The thinker is “creative, resourceful and whole” (Whitworth et al, 1998) and the coach’s job is to strengthen their thinking muscles, not do the thinking for them.
The coach’s responsibility is for the process, the thinker’s responsibility is for the outcomes.
You may not believe in your capacity to think when you enter into a coaching relationship. You may have self-doubts. That’s normal.
Your coach, however, will believe in you wholeheartedly. We have an expression that you are creative, resourceful and whole. You can figure things out for yourself. You can get creative and innovative, when you put your mind to it. You can access all sorts of resources, both from within you and outside of you, to make changes to your life. You are a whole human being, warts and all, with strengths and stretches. You are unique and you are you.
I encourage you to enter into the coaching room believing in yourself too, that you are creative, resourceful and whole. That you can figure things out for yourself. That you can get creative and innovative, when you put your mind to it. That you can access all sorts of resources, both from within you and outside of you, to make changes to your life. That you are a whole human being, warts and all, with strengths and stretches. That you are unique and you are you.
Belief
That may feel difficult, and your coach will definitely support you towards believing in yourself in this way, first by having that total belief in you just the way you are and also in your capacity to grow and change if you so choose. They believe in you wholeheartedly. Allow yourself to believe in you too.
That doesn’t mean that you will show up as arrogant, if that is your fear. Believing in yourself simply allows you to think for yourself, get creative, draw on your personal resources and achieve more than you could without that belief. You can be quietly confident in yourself as you start to express your needs and desires. Pay attention to yourself and your own creativity, resourcefulness and wholeness. You can do this outside of coaching, just as you can inside a coaching programme. You don’t need a coach to remind you; you can reflect and journal about those things you do each day, large or small, that show your creativity and resourcefulness. Build your belief in yourself and others will start to see that and believe in you too.
