How to coach others: An introduction

Catriona says, ‘Coaching is about helping people to look at where they are in life, where they want to be and what are the steps to get there. It is a future-focused way of supporting people.’

Before she became a coach herself, Catriona worked with a coach during a time in her life when she was experiencing a lot of change. She says, ‘It really helped to build my confidence… I used coaching to step back and think about my priorities and where I wanted to be placing my energy.’

‘The majority of the time people come to me wanting to look at their careers,’ Catriona says. ‘But when you dig a bit deeper there might be other things at play - they might want to get married, move abroad, completely change careers…  not just get a promotion. 

‘People often know that there is something more, or different, that they want in their lives. And together we think about their values - what is really important to them - and how they can tap into that innate, wise self that we all have. From there we set goals. These can be very precise, through to visions about how they want to be. 

‘We meet every two weeks, and I ask people to bring a topic that they want to focus on that will help them move towards their goals. This helps people to tap into their own knowledge and confidence, and I am there to help facilitate the conversation, ask questions and reflect back what I am hearing. But really it is about trusting that the person I’m coaching is naturally creative, resourceful and whole.’