Time take a step back and mark the successes of people who took part in the Coaching Challenge, a series that we ran this time last year. (how time flies when you are having fun). So this week’s posts are all about how Ceci, Gianluca and Mark have used what they learned in the coaching challenge to good effect….in the hope that these stories might inspire you to really swing into action and change your own leadership style, as it will pay dividends.
So first, let’s hear from Ceci:
At some point in my life leading a team, I became aware that I needed to change the way I was leading the team if I wanted to get better results from them, have more time for myself and increase the team’s wellbeing. I am very goal driven and very intentional about where I want to go and I tended to drag others along, instead of getting them onboard. However, in my awareness, I was lacking the how to achieve this. Luckily, I came across the Coaching Challenge and decided to embark on it. My first thought was, of course, how am I going to make time to do this… but my internal voice reminded me that, to get where I wanted, I needed to invest time to develop myself.
And that is how I became a participant of the coaching challenge. Every week, I would put into practice the challenge that was offered. Though I had a specific “partner” to practice the challenges and get feedback on my coaching skills, I wanted to work harder at them, so I picked a couple of people from diverse teams… I started practicing these skills with the team I supervised, I would test the waters as well with my mentees, and I even tried it with my peers.
Coaching skills is not a direct expectation of my role. However, when thinking about my career ahead, I understand that a big component of being able to move ahead is to understand others, their motivations and helping them define their paths and choose their opportunities. I started learning about coaching a bit skeptical, but as I practiced it more frequently, I began seeing the impact coaching was having in me and others working with me. It required investing time in practicing the skills, going back to the lessons from the coaching challenge and putting time and sometimes even effort.
Today, I see the investment paying off. I am now able to accept a new opportunity for my career because coaching helped me understand where I want to go, I learned to trust my team more profoundly and feel at ease that with me and without me, they will continue to be a high performance team.
