Coaching and Gardening August 12, 2013 – Posted in: Advice, Uncategorized – Tags: ,

Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll tell you I love a good analogy.  Why?  Because an analogy can unlock understanding like a key opens a door (You see? I can’t help myself!).  And so now I’d like to tell you why coaching is a bit like gardening…

A good coach digs.  Not in an intrusive way but in order to gain understanding I will ask my clients lots of questions to ascertain exactly what is going on for them.  For example, someone who is brilliant at their job but lacks the confidence to give a presentation will likely be holding a limiting belief (these are the weeds) about their abilities to speak in public.  Once I can dig down to the limiting belief it can then be uprooted and the client can move more freely towards their goal.

A good coach sows seeds – LOTS of them!  The seeds I sow with my clients come in the form of positive thinking, reflection and challenge.  These are then watered with encouragement.   I believe wholeheartedly in everyone’s ability to have happiness and success, and if you believe in someone it’s amazing how much they start to believe in themselves.  I learnt this with the teenagers I foster – tell someone they ‘can’ and they usually prove you right.

Gardeners propagate and so do coaches.  You see, once someone begins to make changes in one area of their life a ripple effect often occurs.  One of my clients came to me to gain confidence in social situations and found his focus and drive at work also improving as a by-product.  Good coaching has a reproductive effect.

Coaching is also a process.  Coaching requires energy and also energises.  Coaching produces colour in your life.  Coaching bears fruit.  Coaches use tools.  And, above all else, coaching helps you to grow.

But, the very best thing about this analogy is that the coach (me) is like the hired gardener who comes in to help create the garden before stepping back to allow (you) the owner to enjoy it.  You decide what the garden looks like, how much to plant and where.  You are in charge.  It’s your garden for you to enjoy…

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