category: Accountability

  • The Importance of  Continuous Education for Coaches, and being a coachee yourself

    The Importance of Continuous Education for Coaches, and being a coachee yourself

    As a coach, your primary goal is to guide and support others in their personal and professional growth. However, it’s essential to remember that even coaches need coaching. In this blog post, we will explore why life coaches should engage in self-coaching and continuous education to enhance their skills and provide the best possible support to their clients.

    Lifelong learning - This is  the way!
    Sunrise on Heitersberg, Switzerland. Photo:Helge Nilsson
    1. Personal Growth:
      Just like your clients, you, as a coach, are constantly evolving. Engaging in self-coaching allows you to reflect on your own goals, challenges, and areas for improvement. By working with a coach yourself, you can gain valuable insights, identify blind spots, and develop strategies to overcome obstacles. This personal growth journey not only benefits you but also enhances your ability to empathize and connect with your clients. A coach not being coached is like a dentist with very bad teeth. You have to be able to walk the talk, using army expressions.
    2. Skill Enhancement:
      Coaching is an ever-evolving field, with new techniques and approaches emerging regularly. Continuous education ensures that you stay up-to-date with the latest trends, research, and best practices in coaching. By attending workshops, webinars, and conferences, you can expand your knowledge, learn new coaching methodologies, and refine your existing skills. This ongoing learning process enables you to offer a diverse range of tools and techniques to your clients, enhancing the effectiveness of your coaching sessions.
    3. Accountability:
      Coaching is all about accountability, and as a coach, you understand its significance. By having your own coach, you create a system of accountability for yourself. Your coach can help you set goals, track your progress, and hold you responsible for taking action. This experience not only reinforces the importance of accountability in coaching but also allows you to experience the benefits firsthand, which you can then pass on to your clients.
    4. Fresh Perspectives:
      Coaching others can sometimes lead to tunnel vision, where you become so focused on your clients’ needs that you neglect your own. Engaging in self-coaching and continuous education provides you with fresh perspectives and allows you to step back and reflect on your coaching approach. By gaining new insights and exploring different perspectives, you can bring a renewed sense of creativity and innovation to your coaching practice.

    Conclusion:
    As a life coach, investing in your own self-coaching and continuous education is crucial for personal growth, skill enhancement, accountability, and gaining fresh perspectives. By engaging in these practices, you not only improve your own coaching abilities but also provide your clients with the highest level of support and guidance. Remember, even coaches need coaching! Lifelong learning, this is the way!

    If you would rather find support and accountability in a group, check out Mike’s amazing work.

  • What is the biggest risk you could take today?

    The question might lead you to think about going all in on the poker table at your casino, but that is not the focus here. It is about life risks, and rewards. It is also not about life and death risks like the ones you would encounter in a war-zone or as an officer of law-enforcement. I could write about those as well, another time!

    What we are talking about is risks like when you are learning a new language. What could happen when you start trying yourself out, speaking where you are not yet skilled? You could be misunderstood, laughed at or say something really stupid without being aware. Safe bet, keep quiet. The right bet, if you ask me, be brave and try, because the reward of being able to communicate in another language is so much higher.

    Another one, quitting your job for a new one, with lower pay but more possibilities and opportunities. Been there, done that, worth it after one year, infinitely more so a couple of years later. I once had a candidate for an open position, great fit, really motivated. Only problem was that the position available was for a 80% contract, and she had a 100% contract with the current employer. The candidate backed out seeing the risk as too high.

    Or, moving for a new role, risking to lose contact with family and friends. Yes, absolutely a risk that you would have to factor in trying to decide if it is worth it or not. Another one, asking the bank for a loan to get your side-business to grow faster than otherwise possible. This is probably the easiest one to calculate, you know what you are asking for, and if it doesn’t fly you will have to pay it back anyhow.

    So, what is the biggest risk that you are contemplating right now? What could it be worth if it works out? And if you fall, what would the worst possible outcome be?

    /Helge