If you’ve bought into the cultural myth that faster = better, then A) you’re SO not alone and B) it is costing you and your clients – dearly.

It sounds misleading or paradoxical:  slow down so you can reach desired outcomes more quickly. But here’s why I’m banging the Slow Coaching drum:

You already know that what your coachees think they want initially is not always what they really want or need, and may not be what will truly serve them best in the long run.

And, I’m guessing, you’ve already seen how the outcome of a session and the perceived value of that outcome can go wa-a-a-a-ay beyond what your coachee thought they would take from the coaching.

But this value will NEVER (not a word I use often) be realized if you, Coach, don’t slow down long enough to notice and stand for what really wants to emerge in the coaching. Because it’s that deeper level of truth, just hidden below the surface and waiting to come fully into the light of conscious awareness, that holds the most potential value for changing a life forever – and that truth is really easy to miss if you rush past the subtle indicators of emergence. 

Bottom line:

  1. Lasting value in coaching lies in your coachees’ ability to sustain desired change. Getting seduced by the push for quick outcomes will set you and your coachee up to sidestep the growth required for sustainable change.
  2. As long as you let “faster is better” drive you, you WILL have a covert agenda in the coaching and it will prevent you from fully honoring your coachee’s agenda. (Ouch.) In fact, the rush to get into the meat of the coaching will prevent you from clarifying the true agenda, the one your coachee may not yet have fully articulated or even understood for themselves.
  3. If you are unconsciously caught in “faster is better,” you’re participating in a mass addiction which means you can’t yet be part of the solution. It takes courage to slow down and fully inhabit the moment, especially when the culture in which you live and work demands you move quickly. But your conscious choice to stand in the face of false urgencies is one way to stop drinking the “faster is better” Kool-Aid®.

Really, I think this says it all. But if you want more, including a really delicious horse metaphor on soaring over obstacles, be sure to listen to the replay of the April, 2015, Heart and Soul of Coaching program, Slow Coaching for Faster Results. If you’re currently part of the Heart and Soul of Coaching community, you’ll find the link where it usually is (and also linked in the follow-up email sent out after the call). If you’re not part of the Heart and Soul of Coaching Community, why not join us? It’s free to sign up – just click here to read more about it and sign up near the bottom if it’s a good fit.

The call audio will remain posted on the H&S community resource page for free playback access for 90 days. After that, the audio is available for a really modest fee. And if you’re ready to sink into the richness of Slow Coaching, let me know.

In celebration of the unfolding journey and your choice to share it with me!

Hugs,

Lyn