Career Coaching: Tell Me I’m Wrong
Career Coaching: Tell Me I’m Wrong: Agreeing on how to work together as “Coach and Coachee” is really important, and it’s a movable feast – you and I might have done a really intense piece of work together five years ago… And if you return to do some further work, we will inevitably have both changed, which means we will now have different needs.
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So, THE CONTRACT – The physical (or virtual) piece of paper detailing ‘times, responsibilities, monies and confidentiality’ that we consent to is merely the tip of the iceberg of the agreements we need to make. One client, with a ginormous capacity for wisdom, asked me:
“How would you handle telling me I am wrong?”
And, through our discussions, we discovered that I would not need to. Only if there were potential harm to another living being would I ever need to step in. Outside of this remit, my agenda has nothing to do with it. If I’m aware of a tension or a feeling that something isn’t lining up, I might share my ‘noticing’ – it is NOT my responsibility or place to tell you I think you are wrong at all.
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What does lie in my responsibility is the ability to shine a light on inconsistency. — And I do this by asking questions. This process surfaces what’s really going on beneath it. Once we have named that bit between us, you have every right to go forth and Conquer in exactly the same way as you had planned, and you may take an added depth of understanding with you… and that, too, is not my business.
Career Coaching: Tell Me I’m Wrong
Sometimes I can ABSOLUTELY see that a new client is working in the ‘wrong’ role, culture or industry sector – it’s so evident in both the internal and external conflicts they are experiencing…
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However, never am I responsible for telling you that I think you are wrong. I CAN help you understand what no longer serves you and why that is and hold the space for you to decide what you want to put in its place.