Stay with us on this one: you’re a figurative soccer team. You’ve got 11 players on your field at any given time, not to mention who’s supporting you on the sidelines: a coach orchestrating the plays, assistant coaches communicating future strategy, players waiting to sub-in or staying warm on the bench with the hopes of being called up—maybe even a wellness squad if you cramp up or take a tumble. This “soccer team” is with you throughout your career, and although there are no penalty boxes, balls or equipment in the game of work, there are professional coaches to help you sharpen your skills and get the W on the new figurative field—your workplace!
The Ins and Outs of Coaching
Workplace coaching is a forward-looking form of professional development that helps you grow into the best versions of yourself. It’s a partnership. Coaches work collaboratively with you to identify and achieve career goals through a supportive but challenging process that unlocks new ways of thinking, behaving and being.
The Not-so-Secret Plays
A unique aspect of coach/client relationships is that they’re co-created. Your coach seeks to understand your career goals and works with you to draw out a solution—whether that be skill development, conflict resolution or succession planning. They create a space for growth and hold you responsible and accountable for your own goals—keeping your eye on the ball. Just like your metaphorical soccer team’s coach, a professional coach is someone who believes in your ability to succeed and transform and works to help you get there.
Redirection and Momentum
At its core, coaching is about shifting perspectives. Through a series of sessions, coaches aim to unlock your potential by challenging you to think in different ways, supporting you to develop new skills and encouraging you to engage with colleagues and external stakeholders in meaningful ways. Coaches help you create awareness as you work through different approaches to situations and discuss multiple perspectives.
A Season’s Schedule
Your first session focuses on setting your plays: designing the ways you want to interact together. Your coach will ask you questions to understand your motivations, goals and areas you want to focus on.
Next, you might set a series of small goals (or one Olympic-sized goal) with your coach, and they may even suggest resources for you to review. Each session focuses on your progress and situations that come up along the way.
Remember, sessions are guided by the coach, but driven by you, so you’re always the captain of your own professional development. In an International Coaching Federation (ICF) study, 99 per cent of clients reported satisfaction with their coaching experience—the fact that you’re leading the direction of the sessions could be why.
The frequency of sessions could be at regular intervals (once a month, for example), but every coach/client relationship is different. Some start their work together every two weeks to finetune a skill and then shift to monthly to continue on a growth path.
Game Day Stats
On top of contributing to skill development and self-awareness, working with a coach can lead to a career boost too. The aforementioned ICF study showed that the majority of people who receive coaching demonstrate improved work performance, advances in time and business management and an increase in team effectiveness and growth opportunities let alone increased confidence, enhanced communication skills, improved well-being and supportive work-life blend. Win, win, win!
On average, the return on coaching is five to seven times the original investment, the retention for high-level leaders improves by 32 per cent when they receive coaching and organizations even see 51 per cent less turnover.
With those stats, why wait to work with a coach? It’s always worth your time to have people cheering you on from your bench. Partnering with a professional coach can set you on a path to greater personal and professional fulfillment…maybe even a gold medal one day! Contact our sales team today and make those goals a reality.
Link copied to clipboard