As another week comes to a close I thought I’d share something I learnt today in my coaching session with my coach Ross.
I always spend quite a lot of time to plan for my sessions with Ross as I want to make the most of the 90 minutes I have with him each month. This time spent on my personal and professional development has been such an important part of my life for the past 12 years.
I am usually very clear on exactly what I need to work through however today I wasn’t sure. I have so many balls in the air at the moment and have been in a state of action since I got back from OS that I didn’t take the time to stop and really think.
Luckily for me Ross is an expert at what he does and somehow always knows how to ensure I get exactly what I need, even if I don’t know what that is.
I spent a lot of the first part of the session talking. Updating Ross on everything that has happened in the last month and everything I am working on as well how I am feeling, what I am scared about, what feels wrong, what feels right and what I am trying to figure out amongst the chaos that was my head (and desk, but luckily my PA Bee was sorting that out during my call!).
As he does he listened, and listened some more and kept listening! He was not just listening to the words I was saying but everything in between. As a professional he knows how to do that well. When I finally finished he asked me one very powerful question ‘what am I doing to leverage my strengths?’. It stopped me. It made me think. Really think. It was the perfect question for where I was at. It is exactly what I needed to be asked at that time. Exactly what I needed to know.
The session continued on with us delving into this in detail and it was fascinating. I learnt so much about myself in that remaining 30 minutes.
So you probably think this is another plug from me about the importance of personal development and having a coach or mentor. Well yes, of course you know how much Ross has changed my life and my views on life long learning and self discovery.
But today I want you to think about yourself as a ‘Ross’ for our clients. You are all experts and professionals at what you do (some of you in training but still on the path). Your clients get so much value from you being able to listen to them and hear what they are not saying and then asking the question that really matters.
It is only when we are truly present, truly curious, truly engaged and truly want to help that we can be of true value to the people we serve.
Together let’s endeavour to have the ‘Ross’ effect on our clients and those in our community.
