Being surrounded by like-minded people who inspire us is essential for our growth and development. At PSG we are very grateful for our diverse coaching community that consists of professional and talented coaches. Quality coaching lies at the heart of this coaching community. Every month we invite one coach from our community to become our Featured Coach for that month, so they can share their story, wisdom and great insights.
We are very happy to introduce you to our February Coach of the Month – Lorraine Shine. Lorraine answered our 3 questions about her lessons learnt, fulfillment gained and her predictions on the skills that clients will want to develop in the first half of 2017.
Here is our Coach of the Month – February 2017 – Coaching Q & A
PSG: Since qualifying, what are the top 3 lessons you have learnt that support your growth as a coach:
Lorraine
1) Since qualifying in 2009 I have worked with clients from many different walks of life and a broad range of age groups. One of the things that has struck me most is that even though the topics that come up within coaching may have similarities from one client to another, what amazes me is the different ways in which clients interpret and deal with these events within their lives. I think that this comes down to the individual’s frame of reference and interpretation of events/ circumstances on both an intellectual and an emotional level. To me as a coach this underlines the uniqueness of each client and the importance of digging down beneath the surface.
2) Trust in the coaching tools: In my earlier years of coaching I sometimes lacked confidence in introducing the simpler coaching tools to senior level clients as I worried that they would deem them to be too “basic”. I have come to realise however that the simple coaching tools can be of great benefit to senior executives as it can help to take them out of a highly analytical mindset, simplify things down and even have some fun in the process!
3) Trust in the coaching process: The coaching process is tried and tested and every stage is there for a reason. Once or twice I had the experience where a client was in a rush to get working on their goal and would have preferred to skip straight to the goal setting/ implementation stage at the first session. I have learnt that by explaining the coaching process to clients and the importance of doing the ground work before getting to goal setting stage, that the client becomes more engaged and is happy to spend valuable time on areas such as identification of values, assessing the here and now, motivators etc.
PSG: To – date, as a coach, what has brought you the most fulfillment?
Lorraine
I think that the most fulfilling aspect of coaching for me is meeting clients who are unsure of themselves and their abilities in the first coaching session and seeing them grow in confidence as the sessions progress. In particular when clients realise that they do in fact have their own unique solutions and the sense of self worth that develops as they come up with these valuable solutions, put them into practice in their everyday lives and experience the positive results.
PSG: What do you foresee as the key skills our clients will want to focus on for development and growth for the New Year
Lorraine
I would foresee that resilience and adaptability will be key skills that our clients will want to focus on for the first half of 2017. For many clients who work within the business world, particularly those working for US multinationals or companies that trade products or services internationally, these individuals may already be experiencing changes within their organisations and teams, changes in organisational strategy and product/ service focus. I feel that changes within the political and social environment will have some impact on all of us. Clients will need to be resilient, mentally tough and adaptable to these changes and may very well engage with a coach on an individual or organisational level to support them through turbulent times.
