Coaching for Change

I dedicate this article to my favourite age group… the youth of today. This is a topic about which a lot has been said and written and yet it remains an enigma to most of us when it really shouldn’t be. It should be as easy as it is for a 4-year-old to tell a story. Recently I was invited to mentor a bunch of kids to polish their Public Speaking Skills. These kids were going to present their project to a group of judges and the best idea was to win an award to fund their idea. I first asked them to tell me about their project. As they told me about why they chose the project, the passion, enthusiasm, and energy in their gestures and body language was apparent. Then I asked them to present their idea to me as they would to the judges. Suddenly the whole dynamics changed, the same bubbly bunch became uptight, nervous and robotic. When I asked them what the reason was, they said:  -It’s a formal presentation so we need to look and feel serious. -It feels weird to stan...

"I have had 2 career breaks. Both for personal reasons and both in the last 5 years. Before this, my career was quite stable. The irony is that even though last 5 years gave me 2 career breaks, it also got me the 2 best jobs of my life. Now I am losing the job I really love. Why would anyone ever give me a job with this kind of track record? “ said a mother of 2 toddlers who was undergoing massive changes in her personal life and it was impacting her professional life. She continued, "My worst fear is explaining my career breaks”. "Whose voice is telling you this story?" I asked She continued, "My inner voice and my experience from my last interview with the elderly Head of a family run organisation. More than my work experience, he was more interested in my breaks. He kept looking at what I lacked and not at the massive changes I had brought about in my past roles.” As she went on to reflect and narrate. As a working Mom with career breaks of my o...