Why Coaching?

By |2021-11-15T14:06:47+00:00February 29th, 2020|

Shortly after I launched my new company, a friend introduced me to his cousin for networking purposes. Let’s call this gentleman, Rob. Rob is a retired, self-made, and highly successful businessman. On a call with him, Rob asked me why I left Supply Chain for coaching, and I gave my usual answer, and he said, “No! That’s not an answer. I’m going to ask you again: why are you coaching?” I stammered and apologized before saying I needed to think and hung up with a promise of a do-over call. Everyone else seemed okay with my answer, so I never challenged myself to come up with a better one.

A few days later, I discussed this with Jess, who helped me with branding, and she suggested I watch the Simon Sinek TED talk on asking why. And that’s when I realized what Rob meant. I was so sure that coaching was intuitively right for me, I had never thought to articulate why I’m doing it.

I can help people in many ways, but I chose this because coaching is about transformative change. It’s about rising above the noise to figure out something confounding and then having the faith to execute the change knowing you’ll come out on the other end still standing. I navigate change well, but that alone doesn’t make me a good coach. My life experiences coupled with my ability to challenge and empathise makes me a good coach. Beyond that, I love connecting with people as I help them discover happier versions of their lives. Change is hard, and people looking to make some form of change in their relationships, behaviour or career may need professional support in facilitating it, and improving their lives as a result of it. I help people improve the quality of their lives. That’s why I coach.