12/01/2023
How to unleash immediate energy and inspiration in your employees
Recently I had the pleasure of supporting 16 new students on their way to becoming ICF Accredited Consciousness Coaches. Of course, coaching practice exercises are part of their training and support them deepening their coaching skills, abilities and coach ‘being’. I was facilitating the speed coaching exercise, where half the group play the coach to their peers in the coachee role. The only preparation directly prior to the exercise is for the coaches to get present to the moment, clearing themselves of other thoughts and believing in the infinite capability of their coachees to source their own answers. The coach holds the space and through their presence, intuitively asks the best powerful questions in the moment. The coach dances with whatever topic and responses the coachee presents them. After each mini coaching session, they receive a rating from the coachee as to the value which he/she received. Four speed coaching sessions to four different people, each lasting only 5 minutes. "And the time starts NOW", I announce.
The energy is high, their coach ‘presence’ intense as they sit head to head in front of each other. Each coach fully engaged and motivated to serve.
After the exercise, I facilitated the space for sharing their experiences from the last 20 minutes of coaching. The groups sharing not only highlighted practical insights of what went well and what they would do better, but included powerful and emotional sharing of gratitude, appreciation, inspiration and instant motivation to act.
From just four short coaching sessions with four budding coaches, one individual expressed that he had just transformed his whole life!
From just four short coaching sessions with four budding coaches, one individual expressed that he had just transformed his whole life, (albeit he still needed to act on the insights). He gained insight how to create a new opportunity at work, what type of relationship he wanted, how to solve an issue with a friend and how he was going to earn more money. All in the space of twenty minutes!
His feedback provided me again with the confirmation that short and on demand skilled coaching conversations bring immense immediate value. Value in the form of new perspectives, inspiration, motivation, balance, stress relief, clarity or a boost of energy and engagement.
Just consider for a moment, how many times do you go to work with other things on your mind - be it the conversation you had with your partner before you left home in the morning or perhaps concern for your child who was not feeling 100% but still went to school with the thought of the test he was worrying about. Or perhaps you sense some nervousness about the difficult conversation you need to have with a team member or manager or the important meeting coming up during the day. Or perhaps you are still mulling over the repercussions from what happened yesterday at work.
Every thought and emotion is taking up valuable focus and thinking space in our minds at any given moment in time.
Every thought and emotion is taking up valuable focus and thinking space in our minds at any given moment in time. Neuroscience tells us that our prefrontal cortex can only manage about five to seven things at a time. That part of the brain is a rapid processing machine which needs to find answers and make conclusions as quickly as possible, to make space for the next task at hand. Moreover, when emotions are heightened, the activity in the limbic system can overpower our prefrontal cortex and our ability to think calmly and clearly is radically reduced. We become ineffective, make speedy judgements which may cause misunderstandings or issues later. We are unable to function in a balanced, efficient and effective manner.
Taking a brain break is helpful. Great examples include going out for a breath of fresh air, getting up from your desk, walking to get a tea or coffee for a refreshing boost. They still however, fall short of dealing with what is on our minds.
It got me thinking a while ago...What if it is possible to truly shift what is on our minds quickly and effectively, so that we can continue to work with full focus, presence for those impactful conversations with colleagues and clients and with pleasure and engagement for what we are doing? And wouldn’t it be great if we did all that whilst remaining aware of the purpose with which we are aligned within ourselves and that of our organisation?
What if, instead of taking a shot of espresso for that temporary caffeine boost, we can have access to a shot of coaching for that instant inspiration AND lasting transformational shift in perspective? – What if, we can quickly reframe and create a new context which supports our actions with purpose and passion, rather than slowly and silently draining our energy.
May is the month of mental health awareness. What would open up for your organisation if you could create instant engagement and a boost of health and wellbeing in your workplace?
The Company Coaching Café supports organisations to achieve just that! It challenges previous coaching models and is based on both company and employee being co-responsible for wellbeing - trusting employees to get fast support when they need it without ineffective approval processes which can expose employees to sharing their 'issue' (resulting in most candidates in need staying quiet and struggling on for too long).
The Company Coaching Café service enables employees to access 30-minute, 1:1, online coaching conversations on demand. It is scalable for small organisations who have little HR support infrastructure and can be made available for large organisations as well. It is flexible to be implemented as an ongoing wellbeing service or as a short term initiative to boost energy, performance or relieve stress.
Consider how your organisation would benefit from having more balanced, happy, engaged, creative, inspired and motivated employees! How could a short coaching conversation positively impact you?
Curious to learn more?
