Executive Coaching - A Guide For The HR Professional.pdf

150 EXECUTIVE COACHING
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After the initial period of six months of coaching conversations, I
made a decision about leaving my company and coaching was
included as a part of my “departure” package. That was my first time
having a full-time coach; I had someone work with me on presentation
skills, but that was quite different.
At the time I had a lot of difficulties looking at myself objectively
and identifying my strengths and weaknesses. Only a few years
after coaching did I realize that I was dealing with a lot of anger
toward my company at the time. The anger was controlling and
directing me. It was important to move out, and that’s the decision I
had to come to terms with.
In the course of the coaching, we used some tests in the
beginning and the end that were somewhat useful, but the most
important realizations happened during my conversations with him. I
think that initially the assignment was difficult for both of us. I threw
a lot of information at him and vented. It was hard for me to separate
the facts from the feelings. My coach got me to talk about my
strengths and weaknesses. He held the mirror up and helped me
focus on what my interests are. He did not make the decisions for
me; he helped me make my own decisions.
I needed to wipe the slate clean, accept things as they are, and
move forward, think about the next step in my life and what it is going
to look like. One of the ideas that he came up with was helpful for me
in sorting through my decisions. He talked about three books in your
professional life: the first one is your training and preparation, book 2
is your career, and book 3 is what happens after you move on to
other things and realize you have to do something for the next twenty
or twenty-five years of your life. I started writing book 3 during my
coaching.
I don’t honestly know whether I may have elected to leave the
company had it not been for coaching. I could have stayed on. I am
generally risk averse. I may have stayed on and drifted. The idea of
drifting is something else that came up during the coaching. It was
liberating to learn that it is sometimes O.K. just to drift and not have
to find answers for a while.