The benefits of Embedding Coaching into your organisation
Coaching week kicks off this week and it got me thinking about the importance of coaching in our lives. As UK Coaching put it, “in a world where sedentary lifestyles and loneliness are on the rise, the need to get people moving and connected has never been greater. Coaching is a great solution to this modern-day problem”.
Coaching can make a positive difference to all aspects of our general health; whether it is physical, mental, social, emotional or intellectual.
I have been very fortunate to have worked with some amazing coaches and mentors throughout my fencing career. At one point during my fencing career, I decided to give boxing a go to help improve my competitive edge. My boxing coach Nige was there for me when I just missed out on the London 2012 Olympic Games. He helped lift me up and push me forward when I was at my lowest point. He helped change my mind-set for the better and was crucial to my success and welfare as an athlete. To this day he is probably unaware of the profound positive impact he has had on me, not just in my sporting career but also in my professional career in my life beyond sport.
Great coaches can help change lives for the better. They help us to achieve things we never thought possible, they offer support, encouragement and lift us up to be the best that we can possibly be.
I qualified as a performance coach shortly after retiring from elite level sport. Competing for your country is a huge honour so I wanted to give back and help others to achieve their potential. As an Associate of Sport and Beyond, I deliver drop-in performance coaching days to organisations that see value in coaching and its potential to foster team success. The client is able to speak to someone objective, outside of their organisation, and use their coach as someone who they can rely on to offer support and clarity of thought. I have seen first-hand the personal benefits of coaching in the workplace and beyond. Numerous clients report that coaching positively impacts their careers as well as their lives by helping them to:
Establish and take action towards achieving their goals
Increase creativity, learning and knowledge
Feel empowered to problem-solve and become more self reliant
Take greater responsibility and accountability for actions
Achieve a positive work/life balance
Take time and space to reflect on their own motivations and personal performance.
Legendary American football coach Vince Lombardi once said, “coaches who can outline plays on a black board are a dime a dozen. The ones who win get inside their player and motivate.”
Part of our role as coaches is to help motivate, encourage and understand what makes our clients tick. We do this by:
Building a collaborative client relationship and sense of mutual trust;
Understanding what the client wants to achieve and enabling them to set goals and define action plans;
Asking pertinent questions to unlock the client’s potential and maximise performance.
In my opinion, performance coaching is a no-brainer. The benefits for the individual are improved self-confidence, motivation and personal performance, while the benefits for the organisation are results and a team who work better together:
“We started working with Sport and Beyond a couple of years ago now and introduced them to the business to help us with internal performance. It has been a really successful exercise for us so far. If we look at financial performance over the last couple of years since we started working with Sport and Beyond, everybody has improved. They are better at their jobs, they are more comfortable in how they operate in the work place, both externally with clients and internally with colleagues.” Marc Tobias, Managing Director.
Everyone needs a coach. Whether you are looking for a sports coach to help with your fitness goals, or you are looking for a performance coach to support your workplace goals; go for it and let us know how you get on!
There are lots of ways to get involved and engage with Coaching week. Check out UK Coaching’s website: https://www.ukcoaching.org/our-campaigns/coaching-week and help bring #GreatCoaching to a community near you.
To find out more about our performance coaching services and the support that we offer individuals and teams, please contact Claire on: Claire@sportandbeyond.co.uk