Scratching Below the Surface and Digging Deeper

 

 

We recently delivered Module 3 of our Face to Face Programme to another lovely group and as usual Day 1 of this module was devoted to everyone completing one of the 5 pieces of evidence for the Diploma – the Presentation.  

 

This is such a wonderful day where everyone has the opportunity to present to the rest of the group their understanding of what coaching means to them.  And, with each Presentation as unique, captivating and inspiring as the person telling their story - it is, as you can imagine, an absolute privilege to listen to them and the key coaching messages they all convey.

 

At our most recent Module 3, during a Presentation from Andrea, one of our lovely learners, who was using gardens as a metaphor for coaching, everyone was given a sunflower seed, some potting compost and a little pot in which to plant our seed. ‘Something for us to take home’ Andrea said, to nourish with the right ingredients of water and light to enable the seed to transform into a stunning sunflower!   Oh!

 

What a perfect analogy Andrea’s sunflower was for how the coaching process is a truly transformational one for our coachees too!

So, at the end of the day, like a Coach and Coachee might sit alongside one another in a coaching session, I placed my two potted sunflower seeds on the passenger seat beside me and when I arrived home, placed them on the kitchen windowsill to watch them grow.  (By the way, I had an acquired an extra sunflower seed during the day!)

 

Over the days that followed, I watered and turned the pots to the light and watched both seedlings start to grow.  It soon became apparent that one was developing and growing much faster than the other, which instantly reminded me of how individual we all are and how our needs differ from one person to the next – yes even plants!

 

However, undeterred by one seedlings progress or lack of it, I continued to water – I continued to turn each pot towards the light and, yet, there was no getting away from the fact that one seedling was struggling whilst the other continued to grow stronger and healthier.  

 

Curious to find out more, I picked up the struggling seedling to ‘scratch below the surface’ and to ‘dig deeper’ only to find as I scrapped away a small amount of soil that its stem was hanging on by the thinnest of threads!  I had found the answer!   My curiosity and subsequent actions reminded me of the coaching process and how as a Coach we use our curiosity and skills to ask questions which enable our Coachees to scratch below their own surface and to dig deeper so that they can find the answers for themselves too!

 

Amazingly, against all the odds this struggling seedling had been hanging on in there with its energy going into surviving and existing rather than finding a way of developing and growing strong and tall.  For such a transformation to take place, the tiniest of roots it had managed to grow just above the withered main stem needed to find a way of taking root to enable it to grow strong again and become the sunflower it was meant to be!  

 

Mindful of what my sunflower needed to ensure its transformation from struggling seedling to a strong and sturdy sunflower, as a Coach it made me wonder how many people on a global scale are simply surviving and existing going through their daily lives when transformations to a new YOU can take place through Coaching and NLP.

 

If this is resonating with you - perhaps you might like to ask yourself the following questions:

 

Without Coaching ……….. how much energy are you losing and wasting in behaviours that are holding you back from growing!

With Coaching ………. how much energy can you save and apply to behaviours that allow you to grow into the person you can and want to be!

 

 

Mary x

 

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