The first week of lessons

I gave up my 13 years career in finance 2 years ago. I decided the time was right to relocate to England (after 9 years in Tokyo) and to look after my 2 young children full time. I had previously fitted them around my very enjoyable but very demanding job and although that seemed ok, it really wasn't enough to see them less than an hour a day. My 3rd child was born 7 months later and now that he is 19 months and I have looked after the kids full time for 2 years, I am very ready to rebalance things a little in favour of me.

So I thought long and hard about how to do something that would be enjoyable, challenging and that would also allow me to continue to look after the children around their preschool and schooling. I contemplated writing a novel for a long time, but when it came down to it, it seemed too

much of a solitary pursuit, and too long term in nature. I finally decided on coaching. It seemed to be a flexible career choice and one that was of great interest to me.

My former career was in equity sales. I managed Japanese equity sales for a large US investment bank. I was located in Tokyo. I enjoyed a lot about the job, but some of the things that I found most challenging and most rewarding were managing and mentoring people well. Helping people whatever their ability to succeed. Some of the skill sets learnt here I thought might fit into coaching. I also found during my career as a whole that exceptional managers were not the norm. Thus there is a need for executive coaching.

So here I am. Recently enrolled in a coaching school (ICA) and really enjoying lessons. It is a course requirement to do a blog throughout my time at the school and I plan to write on a weekly basis.

First impressions? i)Very comprehensive course material, ii)Thought provoking calls which very cleverly add to the course content, iii)I have a lot to learn. iv)I am even more excited about becoming a coach, and itching to put to practise what I am learning, v)I realise that a lot of the skills that I have that I thought would be good in coaching will, but many will also need to be adapted, and many more new ones learned.

Biggest takeaway in the first week? Coaches should listen 80% of time and talk just 20%. Their principal role is to help the client find their own answers by listening and questioning powerfully. The coach is not there to provide the answers, and often should not be there to provide opinion.