I was reading the blog post, as I do most mornings, from Seth Godin the other day and he caught my attention even more than he usually does (here’s the link – if you’re not reading Seth regularly, you’re missing out: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2014/01/how-to-draw-an-owl.html). He was writing about (in part) the leap from “draw two circles like this” to actually drawing the owl itself. He then drew a parallel to coaching, noting that coaching is most effective not when we teach people to draw the circles. Rather, it has the greatest impact as we “engage in interactive learning” after the initial circles are drawn.
Which begs the question, as a Certified Wellness Coach, are you teaching people to draw the circles (“you need to eat at least 5 servings of fruits and veggies/day and exercise daily for 30 minutes or more”) or are we truly engaging in interactive learning with our clients? Are we teaching/preaching? Or are we drawing out from our clients what matters most and the “why” that sits behind the “what”? Are we simply sending them a bunch of handouts (nothing wrong with handouts – IF part of the next process)? Or are we discovering along with them what the map may look like today, which may be very different from yesterday?
Wellness Coaches – we have a chance to literally change the world through the lives of our clients and those who’s lives they touch. However, we won’t have the opportunity to do so if we simply “tell.” That’s been tried time and time again. It’s time to draw some owls…
