The measurable and immeasurable impact of coaching

The thing that strikes me about coaching is it’s impact - it’s astonishing power to create transformation in people and situations. 

Creating a positive impact in the world by supporting others to step into their brilliance is ‘The Thing’ that makes my heart dance, that fills me up, that gives me purpose and satisfaction and makes me truly happy.

It just about sums up what makes me tick (alongside having creative, expansive conversations about aspirations and future possibilities, mixed with explorations of how to shine through as the best version of yourself that you possibly want to be in this moment). 

So it’s no wonder then, when I discovered coaching I was in my element. (I fuzzed all over within 30 seconds of being on the call - I felt so alive). 

The thing that strikes me about coaching is it’s impact - it’s astonishing power to create transformation in people and situations. 

Let’s take a few examples of clients over the past few years - I’ll change the names for anonymity. 

One of my first clients - let’s call him Andrew - is the CEO of an extraordinarily brilliant company creating bespoke products for global luxury brands. He came to me with quite severe burnout having managed a rapidly expanding business over lockdown, and as CEOs often do - driving forward every single part of the business on a solo mission. His health was suffering, his family was suffering, his mental health was poor and as we started the journey we took a very slow, delicate pace to create space to ‘let down’. 

Creating space - not just any space - is such an important stage in burnout particularly, I cannot understate the power in this beautiful, safe, creative space for clients to sit, to be, to look, to reflect, to bring awareness to, to let in the light. Allowing people a space - giving permission for it - a non judgmental, supportive, healing, beautiful zone of being-ness - is quite something and so much happens in that quietude that hasn’t been allowed a look in, in our busy lives.  

But I digress. Over 6 months we co-created a journey that embraced all the different elements of Andrew’s life - the family business, the family, “free time” (and what the hell do you do with that?!), self love and compassion. The conversations brought up buried beliefs and emotions that we could see were driving a self destructive behaviour. We looked at what it would mean to create a life of balance and worked toward a new image of that. 

What’s the impact here? Tangible impacts - growth of the business, a new employer, a new premises, a creative innovation unit, better communications with board of directors, new and more efficient customer journey…. But also a healthy balance of business and life and family needs, a healing of underlying narratives, better relations with children and family, improved quality of life, improved health, improved mental wellbeing and a huge turnaround in his approach to the company and most of all to himself, with a new found compassion and respect that is life long in it’s change.

Let’s take a more recent client, let’s call her Jane - working for a large charity in Canada, who has stepped up into a new Executive role as and wanted support in the transition. Our coaching explored imposter feelings and understanding roles and expectations of herself and her colleagues. We uprooted hidden beliefs that were affecting how she showed up in her self, explored challenging relationships with colleagues that opened up the huge thing that is the gender gap and the disparities that exist in the workplace - and as Executive how she could show up in order to represent and communicate the values of fairness and equity in her organisation. We looked at how our upbringing installs ways of doing that we inhabit but can change. And we created an entirely different model of managing the company from the traditional hierarchical, masculine-led, top down model that she had inherited, transforming how the company would operate and allowing a permission to progress in this way, having explored and revealed how the previous model would not work - and how, in fact it is just something passed down from an age where business was not diverse in any way shape or form. What a revelation! 

What is the transformation here? Impacts on the organisation, reinstatement of healthier values, gender equality and fairness and a new structure where it is ‘OK’ to be different. Clearer communication with the board of trustees and with the team. Better boundaries with work and family and with her self and clarity on her needs and values. And, an insight that ‘there is no destination’. 

Another client leads a team for a global tech corporation, we have just 3 sessions of coaching exploring the inner and outer struggles of managing a team within a context of monthly targets against the health of the team and herself - her capacity is ‘consumed’ with day to day tasks and team member’s development and she is drained. 

Coaching gives the client vital clear thinking space to step back and acknowledge her role and her progress. We look at mindset, approach to managing the team, scheduling and time management, language and narratives, control and influence and assumptions. She comes back to me delighted with the impact of the mindset change and it’s affect on her team.

What was the transformation? For the team - empowering the team to deal with challenges, changing the mindset and the size of the challenge, and enabling them to support each other through the changes means better outputs and targets met. For the client - complete shift in thinking, transformation in emotional capacity management, trust and self belief, healthier relations with her self and team members, boundaries and values better communicated. Increased self worth and wellbeing and retained energy beyond the boardroom. 

Here’s another example, Anne was leading a marketing team at a national company product high end products. The company had gone through restructure and her environment - unknown to her at the time - was crippling her self confidence, her ability to lead and her capacity in the role. She was heading for burnout and mentally unfit, her work had taken over her personal life and she was close to burnout and depression. 

We took a step back and analysed the situation over several sessions, looking at her relationship to the environment and revealing it’s affect on her as a brilliant, creative and capable leader. We explored values and how they did not align to how the company was operating, we rediscovered what made her tick, reconnected and celebrated her values, filled her confidence up and rebuilt habits that would start to bring back her v-v-vroom. 

The long and short of this journey is that Anne sought a role where she felt valued, where the organisational culture aligned with her core beliefs and where she could really step into her incredible leadership capabilities. She’s now heading up a larger marketing team within a national organisation that seeks to create positive impact, and she is able to celebrate and see the incredible work she does improve people’s lives. She is thriving and so is the company.

The transformation - from burnout to brilliance, quite simply stepping out of a toxic environment that was suffocating her shining light, into an impactful, fun and creative role where she can demonstrate, stretch and grow her incredible leadership skills and find reward and purpose. The knock on effect of her work - to the team - to the company outputs is tremendous.

Here are a few journeys that demonstrate how coaching conversations have measurable and immeasurable lasting impact - and how indeed the journey can be transformational. 

I am so grateful to be in this space and to co-create new journeys in as my role as coach - to design better ways of living and looking at the world in order to feel Good and to make that positive impact. 

I was asked recently to explain to a child what I do, here’s my answer:

To support people to feel better (in themselves and what they do) so that they can support others to feel and do better too. 

And it’s that Butterly effect that creates the potential for a better place to be, for safer happier and more creative and inspired communities, for better understanding and relationship with our Mother Earth and respect with each other, for a common good of well-being for all. We all can flourish, we’re in it together. 

That’s what it’s all about. 

What transformation would you like from coaching? Come and explore the different routes to find your zone of brilliance - connect for a chat here.