Discovering my value in the workplace through coach training

Samantha Hall, a Workplace Wellness Coach and IECL Alumni member, reflects on her recent Level One coach training experience. She shares how she regained a profound sense of confidence in what she does. Read on to find out what she discovered was her value in her workplace.

Have you ever walked into a completely unfamiliar situation and experienced that weird gut feeling that for all of the places you could be on earth, in that moment, you were exactly where you needed to be?

Have you ever learnt a new skill, or challenged an old belief, and experienced that ‘Aha’ moment where everything just falls into place?

Well, that was the experience for me when I entered the room and began IECL’s Level One three-day workshop journey recently. And what a ride it has been ever since!

As a practicing physiotherapist and senior OHS business partner, I have always struggled to articulate what it is that I do to help people to adopt healthier and safer practices at work. My role has always been to gently ‘push people’s buttons’ (such an awful phrase!) and to challenge the status quo, so that operational staff, senior leaders and contracting personnel see things differently, and work in ways that are healthier, safer, and more productive than before (at least, that has always been my intent!).

Over the years, I have helped others to achieve great things. However, I have continued to doubt my own skills, simply because I couldn’t put into words how it is that I help others to be better at the work that they do. That was until, I embarked on my IECL journey. From the co-coaching circles, to listening to John, Jane Porter, and to all of the amazing people in our course, to reading and practicing all of the fun exercises in our book (why, why, why is still a firm favourite!), I discovered a framework and a way of thinking that actually structured what it is that I do with people. I discovered a sense of confidence in my ability to gently apply tension with others, and, for the first time, I felt comfortable with the fact that I usually have no idea what it is that people do in their profession, and that having no idea was not a poor reflection of my own lack of knowledge – rather it was a blessing and made me a more effective coach (I can’t provide suggestions to people!).

Through this journey, and from my recent (amazing!) co-coaching sessions, I have regained a profound sense of confidence in what I do, and have discovered that my value in the workplace is not necessarily the technical knowledge that I can offer – rather it is my ability to get people to open up, and to reflect candidly on whatever issue is on their mind at the time. I can and do assist others to be healthier, safer and more productive at work, not because I am preaching the latest OHS advice, but simply because I can help others to re-centre, refocus and connect back with their own motivations that they have at work.

My IECL journey has opened my eyes and has assisted me in reframing how it is that I add value to organisations, and to individuals. The experience has allowed me to see that my crisis in confidence was not a bad thing where I didn’t know what I was doing – rather it was the expiry of old ways of thinking to make way for the new, and has led me to carve out an entirely new niche career.

SAMANTHA HALL IS A WORKPLACE WELLNESS COACH WITH DEGREES IN PHYSIOTHERAPY, OHS AND ERGONOMICS AND MORE THAN 10 YEARS EXPERIENCE GAINED ACROSS INDUSTRIES INCLUDING MINING, AVIATION, CONSTRUCTION, DEFENCE AND HEALTH.