Do you coach a role holder or a person?

When an organization hires a coach and gives the coach a brief, does the work of the coach get restricted to the given brief or does the coach engage with the person, the human being behind that role holder?

The hard reality is that the problems of living far outweigh the problems of working. While organizations might be mostly concerned about the problems of working, what they often fail to recognize is the impact of the “problems of living” on their effective working.

Experienced coaches engage with, listen to and support the whole person become effective in a holistic manner so that role effectiveness happens. Needless to say, Coaches are mindful about the limits of their competence and the boundaries of their work, but then, drawing artificial lines and not attending to the lack of life skills and psychological resources that are necessary to experience emotional well-being is as harmful.

It is my hope that organizations recognize that a lot is likely to be going on in the lives of many of their employees, across life stages and the least they can do is to be non-judgmental and the best they can do is to be empathetic and recognize that the work that a coach is doing is far more than what he or she is likely to be able to report to you. Access to potential is only through the doors of emotional well-being!