You Aren’t a Transformational Coach Unless You Believe This

This week on the podcast I shared two foundational truths about Transformational Coaching. The first was what our Bright Morning motto, “every conversation counts” means. The second was a core belief you must hold about your coachee. I encourage you to listen to the full episode.

For now, I will leave you with a truth I shared on the podcast and two prompts for consideration.

Truth: You can’t be a Transformational Coach if you are a fixer. This is because Transformational Coaches honor their client’s ability to fix their own problems.

This is more complicated when you’re in a leadership role and you think of yourself – and others think of you – as the person who fixes things! But if your job includes developing people (and it does if you are a leader) then you need to be able to take a Transformational Coaching stance and release your fix-it tendencies in those moments.  

Two prompts for consideration (but really, listen to the full podcast episode!):

First, see what happens if before every conversation you tell yourself to make the conversation count. If you make that a mandate, what happens in the conversation?

Second, in each conversation ask yourself the question, “who has the answers?” What does it look like and sound like if both you and your coachee are on a journey to find answers?

So many of my most powerful conversations have been the ones in which I have relinquished control. Can you trust yourself? Can you trust the process? This is a big part of what it means to be a Transformational Coach.