Coaching Chronicles: The Power Of Conversation
“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
This is a question that I can remember from early on at school, and to be quite honest, I really wasn’t’ sure? My subject choice revolved around the idea that I would most likely do a BCOM as a starting point and we were also encouraged to do a few aptitude tests, but this didn’t really provide me with the clarity I was looking for.
The point of my story is to give hope that you may not find your passion until later on in life, which is exactly what happened to me.
I hadn’t really come into contact with a coach in my working career, but my first engagement kicked off an interest and started me on a journey of self-discovery beyond my wildest dreams. For me, you have to see a coaching engagement as a journey because the more you uncover, the more you grow and change, the more you discover, the greater your awakening to possibility. I don’t think my coach and friend to this day realised the impact our conversation would have on me, but to quote Linda Lambert, “One great conversation can shift the direction of change forever”.
I am a Certified Integral Coach and Accredited Enneagram Practitioner and my want to become a coach was to equip myself with the necessary skills to empower others. Through various exercises, practices and observations a person can begin to see, feel and behave differently and this allows the door of possibility to open.
Another empowering conversation that sparked the idea for naming my company happened when speaking to one of the Directors at The Centre for Coaching where I completed my studies. There was so much happening and from a metaphorical weather perspective I felt so clouded over with information. I stated this fact and that’s when Janine looked at me and said quite bluntly that even when things seem cloudy, we logically know there is always blue sky above. I remember thinking in that moment that is exactly what I’ll call my coaching practice one day – Blue Sky Coaching.
My vision for Blue Sky Coaching is to partner with people in their personal and/or professional capacity to help them find the balance they are looking for. Our lives are an integral ecosystem and when something is out of balance it will affect us on a number of levels. We might feel stuck,
anxious, bored, stressed or wanting change. This is when we must be brave and know that in challenging times we can learn from our failures and mistakes which only increases our capacity for resilience and growth.
To end off the first blog post I’ve ever written with a quote from Alan Alexander Milne (and yes, I just adore Winnie-the-Pooh, and when my husband suggested the name Christopher for our son I smiled and said of course yes).
I like to keep this promise to myself:
“Promise me you’ll remember: you’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” A.A. Milne