Coaching is a brilliant job. I love it and I love the human interaction. But there is so much more to it.
Helping people to develop, to grow, to overcome difficulties and conquer challenges makes my life a series of real, relevant and human challenges that need to be won. The buzz from helping somebody get their first job, a new job or a promotion or helping someone get selected as a parliamentary candidate or elected as an MP is huge. The raw, excited and unedited phone call or text saying “I won!”, “I got the job” or “I can’t believe it – I am an MP!!” are little trophies and cherished memories in my life.
But sometimes you change lives as a coach in different ways. Giving people confidence – seeing an aura of quiet calm replace a person’s nerves or insecurities is the brilliant part of helping people with pure technical communication skills. Although the two are often interlinked.
A few days ago I received an email that moved me and showed how fortunate I am in what I do. This client, a GP!, came to me for communications training – and their confidence grew and they became much better and more competent and more confident – they visibly blossomed. I thought no more about it – “Job done” sort of thing.
We exchanged emails last week and I asked how they were – this was part of their response:
“Much more like my old self, and I have you to thank. When we came to see you, after the video, you told me to see a doctor about my breathing, cut a long boring story short I did … They found a small area of lung damage … (now) All healed, no cough or breathlessness now… I had no idea I felt so poorly.”
You could easily argue that changing people’s confidence or their career prospects is as important as helping someone go to the doctor and get treatment for something they shrugged off. I am not too fussed to be honest – being that little bit of change in somebody’s life is special. Full stop.
HappyBott.