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Positive Coaching and mindful role modelling 

Why do you coach?

As a coach how do you see yourself?

What type of coach do you want to be?

How will you achieve these goals?

These questions are important to enable authentic coaching and role modelling.

I love coaching and am very passionate about doing well as a coach and also enabling my players and clients to reach their personal best. 

Enthusiasm and Zest are key ingredients in my coaching style and this is a positive attribute. However, and this is a big however, ‘too much of a good thing’ is not a good thing. And too much Zest spoils the recipe!

Character strengths can be linked to our personal superpowers are they provide a useful vocabulary and reasoning to why we may be good a particular task, skill or pursuit. Scientist have identified 24 character strengths all of us possess. In addition to these findings we human tend to over and under play certain signature strengths. 

Check out www.viacharacter.org ( a top resource for all things Character Strength!)

We tend to stick to our preferred game plan (learned default) and practice what we know. As any enthusiastic coach will tell you, we need to mix up our game plan. 

Variety, diversity and a change up of tempo and tactics is required, otherwise the game plan become predictable. 

And this thought, circles me back to ‘too much of a good thing’. 

One of my top character strengths is Zest and it has served me well throughout my life. With the added bonus of self awareness and learning from mistakes I am now aware of when I begin to overplay the character strength and it turns from ‘Zest to Pest’.  Examples of this are when I choose to talk rather than choose to listen, when I interrupt when I could refrain or when i am so excited, I decide to impulsively finish someone else’s sentence. 

This personal revelation is also an illuminating insight to my professional life and my coaching philosophy. 

By practicing mindfulness on a daily basis, I can set the mindful intention of being the coach I am and the coach I wish to be. I can practice the skills of self and emotional regulation to enable a more composed, calm and collected coach.

In turn, I am a listener and this creates the space to become a more capable decision maker, responder verse reactor and can enable  and empower my players and clients to develop and practice and develop their personal  character strengths game plan. 

A ‘Win-Win’ I do say, regardless of the score board.