March 2005
When freelance writer Liz Unsworth was invited to meet members of the Cumbria Coaching Network (CCNet) at the Core Centre, near Holker Hall, she was more than a little intrigued. What is coaching? Why would anyone need it? To better understand CCNet and how coaching can help people, she agreed to undertake an initial session each with three members – Zoe Dawes, Mary McNeil and Adrian Banger, all who advocated different techniques:
“My first session was with Zoë from Chartwell Coaching for a face-to-face encounter. I had to fill in a short questionnaire prior to the visit to establish my key values and whether there were specific issues on which I wanted to work. I could think of several but for the purpose of the initial session we focussed on ‘who am I’ and ‘why do I do things that are bad for me (like smoking) and not do things that are good for me (like going to the gym every week).
“Zoë explained that coaching is not counselling; it helps people move towards their life goal and, typically, it involves some form of personal change. Zoë was challenging and illuminating; as we talked I found myself looking at my issues from a different perspective. It definitely freed up my thinking, particularly about work related and personal relationships, the message being ‘gravitate towards people who share your values’.
“I talked to Mary McNeil from Create a Space over the telephone and I was surprised to discover how effective this method of coaching can be. Mary’s approach is holistic, recognising that business and personal issues are inextricably linked. She left me with an interesting exercise – to make a list of everyone I knew, in work and in my personal life and decide whether that person energised me or drained me. I’m still working on it!
“Adrian Banger from the Paradigm Partnership emailed me links to two, online questionnaires designed to report back and provide me with a better insight into my behaviour and communication style plus the values that motivate me. Over six million of these reports have been used globally in many different languages and for many different purposes.
“The finished reports flew back to me via the email at astonishing speed and a telephone coaching session with Adrian followed. I was amazed at how accurate the reports were and, incredibly, the session highlighted an area of internal conflict that I had realised but not understood, nor with which I had known how to cope.
“Altogether, the exercise provided a valuable insight into the benefits that coaching can bring to one’s life and I’m really tempted to delve a bit more into these initial findings. Coaching can cost anything from £250 upwards for three sessions, over at least two to three months - and you will need this time to process the information and insight you gain. It’s not a quick fix but it could improve your life!”
