One of the gifts of coaching work is being present for, and helping facilitate, turning points in people's lives.
I have coached leaders stepping into new roles; executives rebuilding confidence after a setback; nonprofit leaders clarifying their message, strengthening key relationships and landing significant major gifts for their organizations. I have watched people move from feeling overwhelmed to feeling grounded, strategic, and hopeful.
The Appreciative Inquiry approach in coaching teaches us to start with what's working — to ask better questions, surface the positive core, and build forward from there. That's exactly what coaching does at its best. It honors the client's wisdom. The coach is not the hero — the client is. A coach is a thought partner, a mirror, an accountability partner. Sometimes simply a steady presence while the leader moves through uncertainty.
The other part of this work that fills me up is mentoring developing coaches at College of Executive Coaching, founded by Dr. Jeffrey E. Auerbach. Watching a newer coach shift from trying hard to do coaching correctly — into truly being present with a client — is one of the most meaningful things I get to witness.
Those moments remind me why this work matters.
This is part two of a three-part series on coaching, coach mentoring, and what keeps me coming back to this work after more than 20 years.