Cobra Coaching
Mentoring
What does mentoring look like to you??
Ask 5 people this question, and you'll probably get 5 very different answers...
Here's my mentoring cloud; I wonder what yours would look like?
Together, we can identify what you want to achieve, or which direction you want to take in your role. We can then look at barriers (assumed and actual) and how we can clear the way to increased confidence and belief in your ability.
Feel free to read through, or if a particular area interests you more, just use the relevant link to jump ahead:
Challenge
Direction
Feedback
Input
Learning
Motivation
Success
Support
If you don't see a specific area covered, or your cloud looks vastly different, I'd love to talk to you about it!
Feel free to get in touch!!
Learning is full of challenge! While we can all attend courses that provide great information and learning support, to help you deeply understand your coaching self, we need to push you outside your comfort zone.
By investigating what initially appear to be contrary views, we can discover insights and ideas that lead to a deeper and more meaningful understanding of the craft of coaching.
The list of challenges is realistically endless, and we can journey through them together to help resolve any uncertainties and build your personal toolset and confidence.
Without direction, we will get lost quickly!
Where do you want your coaching to take you? Is there a eutopian dream? Sometimes, amongst all the learning opportunities available to us, we forget where we were originally headed and get a bit lost...
Let's discuss your aims and explore potential pathways to help steer you on an initial path - but don't be surprised if this path changes as you progress!
Feedback provides opportunities to acknowledge learning so we can continue the journey towards the desired aim, or at least in the current direction of learning.
To be effective, feedback has to be 360-degree, for all parties involved, or we run the risk of missing vital learning and opportunities to progress.
Both mentor and mentee need to feel confident in being completely honest with each other, or we will never see the full picture.
Input can come in many shapes and forms, and be available 24>7>365!
And don't be surprised if a lot of the input comes from within after we've explored some of the opportunities available which will be sparking ideas and setting off light bulbs left, right and centre.
There are countless methods for learning available to us; courses, books, websites, podcasts, conversations, television, attending sporting events...
You name it, it's a learning opportunity!
Having discussed and identified an initial direction, we can look at what could be beneficial learning for you. With such a wealth of information available, it shouldn't take too long to find meaningful material.
Motivation can come easy to many. If you know where you want to get to, and you're enjoying the challenges and learning along the way, it can be a self-motivating process.
However, when things don't quite go as planned, or the weather is awful turning your normally bright students into miserable drips (literally), things can get you down and you can begin to wonder what you're doing!
That's when you need a pick me up, preferably from someone with a glass half full mindset who can find positives in what might only look like a gloomy tunnel to you and help get you back on track.
Before we start, tell me, how do you define "Success"!!
One of my success definitions is around players coming back to the next session. That's a huge success for me as I've obviously supplied something enjoyable and meaningful for them.
Another would be the adoption of personal core values. I often talk to parents of players I coach, and if I can help that player enjoy their sport (even just for a season), help them feel a valued member of a team, and have developed a personal core value that they take forward through life, then I've done my job!
Your "success" might have a completely different definition - which is fine. We're in this together and we'll both learn lots along the way.
Support is a vital part of the process. If you don't feel able to reach out and ask for honest advice / help / guidance, then the process won't work.
Communication can be easy with so man platforms available to us, but they key points to remember are;
- there are no daft questions
- there are no daft answers!
No matter what it might be, if you need help with it, I'm here to support you to the best of my ability. A quick text, email, video call - whatever is needed to help keep you moving in the right direction.