I have been a little quiet with my articles of late – all for good reason. I think have mentioned before that I aim to undertake a personal development programme each year to keep me up to date and also see what is happening in the market. Last year I started a new Diploma in Coaching which has proved very useful. My initial coaching training was completed nearly 15 years ago, when if I mentioned I did coaching the assumption was that I taught tennis, golf or something similar. How times have changed now there is a real growth of the term, and also the understanding of the power this approach can have to personal development.
Historically, I have had clients ban me saying that I was undertaking coaching. I have been introduced as an expert consultant, a project manager and a few other titles. Even as a potential supplier! The other end of the spectrum is where I have been proudly introduced as the person’s coach, mentor or expert – I have even had the term guru used, albeit I am not sure I fall into that category.
I have undertaken other programmes over the last 15 years, and this programme has been very useful in reminding of many things I had forgotten or not used. I was also pleased that there was not that much ‘new stuff’, which made me realize how much I had developed over the years through the other programmes attended. One of the big learning areas though was the development in the clarity of questioning – because if I ask you a question normally the person you are working with will answer it – even if their answer is silent. In fact in some situations I ask my client to answer the question to themselves and not to vocalize the answer at all – this can be very powerful.
Additionally, I have been studying NLP too over the past few years as I have noticed how useful this is as part of the coaching work I do. I had promised myself that I would complete the Master Practitioner level at some stage. I must admit when I first got involved I was a little skeptical – my reputation has been built on a strong business background and I was unsure how this could be useful in my work. Well, after the first course I did I was more open minded, after becoming a Practitioner a few years later I was much more open, and having revisited the coaching work it made me realize just how powerful a combination this would be for helping my clients. So I took the plunge. The course has not been easy with a huge amount of material to work through, a number of projects to complete, exercises to showcase, case studies to undertake and then write up, and the ‘exam’ paper to deal with. It has been a fascinating journey and I qualified at the end of last month. So whilst I have not been writing my articles I have been writing thousands of words elsewhere! For my coaching qualification and for my NLP work.
And just in case you are wondering what NLP stands for, and what I have been doing the long title is: Certified Master Practitioner in the Art and Science of Neuro Linguistic Programming. Now I think that is the longest qualification title I have ever had bestowed on me, in simple terms it helps me be a more impactful coach, trainer and consultant.
So what new learning have you been up to? And if you would like to experience some impactful coaching or development that could help you step up, do let me know. And if you say yes, but not now……..a simple question, if not now when?
My best wishes,
Peter
