A Gift of Time
When did you last give yourself time?
This is a question I sometimes ask clients. Time to think and reflect; time to assess and take a fresh look; time to plan, and commit to action.
Maybe the client can do this for themselves. After all, they are going to have to come up with the answers anyway, right?
But when would they do that? And even if they did set aside the time, would they really explore the issues fully, and push themselves enough?
Coaching can give the client time to do all these things; as well as the direction, focus and challenge to do them most effectively.
I think of it as protected time, when other demands and distractions cannot intrude.
It can feel like a gift.
This gift of time can be particularly powerful for people in a range of situations, including the following.
When a client is considering their next career move, coaching can help them focus on their options, consider the pros and cons, and plan how they are going to arm themselves to follow their chosen path.
A client who is in a new, more senior role can find coaching to be a useful addition to induction and training in adapting to their new responsibilities. They can be guided to identify their own perceptions of where the key challenges are and find ways to address them.
Sometimes a client has a tricky issue to deal with, that they feel stuck with. Coaching can be invaluable in helping the client to untangle the issue in a way that makes sense to them.
A client who has an important event or meeting to prepare for will often set aside time to do this. The added value of coaching here is to use that time most effectively, anticipating and exploring the possible outcomes or responses, and helping the client to rehearse for the event.
If a client, or prospective client, is ambivalent about the amount of time they need to devote to coaching, perhaps you can help them to see it as a gift of time to themselves.
(First published on the British School of Coaching website 13 May 2015)
