I know a lot of organisational coaches and most of them seem to really love their jobs. In fact, they seem to be having fun a lot of the time. How is that so? Why is it that coaches love their jobs?
When coaching first became popular in Australian organisations in the late 1990s much of the coaching we were called upon to do was remedial – “fix” this person, coach that one “out of” the organisation. That was not so much fun.
Over the last decade the true nature of coaching – a collaborative relationship that uses an adult learning framework to help the coachee to identify and remove whatever is interfering with their full potential – has become clearer. Executives with their own coach began to feel valued, rather than targeted. And coaching began to prove itself, by getting real results, with real people.
So why does a coach love to coach?
- They inspire people (and people confide in them – a good coach acts as a sounding board).
- They enable people to realise their full potential, professionally and personally.
- They don’t have to know all the answers (they do have to know the questions).
- They work with smart, high performing people – leaders (or the leaders of the next generation).
- They spend their days helping others to discover what they were born to do on this earth.
How good is that?