Coaching ChroniCals

It’s been said that the best gift you can give someone, is your presence. But what is “presence” and how does one “maintain” presence? How does one practice “maintaining presence”? ICF defines the competency as being “fully conscious and present with the client, employing a style that is open, flexible, grounded and confident”. While it sounds simple on the surface, I believe there is so much more that meets the eye.  To be present in any situation and for us to be “fully conscious and present with the client” requires us to basically be: 1. mindful 2. focused and engaged in the here and now 3. in a state of calm 4. in a receptive state of mind 5. paying attention to what’s going on 6. without distractions, without wanting to be somewhere else, without being lost in thought Being present, I must admit, is quite a challenge for me, let alone maintain it! And it’s a challenge because I’m easily distracted and surrounded by distractions! However, I believe it is possible a...

Trust is a core ingredient in all successful and thriving relationships. It is the foundation that allows us to feel safe, without it, we won’t have a coaching relationship. Without it, we don’t have anything. It’s a crucial element in any relationship, I believe  it’s something  fundamental but yet so delicate. I’ve personally experienced the devastation of having trust broken and for those of us who’ve experienced anything similar, we know, it’s not something easy to mend. Trust in a coaching relationship allows the client to feel safe to open up, to be vulnerable, and to be themselves. For a coaching relationship to thrive and be successful, it is therefore crucial not just to build trust, but to maintain it. How then do we build trust? And how do we maintain it? I believe all relationships begin with some level of trust, and what we do and say during the course of our interactions will determine if the trust level will grow or decline. Building trust requires repeated posi...