I learned that coaching empowers the client to unlock their own potential. Rather than going to a consultant who will suggest the solution, the client himself will come up with a solution that suits him or her, following a series of a powerful question asked by the coach. The client will define his/her goal(s). The coach will partner with the client, leading the client through a structured process, where (s)he step by step discovers the reality, develops awareness on the situation and comes up with his/her own solutions. Furthermore, the client will give insights into how he/she will hold himself or herself accountable.
This is different from Consulting, where the client seeks knowledge from an expert seeking suggestions to solve his or her problem. The client might be under time pressure and needs a quick solution. When a client goes to a consultant, the client is not going through a learning curve as he or she might be when going to a professional coach.
I also learned that both coaching and consulting does not necessarily need to be separated. Coaching and consulting can go together by coaching the client first, and at the end of the session or in the next session, consulting can take place. In this case, the learning effect that takes place through coaching is secured before the client will further profit from the consultant’s expertise. The coach and consultant can be one person.
This will help me in my profession as a Health Coach and Consultant for Health and Nutrition. I am not planning to only consult my clients on health and nutrition and just give them a diet or fitness plan to follow. But I will first offer professional coaching, and at the end of the coaching session, I will make my clients aware that we are now heading from coaching to consultation. This means that at the beginning when we start the coaching session, we will start with coaching, and my clients will be lead through the coaching process. They will explain their issues, define their goals and explore their options themselves through the conversation. They will even create their own action plan and hold themselves accountable. This is very much different from a regular consultation session, where the client is presented with the solution. Knowing all of this will now help me structure my questions in a way that the client finds out the answer for him or herself. And when we start the consulting part, he or she has learned already what it takes to reach his/her goal and the consultation part will be much easier for me to deliver.
As a person who is passionate about health, I am looking forward to seeing more and more healthy people that are confident about their health situation and know what to do when it comes to their health. There are so many people who would like to talk about their health issues or just need someone to listen to their feelings and needs. At the same time, there are many suffering from immense health issues, and urgently need to do something about it, but all the consultation they had did not bring them the result they wanted. Supporting these people through coaching and seeing their health goals come true will be the greatest success I could ever imagine. This will give me a feeling of doing something that matters and being part of changing the world to the better in some way. Therefore, I will be a much happier person myself as I am supporting so many people along the way to change to a better version of themselves.
I am glad that I have invested in this personal and professional development. This coaching training will help me in so many aspects of my life. It has already developed me. I feel that I have learned so much that I can use coaching in my personal life, with family and friends. I think I am already a better active listener in any conversation that I have with my family and friends, and at work. In particular, at work, I am more focused when it comes to listening. Following the listening, I am trying to ask the questions that I am really curious about, and I am having great conversations out of it. All of this will give me more practice when it comes to coaching, and I will soon see my clients take advantage of this.
I am truly thankful to the CTA team to have given me this opportunity to be part of their coaching family. And I look forward to joining the upcoming coaching training soon.
