Thanks for Being There For Me
Editors Note: This is a reprint of a blog I posted last Thanksgiving updated slightly to reflect the fact another year has passed. The sentiments however, as they relate to the individuals with whom I get an opportunity to work, still are the same and only grow. That is truly something to be thankful for when investing your time in a profession where you spend your time every day. So, with the permission of you, the readers of my blog, here is my tribute to my clients. Happy Thanksgiving!
Establishing a coaching practice as part of my life has exposed me to many new experiences in the last four years. There is the networking with fellow coaches locally, nationally and internationally in the coach federation of which I am a part. As a coaching practice is often conducted as a small or solo business, I’ve established friendships with a number of entrepreneurs in various businesses. Within my community, which I moved to about the same time I started the practice, I’ve gotten to know a number of residents of the area through a number of Professional in Transition groups I either facilitate or participate.
All of these endeavors help to support the development of my practice. However, to me the most energizing part of the practice itself are the one to one coaching sessions I have with my clients. It is rare when I leave a coaching session less energized than when it began. Why do I believe that is? There are several reasons that have occurred to me.
First of all, I’m always learning from my clients. They have exposed me to so many topic areas that I would not have normally known myself. I’ve learned about efforts to address hunger around the world. I’ve learned about business incubators that are formed to help new entrepreneurs get their ideas for businesses of the future off the ground. Working with a population of those approximately 30 years of age, I’ve learned of their intense desire to better understand their feelings and emotions, and not be reluctant to express that fact. Each new client, whether they’re working with me on career issues or life issues, open me up to their world.
When a client is really open to learning about themselves and how they may approach a situation differently, they become open to being a student in their work with me. I’ve shared with them many of the principles and approaches I’ve learned in my coaching certification studies. It has been very often throughout the year that I’ve heard back from them in future sessions of a situation that has come into their life after they have learned about a new approach in our discussions. It is gratifying to hear when they say, I approached that situation differently than I did in the past, and it worked out well because of the approach you introduced to me. I remind them, I only facilitate the discussion. They do the work, by applying that to which they have been exposed.
My clients are the energy behind my practice. They deserve the time I put in preparing for their sessions. They challenge me to look through all I have learned to come up with approaches that may help them move themselves forward. It is often that I may be going through a similar situation in my life to which I can relate. The research I do, the preparation I go through, not only helps me in my efforts to work with them, but often helps me move forward with my own issues. There aren’t many careers that can boast that fact.
So, as Thanksgiving 2013 is upon us here in the United States, I’d like to say a heart warming thank you to all of my clients throughout the past year. Whether, you are still working with me, or have moved on, you have added so much to my life these past four years. Your dedication to the coaching process and your willingness to move forward to achieve that which it is you desire, makes it a pleasure for me to be or have been your coach, facilitator and friend.
