COACHd – 26 March 2021

In a few days time, we will hopefully start to see us making a positive step forward as we start to see a progressive release from lockdown. However, in a recent survey, 77% of coaching respondents expect the effects of the pandemic to continue for up to a year, while 23% expect the effects to reverberate even well beyond 2021. (acuityscheduling.com)

The coaching world is a global juggernaut of an industry, with an average yearly growth rate of 6.7%, the value can grow to $20 billion USD in just three years. (coachingfederation.org)

I reflect on how this step back to ‘normality’ could impact us as coaches as we move forward. This could be exciting for the change agent but could also be unsettling for the more traditional. Take from it, what you want. As with any insight, it is just that. A forward thought about what we could be seeing.

  • Regardless of the move back to face to face, virtual coaching will remain part of what we offer. Working with ‘zoom fatigue’ will continue to be a challenge and so looking for mechanisms to boost engagement will be key. Tools such as Mentimeter and Mural can complement what are otherwise tiring.
  • Online automation will become even more important. The online calendar offered by companies such as Acuity, Calendly and Booklikeaboss will become as important as email in streamlining our appointment making.
  • Coaching will get more real – we will have to understand more about the benefits that we deliver to protect our clients from ‘coach hurt’. Clients will want to experience more of the doing and sharing rather than the showing so perhaps we need to be even more comfortable with our boundaries. This will also reflect on a growing need for a demonstrable focus on training, cpd and supervision with credentialling playing a large part in a generally unregulated industry.
  • Real stories from real coach people who have and are demonstrating vulnerability will continue to be welcomed by our clients.
  • Inclusion will be increasingly on the agenda as our clients need to understand how the societal impacts of diversity will affect them.
  • Understanding your strength will be even more important. What are you a 10/10 on? Working with well-being will continue to grow as we see more mental health side effects from lockdown and social distancing.
  • And for those of you engaged in training – Performance support will change in 2021 as many people stay remote. This means that microlearning in the flow of work begins to blur the line of sitting down to a traditional training or utilizing training aids to support job performance throughout the day. (elearningindustry.com) We will also take a shift from mobile-ready platforms to mobile-first strategies.

Your takeout.

You may have already planned out 2021. But as with any agile plan, things happen along the way that can cause a deviation to occur. I was asked earlier today about what milestones I have for my business(s). This was a difficult question to answer and I couldn’t answer.

However, I reframed this as what is my vision for what I am doing? This gives me permission to be agile with the short term objectives (ala agile sprint), but have an outcome in mind and in focus.

Perhaps it could be time to take a long hard listen to your thoughts.

  • How did you decide to react to the statements above?
  • What did you agree with, what are your additions?
  • How do you stack up with this thinking?
  • What do you need to ‘adjust’ – the stop, start, continue question?
  • What are you putting off?
  • What three actions can you take today that will move you forward towards your vision?

Additional readings.

I gain insight from reading others thinking and deliberations. This week I share

These were all pulled from our sister business Mylunchtable – a targetted curation service.

See you soon

 

 

 

 

 


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