compass4executives

The terminology and concept of Power Tools , with respect to life and executive coaching,was first exposed to me by the ICA and after attending all the classes on the subject,I became aware that I  have been using some power tools over the past few years of my coaching!!

After some reflection on what was the Power Tool that I ,as a life coach, used more often than others, I felt that the one on Enlightenment versus Depair was the one that was used more frequently!!Among the hundreds of clients that I have had the pleasure of coaching during the past few years, a substantial percentage(more than 60)had come to the Psychiatrist(with whom I, as a coach,has been associated) for treatment of depression, in a state of despair.Most of the other clients who approached me for lifecoaching were either fully functional ,but with mood swings, or partly functional ,constrained by various  stress related issues.The common state in which all of them were, when they walked in, was usually one  of despair and gloom and a sense of helplessness.From now,I will refer to myself as the coach!I will also use the male gender for my clients though I have had the pleasure of coaching both genders and have no biases against any!!

The coach then begins his partnership with the client and initiates the journey of enrichment!!This starts with making him aware of his inner strengths and resources.Through proper questioning and listening, the client reaches his first milestone of acceptance and alignment.Mutual respect and trust are then gradually developed in the partnership between the coach and the client.The process of rationalization and prioritization begins before the client becomes enriched with the awareness of the wealth of resources that he has at his disposal  to deal with the various issues that confront him.He is now in a position to navigate and move forward in a predetermined direction.With the way things start going for him, he becomes further enriched with more knowledge and awareness of the resources within and continues to seek and discover even more,till he achieves a state of happiness and satisfaction followed by a feeling of abundance.In this stae, he not only has enough positive energy and resources for himself but is in a position to share and give to all in need–those who have been less fortunate than him!!He then starts his process of simplification through greater awareness of his inner resources and sense of peace and calm that prevails over him.He feels even more enriched and this feeling then spreads to all the people who start interacting with him,particularly those close to him, including his care givers and other family members.

The process involves awakening of the client’s inner resources, through awareness, the enrichment of his state of tinking, feeling and seeing things! In this final process of enlightenment, the client is enabled  to move forward towards his goals!

Started participation in the Train the Trainer program from June 26.This 6 week program coincides with the stay in the US with my 2 children and should be completed by the time I get ready to return to Chennai,India.

It has been a great experience and a lot of learning.The purpose of my registering for the courses was to develop a sense of confidence in leading these teleclasses by the end of the program so that I could explore this as one of the career options as I get ready to graduate later this year.Though I have been counseling and coaching in India for the past 4 years, I am looking forward to reach a much wider gloabal clientele after getting the required certification from ICA later this year.This course should provide me this opportunity to develop he required skills.

The difference between coaching and training became clearer after the class.A coach gives more of himself to the client while the trainer imparts learning and knowledge to his student!In group coaching, however ,each member of the  group participates in giving more of himself or herself in meeting the commonly agreed objectives of the group session!!The facilitator, on the other hand,just leads the discussions and gives orientation and direction to the discussions when the group moves away form the topic and to assist in staying focused on the objectives of the group discussions.The Trainer makes an effort to impart and share knowledge to clarify and present new concepts and skills to the group ,he or she addresses!!

The assignment for the first session was to share some reflections on 4 questions that were posed to the partipants of the Train the Trainer course.These are outlined below:

1. Learning has always been a part of my life every moment.The outcome that I liked to receive from the first class was

(a) to feel comfortable and develop positive energy in the class with the Teleclass leader/mentor and the students, 

(b)learn new  skills and concepts, and

(c) practice the newly acquired skills and concepts to internalize them.

In retrospect, I received all that I intended and more!

2. The way I would create a safe space is to listen more and talk less.The 80/20 principle!!

3. I take a few abdominal breaths before the class to center and allign myself!This helps me stay focused and get the best out of the session.

4. In my first training session, I will take some time to get to know the participants and their intention in coming to the class.I will also make the participants share their wins during the past week or fortnight and make sure that they ackowledge them.I will make a sincere effort to enthuse them to leave the class more enlightened than when they signed in!!

AWARENESS is the acronym that describes my coaching model.

The following are the key words that aptly describe the tools,techniques or approaches that I have used for the past few years of my coaching experience:

Awakening is the first of the step in the awareness creation exercise.Awareness creation has always been an important part of my sessions.The client’s inner strengths are awakened through his awareness.Through this awakening,he is in a position to move from his past and shift to his present, the first step towards moving forward to create his future!!

Why(Questioning)is the most effective word whcih all of us have used to learn everything we know from the time we leanrt the meaning of that word!!

Acceptance & Alignment are usually the first steps in our being in the here and now and to map our course of action for whatever we want to do.

Respect/Rationalize. Respect is one of the pillars of establishing sound and strong relationship. We always need to rationalize and think out our strategies to strengthen them and review where we stand and where we are going at regular intervals.

Enlighten. We get enlightened as we implement the above steps and are now ready to take action and move forward!

Navigate. Once we know where we want to go, we set our goals and start taking the required navigation and orientation,through goal setting, to move forward.

Enrich.As we navigate, we learn and pick up things along the way and get enriched in the process and during the journey!!

Seek(Discover).The journey allows us to seek, discover and explore and build a wealth of knowledge, experience and material resources.

Simplify. The most important step in our lives after we have experiences all that needs to be experienced!!The initiation of the process of giving and sharing all our accumulated knowledge, experience and other material resources.

It is interesting that my first blog was created on the day that I started my first course in the Train the Trainer program!!I had devloped one earlier but guess what?I was not able to retieve it since I failed to record the user name and password in an easily accebible form!!

I am gradually getting to see the use and importance of blogs and sure hope to become more enlightened on the subject of blogs as I start experiencing the benefits that I get by frequent use of them in my daily or weekly activities!!

Welcome to my first blog!!I never thought this day would ever arrive!!I look forward to sharing my postings with all my well wishers and those who share my interests and medium and long term interests and goals!!I look forward to this exciting journey!

Hope to share many of the things I learn ,with the viewers, at frequent intervals, and in the process ,hope to create a wide network of well wishers and friends all over the globe!

My stay in the US this summer is gradually coming to an end and it has been a very enriching experience.I return to Chennai,India, in early August.

The highlight of my 2 month stay in the US has been the quality time with our children and grand children and particpating in celebrating all their birthdays!!The classes at the ICA , the peer coaching that I received from 2 energetic and inspiring coaches, and the coaching that I had the priveleg of doing to some of my clients, have been the other enriching experiences.To top it all off,  the classes in the Train the Trainer program have boosted my self confidence in being able to lead a Teleclass,something I would not have even dreamt of a few months back!!

My network of well wishers and inspirers is growing every day and I am ever grateful for that.I have been able to read a few inspiring books which I have shared in the References section and I am hopeful of building it as we move along, in our interactive world, with encouraging feedback from my readers!!Please keep it coming even if it is critical since it is learning for me in whatever form it comes!!