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Thanks for listening and see you next time. Hello, and welcome to Coaches
to Now the Bite Sized podcast where we discuss one topic around coaching. I'm
your host Jamie and today I'm joined by coach Elizabeth and our topic today is
coachability. Coach Elizabeth has spent over two decades quote coaching unquote training developing leaders
at well known brands such as Nike and Anthropology and others before coming a full
time executive and wellness coach. Her corporate career has given her first hand experience
as to what it is like to actually be a coachy and be on the
other side of an engagement, and like many of her clients, she wears
many hats, including wife, stepmom and durrance athlete, yogi manation teacher,
and world traveler. Her clients are those seeking to align their lifestyle and professional
goals with their values, and she helps both individuals and teens identify what those
values are put them into action in order to achieve cohesion, collaboration, and
inclusivity. She also specializes in organizational change, purpose, communication, presentation,
and executive presence. So thank you Coach Elizabeth for joining me here today,
and we're going to start off with the fundamental premise that I have often believed,
which is that everyone is coachable. But the question really is is that
true? Are they? And part of this question came out of this conversation
I had with another coach who told me that less than ten percent of people
are actually coachable. So I'm excited for today's discussion. I'm just excited for
your insight around this topic. But why don't we start by defining what we
need by coachability, what it is and what it isn't. Okay, wonderful,
Thank you, Jamie. I'm so thrilled to be here. Thank you
for having me and what an important topic. The basis of being a coach
is working with people who are in fact coachable. You know, I tell
you that the answer probably is subjective, you know, it's an opinion whether
or not somebody is coachable or not. My belief and my premise, however,
is that a few things need to be aligned to determine if someone is
coachable. Everybody has the ability to be coached, but I believe that people,
places, and things need to be aligned at the right time for it
to really be a stellar fit. So people, the person, the coaching,
the client needs to show up ready to in fact in the process.
But compatibility needs to be there with their coach. So the people factor,
the people relationship is very inagural, the part it's a partnership, it's a
one on one partnership between coachy and coach, and so compatibility, the ability
for the coach to be a trusted guide and a thought partner for that coaching
is of paramount importance. Places place Does the coaching have the right place in
their life? Are they ready and equipped to dive into certain focuses. Are
they in a life place to make the effort to do the progress and to
do some self discovery about themselves? And then things? People, places and
things are the focuses, the objectives, the intentions, and the goals that
they have aligned with where they are in their place in life professionally or personally,
and with that coach that they're working with. So people, places and
things are really important, and willingness is a key factor as well. Great,
thank you so much for that. I'm like this idea that there's three
factors that contribute to whether somebody is coachable or not coachable. What do you
find is the biggest challenge to somebody's coachability. Is it the people, is
it the place or is it the things? Yeah? And you know,
I go from people, places in things, and I break it down to
an acronym that I really like to use, and I think this will answer
your question. And if we take the word coach ability and I look at
the word coach, coacch let's talk through those letters because I think this will
really provide insight for anybody thinking about exploring being coached, just pecially if they're
first time coaching. And I'll pause by saying, coaching covers a great gamut
of different types of coachingice coaching, leadership and business coaching. That's executive coaching.
That's what I specialize in. Relationship coaching, communication coaching, wellness,
health, nutrition coaching, et cetera. But regardless of the focus of the
type of coaching somebody is engaging in, they need to be curious. So
the see from coach is curiosity. Is that person willing to have a beginner's
mind. Are they ready to be open and to learn new things, not
specifically learning from the coach, but learning about themselves. So that curiosity factor
is really key in my experience with coaches. They need to be open.
Are they open minded? Are they open to outcome that will come about during
the process rather than being very attached to outcomes. Sometimes I work with a
coachy who says, Hey, Elizabeth, I want to dive into this one
specific focus and I want you to help me get from point A to point
B, and I want to tell you how I want to get there.
And the openness to allowing the path to unfold naturally is really important that organic
process. So openness is key. The coaching needs to be available and accountable
both, So that's my a in the acronym coach. They need to be
accountable to the process and really doing some you know, potentially after work following
a session, which allows them to do some reflection. Sometimes there are some
light exercises that may be talked about, but really being accountable to moving the
ball along during the process and making time for it. Typically coaching sessions have
some kind of cadence, a predetermined cadence, and so being available at that
set time to work with your coach is key. Commitment, of course,
is important as well. I talked about compatibility between the two people, but
commitment to the overall journey is key. And then honesty are you honestly ready
and willing to make this a part of your personal journey, be it for
professional growth or personal growth. So to answer your question, what is the
most challenging you know, what sometimes is the hurdle or the roadblock that I
find it typically is the willingness and accountability to committing to the process. I
believe that coaches come to a coach because they have some interest. There's something
that has sparked a desire to grow, to transform, to evolve in their
personal or professional life, and so that seed of inquiry is there in the
coaching. Hence they seek out a coach. But once they start to open
up and do the work and perhaps discover some things about themselves, they establish
their own roadblock and halt and say, hey, maybe I'm not ready for
this journey. So that is, you know, sort of the accountability and
the timing and being available in that in that place. Thank you for that
explanation. I always love an acronyms for describing, you know, different concept
different ideas, which makes them much more memorable. In terms of thinking about
willingness and accountability. Have you ever been engaged with a client where you felt
like that was their roadblock, but then they were actually able to get through
it because you know, we all know you meet a coach, you have
a discovery session, an introductory session which doesn't cost you anything more than your
time, and it's a getting to know you period, and then the first
couple of sessions are really critical. Is it with that within those first we'll
say two to three sessions that you can that it's possible to turn around and
become basically overcome unwillingness or overcome accountability. There is absolutely and I believe that
the spark that sort of aha moment that a coache or a client may may
have comes from certainly the dynamic between the coachy and their coach, because again,
this is a very intimate partnership. You know, we work one on
one with one another. There is a lot of vulnerability. There is openness
to the past, talking about things that have been experiences or you know,
other other paths that they've gone down, and then where they want to go
in the future and being really honest and willing to explore that with a coach
requires vulnerability. So I find that in that sort of fit test, that
meet and greet that happens in the beginning or in the first couple of sessions.
As you mentioned, sparks can happen organically where coach says, oh,
my goodness, you just asked me a question, or we started to discuss
a topic that I wasn't even planning on, you know, journeying with you,
but it gives me great pause to explore that. And so the organic
nature of how a coaching engagement can start is typically what shifts in a person
that makes them more accountable and more willing and more interested. So that goes
back to that first see in the coach acronym, which is curiosity really being
open and curious to do the self discovery m So it sounds like, you
know, even if somebody is interested but maybe not not sure the timing is
right. You know, it's always worth at least two to three sessions to
draw to give your yourself the opportunity to be drawn in. And if the
time is not right, then it's not right right and then you can pull
the plug or say, you know, I need to put pause or whatever.
But ultimately you know it's not going to be always instantaneous, so sometimes
you have to give your self time. As the coachy to get into the
process. That's right, that's right. I think for the process to be
effective and to really bring value to the coaching, because that's what we do
as coaches. We are service providers, we are servant leaders, really intending
to bring great value to the client, to the coaching of their time,
of their of their money, of their investment. So in order to do
that, coming into the process, you know, I would I would recommend
to any coachee who's considering hiring a coach, what is the purpose and what
is the passion that you have? It's that simple. Is there a clarity
of purpose? Is there a definition or a refinement of purpose that you're looking
for? And do you have passion around it? Is your head open,
is your heart open? Are you willing to take that journey? So I
say, you know, are you coming into define or refine something about your
life? Define or refine a purpose that you may have a clarity that you're
looking for. Are you looking to inform or transform something in your life or
some part of your journey again personally or professionally. Thank you for that explanation.
We have time for one more question, and I just want to know
have you ever been engaged with a client that wasn't ready and how do you
how do you as the coach now and did the coaching now? Yeah,
that's a great question. The answer is yes. I will also say that
I have been a coaching who was not ready for the process, and personally,
it was the very first executive coach that was offered to me, and
at the time, I felt like they were assigned to me, and I
felt like it was you know, punitive rather than additive in my senior role
in my career, and because I didn't really take the time to understand what
an investment was being made, the investment that was being made in me to
grow my scope of responsibility and my scope of learning about myself as a leader,
to transform me and it was an amazing gift. But in the beginning,
I wasn't ready because I just didn't understand the opportunity and the gift that
having a coach would give to me. For myself, I have had a
few coaches come to me interested in growing, interested in learning a little bit
more about a process of working with a coach versus a therapist or a counselor
or other related service providers. And the issue really became a lack of clarity
around where they wanted to go with the process, and they wanted to be
led and told and almost advised more than being invested themselves to do the work
and do the reflection and to really show up to sessions and show up to
engagements with their own investment in topic and content and setting goals and intentions for
themselves. So I think if you can align with the coaching what their purpose
is and their passion to the process, it really helps inform them that,
oh, I have an accountability to this and I want to do this,
and so the desire needs to be there. Again, going back to willingness,
I think the person being really willing to show up in a one on
one partnership and not just be led and actually lead itself through the journey is
important. Yeah, it sounds like sort of that willingness piece is really about
an emotional investment into your own success. It is. It is it's saying,
you know, I have a coach that I have a compatibility with.
So we've done the fit test, we've done the meet and greet, and
we have a compatibility as people. But then the place that I am in
my life am I willing to invest my time and my thought, and my
heart and my head into this, being open to outcomes, not attached to
a specific end result, as I said, and then really using the coach
as a thought partner and a trusted guide, a confidant, you know,
and the confidant that they may not have elsewhere in their life personally or professionally,
to to grow and to pivot and to transform. Thank you. That's
a wonderful note to end on. I've greatly enjoyed our conversation today, Coach
Elizabeth uh and it's hard to imagine you not being compatible with every coach EU
that you that you come across to our audience. If you were. If
you're interested in learning more about Coach Elizabeth, I would like to work with
Coach Elizabeth. Please check out her profile on theidms dot com and thank you
so much for joining us today. Thank you, thanks for listening. Please
subscribe wherever you listen and leave us a review. Find your ideal coach at
www dot viidmix dot com. Special thanks to our producer Martin Maluski and singer
songwriter Doug Allen Ba