A potential client contacted me, reluctantly. This man was an officer in a medium-sized business. His career had been marked by success, but at the time he felt anything but successful. He felt his career and personal life were collapsing around him. He had always felt he could handle problems himself, but he felt overwhelmed by current circumstances.
He was under pressure from company leadership for delays and setbacks in the building of a new plant he supervised. He felt his job was in jeopardy and feared he might be forced into early retirement. The IRS was auditing him for deductions he had claimed on his tax return. It seemed his world was collapsing, and he was on anti-anxiety medication as a result.
He wanted help to navigate all of this and engaged me as his coach. What I provided was a clear perspective and positive feedback helping him shake his emotional panic, the kind of help most people don’t have when encountering these kinds of frustrations.
After a review of his concerns, his goals, and his assets and income, we sat down to look at his options. This is what we discussed:
- He had a stellar reputation in his industry and could easily find a new position if he was pushed out.
- If the IRS ruled against him, his maximum tax liability, including any penalties, would be less than $20,000, an amount we knew he could handle without difficulty.
- After calculating his company pension, his Social Security Benefits, and his multi-million–dollar investment portfolio, it was manifestly clear that in an unexpected early retirement, his assets would provide all the income he would ever need.
Problem solved! My client was obviously a bright person who had simply become overwhelmed with a series of what were, in reality, small setbacks. He quickly regained his emotional equilibrium, was off the anti-depressants in a matter of weeks, and felt better about himself and his life than he had in years. His family was relieved as well.
I’ve been a coach for almost 40 years, and there are two things I’ve learned over those years. Quality coaching has a dramatic, positive impact on the careers and personal lives of coaching clients. Secondly, my personal experience is, when people who engaged me as their coach had an unwavering determination to surmount the limitations they were experiencing, they made swift progress in getting past those blocks. Yes, coaches provide guidance and support, but the client does the work to make positive change.
We live in a strange time. So many people dislike their jobs and are unhappy, (almost 85% of the U.S. population according to Gallop), while anger is widespread across the nation and loneliness is at near epidemic proportions. A large majority of people in our country could benefit from coaching.
There are several reasons why coaching is effective:
- Coaches most often can change the attitude of a client to one of positive expectancy.
- Coaches help clients see more clearly their real skills and abilities.
- Coaches provide a toolset that clients aren’t familiar with. Clients most often “Don’t know what they don’t know”, and simply can’t see the opportunities awaiting them. Coaches assist clients in identifying positive alternatives.
- Finally, coaches can provide clear perspectives and options for a client to consider.
On countless surveys, coaching clients report that coaches help them create better goals and objectives, improve problems-solving and decision-making, improve communication and listening skills, build better relationships and develop greater self-awareness. All of this supports greater profitability and productivity when coaching is undertaken in a business setting.
Virtually all corporate leaders, professional athletes and top performers in all fields engage coaches to help them be the best possible version of themselves. It is almost a certainty you can benefit from coaching as well.
Tom Searcy
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