Get the Most out of Coaching
Get the Most out of Coaching
Tips to maximize the weekly coaching calls and learning opportunities
How can you get the most out of your coaching experience?
Here are some tips from my experience coaching (and being coached - I have a coach, too!) that will help:
1. Have a Positive Attitude
Believe it or not, many people think they “need” coaching because they’re underperforming, they’re not good enough, or something is wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth! In my experience, the people who are attending coaching are the exact opposite - they’re out-performing, above-average and doing many things right. They join coaching to keep that momentum going, and reach even higher! As a great friend said to me once:
"Coaching isn’t for people who are broken, but for people who are growing!”
And that’s you!
2. Be There During the Calls
The simplest thing you can do to maximize the coaching experience is to be there, fully present, each week. Don’t do it while you’re driving, eating lunch, checking email or multitasking in any way. This is your time to work on you. And let’s be honest - you’re making quite an investment! So:
Find a distraction-free place to attend and shut the door
Put your phone in a drawer, briefcase, purse or trash can for the next hour
Turn your camera on and be ready to watch, listen, talk and participate
Ask questions, share and be part of the conversation
Take notes: even though there will be a transcript and recording, taking notes is a powerful way to “process” what you’re learning into your “own way of thinking” and remembering
Show up consistently. Yes, life gets busy. But that’s not an excuse - it’s the reason to show up every time.
3. Give Things a Try
If you already knew everything, you probably wouldn’t have signed up. But that still means you have to give things a try - new ways of thinking about issues, practicing a different technique or experimenting with your approach.
You already have an open mind - but now you need to open your muscles, too - giving yourself a chance to practice, exercise, and build new habits.
Pick one thing from each session and give it a try as soon as it’s reasonable to apply it to your real world.
Then write down the results and let’s talk about them on the next call, too.
4. Let the emotions, as well as intellect, happen
Coaching works on two things inside each of us:
Skill
Will
You’re going to learn lots of new information. Data, techniques, skills, tools, methods of talking or doing better leadership. Sometimes it will be very directive - a list, technique, diagram or method. Other times you’ll learn a concept and need to “make it your own.” But the intellectual part is going to be the easy part.
The hard part will be the emotional part! Motivating yourself to take a chance. Try something new even though it feels odd. Working through discomfort when asking a question or sharing an experience. Failing - probably more than once. And succeeding - lots of times!
All of these moments will produce strong emotions. Let them happen. Embrace them, explore them, and turn them into personal resources.
Don’t worry. I’ll let you know when we’re working on your skills, or your will. When the goal is information and guidance, or motivation and encouragement. But you can remind yourself of these two parts as part of your commitment to maximizing your coaching experience.
5. Trust the Process
This is vitally important to an effective coaching experience. Trusting that the process will spark growth for you - but it might take a little time. Patience helps, but there’s also a technique you can use after each call to increase your trust:
Make a list of two or three things you learned in the call that were new to you, you hadn’t heard before, or new ways of thinking
Next to each item, write down a person/situation/part of your job where that might apply. Perhaps you can use it sooner than you think.
Underline one of the items you want to learn more about - and seek the resources to go deeper. You can ask me, a fellow participant, buy a book, search online, however you like to learn.
By “debriefing” each session for 10 minutes at the end, you will validate that you are learning and improving - that the process is working. This will strengthen your trust.
Not in the coaching - in YOURSELF.
Because after all: The real coaching doesn’t happen from “me.” It happens in YOU!
See you on the next call!
