Coaching - worth taking a leap?

Coaching – worth taking a leap?

Coaching can be seen as an abstract, intimidating process by some, for others an exciting space to explore concepts such as personal development, career growth, areas they are feeling stuck on or a safe space to put sense on next steps for a new project.

Coaching is a powerful tool to help people achieve goals, unlock their own potential, or just guide people through challenging times professionally or personally, coaching could be a very rewarding path to explore. Coaching at the right time has been shown to increase both work satisfaction and productivity.

What coaching is not?

• Coaching is not mentorship or therapy.
• Mentorship is receiving guidance from someone with more experience. A mentor will share their own knowledge, experience and advice. Coaching is led by the client and focuses on helping them to find their own answers to create an actionable pathway to the result they want.
• Therapy is dealing with emotional healing, possibly past trauma or mental health issues. This should always be carried out with an appropriately trained healthcare professional.

If you have been feeling stuck, unsure or overwhelmed, working with a coach can help you gain insights and support you to find the path to move forward with confidence and purpose.

Coaching offers personalised one to one guidance that helps you harness your potential, navigate challenges and achieve the goals you want be they personal or professional. Don’t worry if you are not sure what the goal is, your coach can work with you to understand what is the most important goal(s) for you right now.

Some of the benefits you might gain from working with a coach include:

Clarity and Goal setting – helping you define goals and creating a path to achievement.

Accountability – regular check ins to keep you motivated and committed

Strategic Career Planning - We all get so obsessed with upward promotion but, sometimes, career advancement isn't just about moving up — it's about moving well. A coach can help you think about and develop a strategic career plan that aligns with both your personal values and professional ambitions. This might include setting short-term objectives and long-term goals, identifying necessary skills and competencies, where you have gaps, and what you can do to acquire them.

Confidence and Mindset Shift – working through barriers and drivers of self-doubt to develop insight and resilience and fostering a growth mindset.

Objective perspective – a coach can offer unbiased feedback and use incisive questions to help you see blind spots that may be limiting your progress

Coaching can be accessed via many routes – a good first step is having a discussion with your manager on how you can access coaching.