Time for change!

It’s September, finally! I love this time of year – the smell of bonfires, Autumn leaves, crispness in the air. When I was little, September meant a new pencil case and pens, excitement and nerves about a new school year (wow, did I put a lot of pressure on myself when I was young, yep!).

Now, September still has that crispness in the air and sense of newness for me.

2020 has been a year of Continual Change – that’s scary and exciting still.

My new business venture had only just started when lockdown happened here in the UK. As well as a big rethink in terms of how I was going to serve clients (and find new clients), I took the plunge with some training for myself that would help me work with Gen X women who are Team Leaders. That training is now nearly finished.

Today is the last practicum of the amazing World Business & Executive Coach Summit (WBECS) Global Team Coaching Institute’s Team Coaching Gateway programme.

It all got emotional in the last webinar – the photo with this article exemplifies how to graduate from an online class: with a firm sense of achievement and global community and connection.

Lifelong learning is a fun scary!

I’ve gained so much confidence, tools and techniques to use in my Team Leadership Coaching from this training. Having worked in teams, led teams and coordinated teams for over twenty years, I’ve learned that there is ALWAYS more to learn and that’s exciting!

Learning anything new and putting yourself out there amongst strangers to discover new ways of working is scary but see it as a healthy challenge. It helps me that I come from a family of lifelong learners (formal education is very different from learning for me, having been in the first generation to go to University): my paternal Grandfather gained a French A-Level in his 70s, having already learned 6 languages (I think!) during his lifetime; my maternal Grandmother learned English as an immigrant; my Dad went to University in his forties and gained a MSc in his 60s. It is never too late to learn nor to be humble enough to admit that yes, I don’t know everything, none of us do!

Learning is one of my Top Ten Business and Personal Values and yes, the GTCI coaching was scary at first – all these new coaches, all at different levels of experience in their coaching, coming together to learn. But, it’s been a good time to push myself and strengthen my coaching practice and I’ve met some Amazing, Complicated, Funny women!

What I’ve learned from the GTCI training is working already, as confirmed by a Team Leadership Coaching client I’m currently coaching:

I feel so much happier in my role, I feel so much more equipped for dealing with difficulties in my team. My responses to recent situations as a result of this coaching experience have definitely benefited my team but they have empowered me. I am a stronger, happier leader who now includes myself in decisions at work.

So, a huge thanks and global team hug to everyone who took part in the training, the training leaders Professor Peter Hawkins (what a great podcast episode this is!) and Professor David Clutterbuck, my practicum leader Sue Coyne and the amazing programme coordinator Dimi Kassari whose patience with all of us has been outstanding :).

This September, I’m nervous and excited once more, to see where my training takes me next and who I can now help. How are you all feeling about September and Autumn/Fall?