I place my green tea gingerly next to my iPhone. Next, I angle the artificial flower, which reminds me of my fellow coaches. Then I do the most important step – I take 10 deep breaths. The kind of breaths that connect me to my inner-self and centre me to the present.

The breaths remind me that I am here to support another human being in their journey, and I am only a vessel to help them find their own answers.

Soon the phone rings and I start my coaching session. Through my coaching session, I constantly check back into my breathing. I watch the body language and tone of my client and reflect back what I see and feel. Sometimes my mind wonders, but I gently bring it back to the present. After the session, I take deep breaths and make notes of the coaching session: essentially how I was feeling and being during the session.

After a few of these reflections, I begin to realise that I coach the way I was coached. It’s a process of absorbing and giving back what you gained. This makes coaching a highly experiential and rewarding experience – and one in which I am constantly receiving and giving back.

Why Everyone Should Coach And Be Coached

1. We don’t really reflect constantly. Or maybe some of us do, but it may be a struggle for most to make it a constant habit. A coach will gently remind us that reflection is a key skill for improvement.

2. You need to receive before you can give. It is important to receive and feel the warmth of good coaching before you can give it back. This will keep you inspired and motivated to continue coaching.

3. It is a check-in for the issues you face at work or in professional development. There is real power in knowing that there is someone who is walking alongside you on your journey. The coach will not have the answers, but will help you unravel the answers that lie within you.

4. Everyone can coach and should. It is the single most powerful way for you to ground yourself and focus your attention on another person completely. It requires you to know that your very presence will make a difference to someone.

5. Coaching others is not about having a sense of satisfaction, but about knowing there is so much more to learn about yourself. You will always feel that you could have coached better or asked a better question. It’s this feeling which will keep you in a place of enquiry for your own development and growth.

There is no big secret about the process of coaching. At its most basic level, it is about breathing, asking questions and holding the intent. Something we all can do, right?

 Visit Anuradha’s page to find out more about his work.

_{This post was first published on Anu Shroff blog and has been reposted on Executive Lifestyle with the permission of the author.
Edited by Nedda Chaplin
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