A GOOD COACH SEES IN YOU WHAT YOU CAN'T SEE IN YOURSELF

Why do I need a Coach?

I am successful, understand my strengths & weaknesses and am able to work around these. Then, why do I need a coach? Do you have this question in mind too!!!


The general perception is that one needs to look out for a coach when you hit a hurdle that you are struggling to overcome or completely lost in your journey of life and that a Coach needs to be better capable / accomplished than yourself. Also, there lies a fear complexion that people around you would start doubting your capabilities and this would impact your career growth prospects if you seek a coach.


In my experience, I have found all these perceptions to be wrong (at least in my case they are). I have always looked out for help to progress through my career transition both within & outside Air Force. As we set out to work on a big transformation program of work, I looked out for help to understand what I need to train myself on to be able to gain technical knowledge to help my organization achieve intended benefits. Result – I started my journey towards completing System / Network Administration course covering MCSE, CCNP & RHCE.


As I decided to venture into corporate world moving away from Services, I again went to my nephew who was with IBM to understand career options / certifications that I would need to pursue. Result – I completed PMP & ITIL and landed a job.


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As recently as a month back again I was looking for help to understand how I progress further with my career, validate whether I was on the right path, have right goals set out. I did find a coach. Now what is coaching? What does a coach do? And, how can he help you to help yourself?


coaching is partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential, which is particularly important in today's uncertain and complex environment – International Coaching Federation

Our personal as well as professional life revolves around managing three factors (not referring to Donald Rumsfeld) that cater for Short, Medium & Long term goals & aspirations:


Known Unknowns: : These are the skillsets, competencies strengths, weaknesses, limitations, & personality traits that we have which we know that we know and utilize in our daily life to progress personally & professionally. How can a Coach help with these?

Role of a Coach: The coach will understand your goals, competencies and strengths and enable you to come up with ways to improve your performance using what you currently have. The coaching is more targeted towards helping you achieve short term goals, by having you set SMART goals, device action items and foster commitment using active listening / powerful questioning / goal setting and motivation techniques. These techniques enable you to focus attention on the immediate issues encouraging creation of new ideas and exploration.

Sample Questions: "Can you define your Goal?" "How could you make this a ‘SMART’ Goal?" "What do you think you can STOP doing or Do LESS of? Do MORE of, or CONTINUE doing? START doing?" "What do you think you MUST do going forward?"

Known Unknowns: These are the skillsets, behaviour traits & competencies that we know we don’t have. How can a Coach help with these?

Role of a Coach: The coach will partner with you to explore the need for acquiring the skills that you need and don’t have, which are required to meet your goals and find avenues to practice those skillsets.

Sample Questions: "What do you think are the skillsets required to meet your goal?" "What do you think is the gap?" "How do you think you can acquire these? Where do you think you can put these into practice?" "What do you think you MUST do going forward? Unknown Unknowns: These are the skillsets, behaviour traits & competencies that we don’t know we have (sub-conscious) which do influence our ability to pursue and achieve intended goals. Role of a Coach: The coach will empathise & empower you to come up with ways to explore your traits, strengths, values & beliefs that are sub-conscious to maximise potential through active listening, powerful questioning, and direct communication.

Coaches of different ages & experience have played a significant part in my journey being successful so far and I would continue to seek help where needed to further my personal and professional career.




If you think you are in need of some help and are looking for a coach, I would be happy to partner with you to help yourself. Reach out to me on nivarti638@gmail.com




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