Lessons from the Field (December, 2011)
This month's ReciproCoach Lessons from the Field have been taken from the reflections of participants of our
mentoring rounds throughout this year. One a
mentoring participant described this kind of learning as "coaching backwards."
The lessons below are an excellent reminder that "whoever teaches learns in the act of teaching, and whoever learns teaches in the act of learning" [Freire, P. (1990). Pedagogy of freedom: Ethics, democracy and civic courage. New York: Rowan and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., p.31].
Provide direction
Get clear on the client's agenda within the first 5 minutes of a session and bring them back around if they start wandering off too far.
Be flexible
We all get used to certain ways that work for us, yet "trying out new stuff" can just be as valuable (and often even more) as the great tools we are attached to.
Maintain equality
Feel "equal" to your clients - not superior, nor inferior - just equal, like peers, as in "I'm OK - you're OK".
Share your experience
Share candid feedback with your own coach or a
join a mentoring round to act as a mentor to a coaching peer, then experience the value of teaching in order to learn.
As of today, there are 667 coaches in our community. We are getting closer to the 1000 mark with only 23 days to go! Invite one more coach to join ReciproCoach by forwarding this email on now.
And remember the three-phase learning process of discovery, application and integration (
see our first issue of Coaching Research in Practice) which we, as coaches all facilitate, and consider, what have you discovered (or re-discovered) in this email that you could apply to your coaching practice?
Finally, as always, thank you to the ReciproCoaches who share their learning so openly and honestly during and after coaching, mentoring and supervision rounds, and make collective learning like this possible!
Kerryn Griffiths
Global ReciproCoach Coordinator
