5 things a coach can help you with
We often hear from clients that when they first hear about coaching, they don’t think the service is relevant to them.
What would I talk to a coach about?
I’m pretty confident at work already.
Things seem to be going fine.
I’m not at a point in my career where I need coaching.
Healthcare professionals sometimes think that coaching is meant for people in senior leadership positions who are struggling with their careers or want to improve their leadership skills. While coaching services can certainly help with those things, there are lots of other reasons that healthcare professionals seek coaching.
We’ve made a list of five things a coach could help you with, to help you make an informed decision about whether coaching is right for you.
1. Self-Awareness
It’s difficult to improve your skills if you don’t have a sense of your strengths and areas of development.
Whether your goal is to become a better leader, increase your productivity at work, or better manage your stress, the first step is becoming aware of what you’re doing well, where you need to improve, and the kinds of habits—good and bad—you’ve developed in your career so far.
A coach can help guide you on your journey to self-awareness by asking targeted questions, working with you to identify why certain situations have had particular outcomes in the past, and giving you ideas for how to change your habits to better support your goals.
2. Resilience
If you find it difficult to “bounce back” from unexpected, difficult, or negative experiences at work, you may need to work on building resilience.
Especially in a high stress setting like healthcare, where it can be so easy to let the stories of your patients or clients impact you personally, it’s crucial to keep pushing through when things don’t go as planned.
You may still be trying to cope with the additional stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, trying to figure out how to move forward in your workplace’s “new normal” as public health restrictions fluctuate. Managing your responsibilities at work and your mental health when the ground feels like it keeps shifting under your feet is a lot to handle. Building resilience can help.
3. Team Effectiveness
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Have you ever struggled with your team’s ability to work effectively or with finding your role on a team? Whether you’re a formal leader or want to develop skills to informally guide your team to success, it is key to understand the art and science of teamwork, including how to work with different personalities, recognize burnout, and care for yourself and your team during stressful situations.
A coach can help you understand your team’s dynamics, how you tend to respond to stress and conflict, and how you can foster more effective interactions and collaboration with your colleagues and coworkers.
4. Coping with Change
The past couple of years have highlighted the need for adaptability in the healthcare sector. As public health protocols, internal policies, and staffing needs evolved with the pandemic, it wasn’t always easy to keep up.
If you struggle to cope with change—especially rapid change that you have little control over—you’re not alone. Maybe the way you do your job has changed and you find it hard to accept that some things may not return to “normal” as you once knew it. Or maybe you’re transitioning into a new role and are feeling overwhelmed by the learning curve.
Talking to a coach could be a great way to work through your personal and professional challenges when it comes to change, and improve your emotions and attitudes at work and beyond.
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5. Effective Communication
Do you often find that people have a hard time following your instructions? Do you ever struggle to ask questions in a way that gets you the type of answer you’re actually looking for? Do things tend to fall through the cracks due to miscommunications within your team?
On healthcare teams, effective communication is crucial. Identifying your communication style and how to adapt or leverage it to the benefit of your team is easier said than done, and a coach can give you concrete strategies that will help you meet your goals.
Is coaching right for me?
If you want to improve any of the skills above, finding a coach you resonate with could be a great way to get started.
We’re here to help you figure out the best way to meet your goals.