Reflections of a participant in Level One Organisational Coach Training – Part 2

Jane Faure-Brac is a broadcast journalist, formerly at the BBC, and now living and working in Canberra, Australia. Jane is also a recent graduate of IECL’s Coach Education, Level One Certificatin course, and being a journalist, Jane wanted to share her journey in undertaking the course. The following is part two of three blogs. We hope you find them just as insightful and enjoyable as we did.

Day Two: So, you’ve been coached!

Day Two of the IECL’s Level One Certification in coaching threw up an unexpected surprise for me. We did our first significant coaching practice on each other.

Wow, what an experience! As coach I felt an enormous responsibility. We were reminded that often in coaching people are saying things out loud for the first time.

As the coaching counterpart, I experienced a vulnerability I just did not expect to feel. I asked for coaching on a personal issue and, deeply engrossed in my issue, found I could not prevent a few tears from flowing while I was talking. Embarrassed as I was, I guess that’s an experience that a coach will very likely face from time to time, and I hope it was valuable for them, too. But what was clear to me was that this emotional encounter was being played out in a safe and supported environment and that made it okay.

Our facilitator explained to me later that if I had not had the chance to process the issue myself, then a coaching encounter was where the emotions were bound to tumble out, since this is a concentrated space for examining and processing challenges.

In line with the coaching process, I came up with some solutions and actions I promised (happily!) to follow. I had just been successfully coached and I felt a whole lot better.

In that one encounter I learnt a lot about trust and empathy, the coaching relationship and the coach’s mindset. We turned to the topic of ‘change’ and how we cope with it. I’d come to understand that humans are creatures of habit and change is a much-feared, much rejected phenomenon. Especially if we feel the change is being imposed on us. But change is something we are highly unlikely to avoid in the modern workplace.

It was fascinating learning about the process of change and I was astonished to hear that on average a person relapses six to seven times before real, lasting change is embraced and enacted. We also took a look at different coaching styles and how these can set up a dynamic with your counterpart which may have implications for the coaching relationship and its success.

We ended the day practicing ‘SNAP COACHING’; a quick fire solution scenario which was really exciting: For further details about SNAP COACHING, I suggest you enroll in the course. I found it thoroughly satisfying.

I left day two of the course feeling uplifted and re-energised having experienced a powerful and transformative process that I could apply to many situations; especially personal and professional.

Jane Faure-Brac

This is part two of a three part blog series. We hope that you enjoyed part two of Jane’s journey to becoming a Level One certified coach through IECL. To continue with Jane’s coaching journey, you can read parts one and three. Enjoy!