Happy new year! We’re not making any predictions for 2022 – there are enough memes doing that for us. A personal favourite is:
“Before I agree to 2022, I need to see some Terms and Conditions.”
We may not know what the next 12 months has in store for us but we know there will be change. There always is. In times of great change, it can be useful to look for constants, especially if they are ones that take us to a better place.
When it comes to personal and professional growth, coaching is one such constant. Here are 3 reasons why:
- It is lockdown-proof. The word ‘hybrid’ has been used so much recently it’s destined for a firm place on the latest Bullshit Bingo card. While it is a new term for how we work, it has applied to coaching for years. This one-to-one interaction works equally well face to face or from a distance and a combination of both works even better. It means internal coaches can work with colleagues from different teams, sites and parts of the globe and those seeking an external coach can make their choice without the restrictions of geography.
- It has survived fads and trends in L&D. Every profession has its flavours of the month. Learning and development is no different. If you’ve been in this game for over 30 years as we have, you will have seen a fair few. A trend has tangible benefits and solves a particular need whereas a fad is often driven by a coolness factor and an “I want some of that too” mentality. When coaching first came on the scene, many thought it was a fad but decades later, it endures with credibility and impact. It is going nowhere.
- No sheep are dipped in the coaching process. Mass group training has great value where there is a common need. In a coaching situation, the need is rarely mass-produced and that means coach and client can work together in an individualised way, targeting priorities and taking action where it counts. In the early days, coaching was viewed as an expensive luxury, the domain of the senior executive, because it only applies to one person at a time. Years on, it has proved itself money well spent as individuals directly attribute success, advancement and impact on the bottom line, to their coaching sessions. It is selfish time to think, talk and be supported and challenged to take action.
Coaching can be defined as a relationship of rapport and trust in which the coach uses their ability to listen, to ask questions and to play back what the client has communicated in order to help the client to clarify what matters to them and to work out what to do to achieve their aspirations.
When you put it that way, there is little to lose and much to gain from a coaching relationship. Many of you reading will know this already and have years under your belt of successful coaching experiences. If that’s not you yet, consider making 2022 the year you get a coach, become a coach, or open the door to coaching in your organisation.
We don’t know yet how 2022 is going to pan out. What we do know is that, whatever this year throws our way, will be talked about, planned for and solved at coaching sessions the world over.