Volunteer Coachees

I've been keeping an eye out for volunteer coachees for the past few weeks. I will need three for when I start my coarse in September.

Special Friend volunteered ages ago, however I am consious that whilst I have done an introductory coaching coarse, I still have much to learn and will be of more benefit to her and her new business once I have completed my training.

However, she was keen to be coached and decided that some coaching now would be better than waiting so we got started. We can't do face to face - so we arranged to chat over the phone. I've been nervously waiting this day - AND excited at the same time. All those doubts going around my head:

"What if I let her down?",
"What if I can't help her?",
"what if she thinks I'm a fraud?"

Of course none of this actually mattered and once I started asking questions then I started to see some of the layers peel away.

What a fantastic feeling because I was beginning to have some real big doubts about my abilities to be a coach and get this business off the ground.

Oh what a feeling! - I have a great boss

I'm walking on air! I've taken the decision to tell my granddaddy boss(that's my boss' boss' boss) about my training course. I know there are people that would think I was mad to break some of my cover and that work may throw a spanner in the works but Hubby and I talked it over and ultimately at some point I'll have to declare that I have a second job. Hubby suggested that Granddaddy boss might be supportive. He's a very busy man so I had to book half an hour in his calendar and wait.

I think I was more nervous than when he originally interviewed me for the job i currently hold. But I had taken some time at my desk before hand to consider and structure my thoughts.

I told him all about my own personal disappointment over not been able to do the coaching training through work and how I was going to fund the course myself.

He said some very supportive stuff, confirmed that he had no issues but would check out the form filling side with personnel. He also approached them to see if they would help fund my learning. I didn't think so and I don't think he did either but I appreciated that he gave it a try.

I think he was actually relieved as he may have thought I was building up to telling him I wanted to leave.

He did get an agreement from personnel that if I needed some practice coachees that I could do that in works time - how fab a boss is that.