Coach, or…?

June 13, 2024

One of the many things that struck me from yesterday’s session of the Designing Your Future in Coaching course, provided by the Institute of Coaching and led by David Drake, PhD, is this idea of coaching becoming a verb as much as, or more than, it currently is a noun. My interpretation of Dr. Drake’s prediction is that I will simply exist as a coach, like I exist as a man, a person, a human, or a husband, and my profession (i.e. shorthand title of value-provider for specific problem set) may go by another name besides coach.

Let me elaborate on that a little bit further. I exist in a state of being a husband, a person, being happy, being confused, being enthusiastic—you name it. One day, I will also exist being a coach, or coach-y, coach-like, or simply in a perpetual state of coaching. Oof, I love that.

It's already got me thinking about what that future title might be. What might that title be right now? If it weren't Coach, it would be:

Awareness Instructor.

One of my issues with the ICF core competencies is that they require us as professional coaches to subjugate our real capability to educate and share, and offer wisdom to clients, in service of the client's agenda. In other words, to teach. Instead we are, theoretically, obligated to only create the space for the client to explore what's happening inside of them and in the world around them. I am completely on board with that commitment to purposeful self-exploration. I also think it's more therapy than it is profound transformational coaching. But that's another topic for another day. And, all this to say that I do spend every day creating the self-exploration container for my clients.

But what's missing from that construct is all of the wisdom, perspective, training, and education that I as the coach have as well. I've struggled with that balance personally, and I've actually found the ICF core competencies too limiting, preventing me from showing up completely for my clients.

I find myself literally holding back bits and pieces - or even big chunks - of useful information that I am aware of which the client could benefit from, or could more rapidly or conscientiously accomplish their stated goals.

Teaching = transfer of knowledge and wisdom

Coaching = eliciting incites from within the client/audience

Where I could bridge teaching and coaching is this idea of being an awareness instructor. When I do a quick check-in on what every one of my clients tells me they are gaining from my services, it's consistently one theme: awareness.

Greater self-awareness, situational awareness, relational and relationship awareness. It's a greater awareness of who they are at any given moment, who they were in previous chapters of their lives, and who they want to be and what they want to be doing. How they want to behave and what they want to experience today or at some point in the near future.

They arrive at that, more or less, in our time together through an elevated and broader scope of awareness about themselves.

If I were to convert that over into teaching, if I were really teaching a course or if I were in front of an audience or a number of pupils, ultimately, what I would be instructing them on is pathways to greater self-awareness. Through that self-awareness, they can get to know their flaws, their gifts, their virtues, their gaps, and their blind spots.

And from there, they can decide what actions to take to be more of the best parts of themselves, and to fill in the gaps of areas where they either need or want to improve, grow, or expand. Then, they can go out and experiment, knowing confidently that they have their good parts and their less good parts, and it's all completely normal (and also quite courageous). Bottom line, the client is trying things out, and every time they try, they also have an opportunity to learn more about themselves through this open filter of mindfulness, sure, but specifically filtered through a purposeful objective towards greater awareness about self.

I thought I freed myself a couple of years ago by claiming the title of coach. I may free myself even further by claiming the title that truly works for me and says something more direct about the value I provide to other people: Awareness Instructor. Maybe it gets to the point faster for people who have never hired a coach, or who want something different than whatever they currently define as coaching. Either way, it's feeling a lot more true to who and what I am, while I also live in that enduring and wonderful verb of coaching.

Please add your reactions in comments so we can keep this dialogue going -

COACHES: How do you see the role of a coach evolving in the future, and what title or function would best capture that evolution for you?

COACHING CLIENTS: In what ways do you think an "awareness instructor" could enhance your personal or professional growth compared to traditional coaching?

EVERYONE: What aspects of self-awareness do you find most challenging to develop, and how could a shift in coaching approach help you address those challenges?