The Surprising & Powerful Difference Coaching Made in My (Work) Life

Happy Monday everyone! Are you ready for another (work) week? Ready to rock it and live your best (work) life? Or are you dreading the day and the week ahead? For you it’s a mix of both and now you feel weird? Don’t! I don’t believe these are exclusive. But it’s been taking me a while to admit this to myself. And part of what got me there was coaching.

Coaching really works well for me. And honestly I don’t think anyone was more surprised about that, than me. I would not likely have chosen coaching for myself. Little known fact about me – I am very outgoing, people would actually call me extrovert. And innovations thinking is a huge part of my brain preferences. Yet I really, really do not like change in my life. At all.

Especially that kind of change or “new things” that involves talking to strangers. Yes, I really am an extrovert. With people I know. And once I get over that “hurdle” there is almost no limit to my openness. But yes, there is that hurdle of becoming acquainted first. Nothing I am choosing actively too often. Or at least I did not, before I got into coaching.

One day I received an email from an HR team within our company, inviting me to a coaching program I had been selected for. I scratched my head wondering why. And immediately got slightly upset about it. Because you know, having to overcome the hurdle and all. I also really did not feel like I “needed” coaching. So I reached out to my boss and checked with him what was going on.

He explained to me, that the company wanted to test a new coaching approach. They would be using a company, that was providing a virtual coaching platform connecting very experienced coaches with clients. Himself and our HR Director chose me to participate in the test. They felt I would be good in providing honest feedback about the platform and the approach.

Good for him to challenge me in such a way. Testing something new was right up my sleeve and kicked me right over the “acquaintance hurdle”. I am not sure he knew that or did it on purpose, though. But it worked. So I started by downloading the app and selecting my coach. I had the choice between three coaches, who I think were randomly selected by the platform.

The coaches introduced themselves with short bio and the bio of my coach spoke to me immediately. I actually don’t even recall, what exactly she had written anymore, which honestly is a good sign.

There was some pre-work, such as some multiple choice tests, before we started. And boy I did not expect what would happen next. Right there in the first session, I realized the value this coaching would have for me. And it has ever since. Even though our company discontinued the coaching as part of our employee development. I was able to start working with my coach in her private practice and it’s definitely worth the investment. Investment in myself.

In case you are interested in coaching, you unfortunately can’t join said coaching platform. They are concentrating their business model on corporate programs. However I really highly recommend the coach I am working with. You can visit her website or check out her LinkedIn profile here.

And there is likely many more coaches out there on LinkedIn and I bet if you asked colleagues and friends, they might have a recommendation, too. I would also check with your employer, if they would be investing into professional coaching. You don’t think so? Well if you read my last post, you know I do not recommend to assume. I’d suggest to ask, instead.

But why should you? What is the powerful difference coaching has made for my (work) life? A couple of things, that I am happy to share. But to be very clear, it was me who had to put in the work. A coach is not going to change your life. They are helping you, to change your life yourself. And that makes it so much more sustainable. And fun.

I am just clarifying this, as I had colleagues that also got to experience the coaching as an offer from our employer and were disappointed. Because their coaches were not really doing much for them. And I felt like there was this misperception, that coaches are there to steer you in the direction of being successful.

However the truth is, they are supporting you and challenging you to lift your full potential. To accomplish your goals. With the key being “your”. You need to be open and transparent and willing to put in the (mental) work.

I have always loved expressing myself through writing. Ever since I can remember, I had this dream of writing a book. As child, teenager and through my entire adult life books have played a big part. As a kid books offered an escape from a partly dire reality. I loved reading. And I loved communicating. I was what they called a precocious kid. Because I had an opinion and I loved sharing it.

I did not become a writer right away and it’s still not my “main” profession. But definitely one of my main passions. I used that passion to connect with my team, especially in a remote working environment. I made sure that I sent thoughtful and detailed feedbacks to my team. And when I shared guidance or more broad feedback, I would try to write in an easy to understand style with lot’s of examples. So much so, that some of my team members told me I should be writing, because they loved reading what I wrote.

So I halfheartedly started a “blog” in our company intranet and more and more colleagues liked reading what I wrote. But that was about it. I liked it, yes, but that would not lead anywhere, now would it? I had all these great ideas – in my head. But that’s where most of them ended. Until I shared my passion with my coach. And she challenged me to get started instead of saying “some day”. And by asking the right questions and “provoking” different thought processes, she helped me to not only structure my thoughts, but to also start acting them out.

Yes, writing a book is a big deal. But you don’t have to start with a blank page and by writing an entire book. How could you break this big deal into achievable pieces instead? Well I could continue writing the blog and maybe leave the safe environment of the company intranet and put myself and my thoughts and ideas out into the public. Bam. I said it. And once it was out there, it did not feel so crazy or unrealistic anymore. It felt doable and so I did it. I immediately, with the help of my husband, secured my favorite website link and got started with launching my blog.

As a coach, Tiff would never tell me what to do. She would ask me, what I thought I could do. Knowing the solution was in my head already, she just had to help me get it out in the open and then be my “accountability buddy” to make sure I followed up and through. She would say “when should I be checking in, if you wrote your first blog article?”. And I would make a commitment. But it was not at all a commitment to my coach. It was purely a commitment to myself. She was just the voice of my own accountability.

Based on my interests and what she got to know would be relevant or interesting for me, she recommended podcasts, articles, books etc. After she got to know me first and learned how I saw myself as a leader, she recommended the best non-fiction book I ever read. Kim Scott’s “Radical Candor. Be a kickass boss without losing your humanity”. This book finally provided me with the language to express the leadership style that came so naturally to me.

“Providing language” is another big part of coaching for me. Often times I have thoughts in my head, but it’s not easy to express them. To find the right words and in doing so structure them, prioritize and then decide on the actions as an outcome. Coaching is a huge help in structuring unstructured thoughts. Helping me to find the expression for my thoughts, that feels most aligned. Simply by asking questions, repeating back what I said or summarizing it in their own words.

Coaching is not therapy. Nor should it. Even though my state of mind, my mental and physical health always play a bit of a role. As both are impacting my openness and ability to put in the work. In rough times I need to clarify, that my mind is preoccupied and take it from there. And that alone has definitely helped keep me sane through 2020 with the pandemic and all.

And even strive. I actually had the best year in my career so far. Go figure. And it almost feels like I should apologize for that. Typical woman move…no, I am not sorry for having been successful. Another thing I learned to remind myself of thanks to coaching.

But for me, coaching means the powerful difference between “I would like to do” and “I will do”. This blog would likely not exist without coaching. It was launched by me and because of my creativity and love for writing but thanks to the accountability provided by my coach.

I have learned a lot about myself during the 2+ years of coaching. Having put in the work to get to know me, my reactions, my triggers and drivers and my “why” better, has helped me be in control. I was able to take a completely different approach at work, than I would have before. Just because I openly analyzed my previous approach and got curious about the potential outcome if I would change it.

This has happened on several occasions. I even wrote a blog post about one of these “changes”. In my series about “how losing my client attitude changed my outsourcing game”. This was one of the experiments I started, thanks to coaching, I analyzed my previous more “client like” behavior and then decided to do switch things up. Successfully, I might add. You can find the first post of this series here.

My coach is there to provide a support system (provoke thoughts, provide material, that will do the same, challenge and mirror my thoughts) so my mind can think all the things and I am able to execute them. To make sure I have accountability and follow through with what I deemed to be the right things to do, to achieve my goal(s).

So this is my experience with coaching. I highly recommend it, if you get the opportunity. And while I am sharing my experience, this is not about me. It’s about provoking a thought process and maybe helping someone that is on the fence with coaching to make a decision.

Be curious, put in the (mental) work and if you can think it – you can likely do it! Depending on your fantasy, really.

Have a wonderful, crazy and successful week!

Nannette