Hi!
Some of you are signed up for the 30 Day Habit Setting course so you've heard a bit more from us but some of you haven't and might be wondering what we are all about. I thought it was a great time to share a little bit more about coaching and me, Angharad.
So who am I? I go by the title of Portfolio Careerist as I have a lot of interests. I am a coach, a change management consultant and I run a small creative business called Vanilla Monkey Creations. I left the Royal Air Force in August 2016, after 17 years as an Officer. In that time, I did a lot of leading, managing, facilitating, instructing and coaching. I was lucky enough to be able to do a Masters in Occupational Psychology whilst in the RAF which gave me a renewed interest in how to help people be happy and successful at work. When I left the RAF, I realised that my interest was really more about how to help people be happy, contented, excited, inspired.... How can you describe it? Then I started my Post Graduate Certificate in Personal and Business Coaching and a phrase struck me. 'Help you be your best you'. Yes, that was it.
One of the things I love about coaching is that it approaches each client recognising that they are whole, healthy individuals. This isn't counselling; you are not broken. We are all flawed human beings, works in progress. I love that phrase. It taps into my respect for self-development which is a really important value for me. The most important part of being a coach is to establish a good coach-client relationship. And part of that is to have positive unconditional regard for the client. At first, I was sceptical about that. How can you have positive unconditional regard for everyone? Then I realised, every single client that would come to see me is interested in self-development. As I respect and admire that, that’s my in to positive unconditional regard.
So, who am I as a coach? I’m warm and respectful. I listen lots. That’s where the magic begins. When you’re talking to someone who is really listening, allowing you space to think (and time to grow!), this is where your best thinking happens. Do you ever have an issue that’s tying you up in knots, but as soon as you chat to a friend about it, you’re able to see a way through something that was insurmountable before? Well that’s coaching. Why would you need a coach then, if a friend could do that? It depends on your friends I guess! The temptation for us all, when we listen to friends, is to to try to help them solve their problems. We give them advice, we tell them what we would do (or what we think someone should do - not necessarily the same thing as what we would do!), we talk them out of courses of action that we disagree with. A coach does not do any of that. You may ask for advice, or occasionally, I may ask if I can share something that someone else in a similar situation has found helpful, but the role of the coach is to guide you through your own thinking on the issue. I will identify, from what you say, where you may have some self-limiting beliefs that are holding you back. Or I might invite you to reflect on how your current situation is mirroring something else you’ve told me about. Or I might ask you a question to establish if the reality of the situation is really as you see it. But I won’t tell you what to do. I’m not an expert on you and I’m not your mentor. I’m your coach.
I sometimes get asked who is coaching for? And my answer is ‘Everyone’. Here’s some examples of people I have coached:
RAF Officer wanting to get promoted, but feeling like her style of leadership held her back.
Young women wanting to find jobs (I also do some CV review for the fantastic Young Women’s Trust who help young women aged 16-30 get out of unemployment or low paid employment).
Small business owner to improve business processes.
Parent juggling solo parenting duties and a busy career.
Parent realising that their current career did not give the work life balance desired.
Corporate client wanting a path beyond the one identified by current employer.
Spouse with relationship issues that they wanted to explore.
If you don’t fall into any of these categories you may be in this one:
Life doesn’t suck, but you think you could love it more. But you don’t know what to change to make that happen.
I particularly identify with this one as this was me for a long time. In retrospect, a coach would have been a fantastic way to work my way through that and I would hate to think of other people in the same situation, thinking that as there is nothing really wrong in their life then they do not need help. I heard a saying lately that was ‘work on yourself, for yourself’ and I thought, yes, that’s great. But it doesn’t have to be by yourself.
If any of that resonates with you, even slightly, I’d love you to get in touch and see if I could be the right coach for you. If you’re in the Lincolnshire area, why not come along to one of my workshops? The first is at 10am on Monday 18 September at the Social Care Exchange (tickets here) and the second is at 10am on Sunday 24 September at Central Wellness (tickets via the Central Wellness website soon). Alternatively, pop into the Central Wellness Open House on 17 September (see website for further details) and come and have a chat. I’ll be there from 11-3 and you can also book some free classes in yoga, tai chi or pilates. If you’re not local, I will be doing a workshop in Manchester in October. I’ll provide details as soon as I have them. Alternatively, why not arrange for me to give you a call? I do phone or Skype coaching or we could arrange one to one coaching at a place to suit you.
That’s me then. Hopefully that gives you a bit more of an idea of who I am and what I do. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions at all.
Until next time,
Angharad
Founder
bright rebel coaching