There are those day’s or week’s which change you forever. Nobody else may notice but the way you feel has changed. Maybe forever. I have just had one of those weeks.

The last time was back in 2015 when I lived through the diagnosis of heart disease, the surgery that followed and then recovery. Plus the knowledge that my best friend wasn’t going to be so lucky. Compared to that experience this has been a very positive week but not without its lows. Fortunately those were compensated by incredible highs.

At my last work appraisal I told my manager that as I was heading towards retirement I didn’t require any further investment in my development. I was expecting an acknowledgment of that fact but instead she suggested that I considered training to become a Professional Coach. I admit I was taken aback by this. I have a friend and colleague that is a coach who is passionate about the role and I myself had had some coaching when I took on a senior role some years before but had not even considered it as something I wanted to do. But the more I thought about it the more I took on board the opportunities it could bring both in my current role and my life post retirement. So a few months later, after a taster day and a business plan, I found myself in a classroom for a week. The start of the process towards new skills and qualification.

I joined eleven others with a diversity of backgrounds. Many were very accomplished in their current careers. One was a retiree from a career in health where he would have been hugely revered. We were all looking to either change career, use it in-house or a combination of both.

For those of you not aware of what a professional coach is it is not a trainer, a therapist or a mentor. Being any of these requires the coach to be the expert. In professional coaching it is the person being coached that is the expert of their own life. The coach’s role is develop a safe space where by asking the right questions the individual can work through the issues that are holding them back and move towards the answers for themselves. If this sounds all a bit airy-fairy all I can assure that it is anything but. There were times during the week where I felt overwhelmed by the power of it. I felt it in myself but also saw it in others.

At the start of the week we were told by our excellent trainer that it was going to be a challenging week. And it certainly was. Part of the process of learning was practising on each other. I coached for two sessions and was coached for another two. 

I was amazed at how much progress can be made in just two hour long sessions. To witness someone finding a way forward on what they wanted to achieve. There were, however, lows. Coaching will heighten awareness of your life, the good and the not so good. I found myself telling my coach things that I had not even admitted to myself. This was a real low. There were tears. But by the next session I had some idea as to how I was going to move on. 

The last session of the week was a reflection of our learning and emotional journey through the week which we shared.  We had all learned a huge amount about not only coaching but about ourselves.

So the next stage is practice, practise, practice with a final assessment in March.

I admit I do feel a little overwhelmed by the expectations of the next few months. Will I be good enough? Have I got what it takes? But I will remember the final words of our tutor. I haven’t captured her exact words but it goes something like this : ‘when you start to feel that you can’t do this remember that there are people out there who will benefit hugely from your expertise as a professional coach’. I must remember that.