After taking Fundamentals in the fall, this year I registered for the four courses I need to take next, the first one: Fulfillment. Having learned from last time, I gave myself a little more space for it – I opted for the half day sessions (0900-1330), planned a day off afterwards, and as it fell right after St Patrick’s day, I had a day off before as well.
The other thing I learned from last time was to create the WhatsApp group on day 1. As a result, we had a vibrant backchannel, social zoom calls, and a lot of peer support. It made so much difference to my experience personally, and given the lovely comments from others in my group I gather it made a difference to them as well! It also allowed me to direct people interested in being practice clients to my classmates, which so far has seemed to be a win all round. It was really nice to be able to help people in that way.
Whilst Fundamentals is coaching 101, Fulfillment is about the tools you use to live your best life – figure out values, purpose, and give some form to your inner strength and wisdom. It seemed like an intimidating first course, but as I went through it that made sense – helping people find fulfilment is the ultimate work of coaching.
What I got out of it
- It was very clarifying for me, and made the work I’d done (in coaching, therapy, and the PQ program I did recently) feel very concrete.
- Going through this experience in a focused and immersive way, and seeing the impact on other people showed me the power of these tools that don’t resonate with me superficially, that I’ve probably been resistant to in my own coaching at times.
- The course recommitted me to this process. I was worried that it was a lot of time on top of work, and maybe I need vacation instead (pandemic burnout! omg!). But in the end it was very recharging – I felt that I had gone on an emotional journey with a bunch of lovely people.
What’s Next?
- I’m registered for the next course in June, which gives me time to digest this one (and do some other things… like prep the talk I’m giving soon…).
- I’ve started working with BestPracticer as a coach. Their model of combined coaching plus learning curriculum is interesting, and for it’s a nice way to combine this learning with a core competency of engineering management. And above all… I love helping support people’s development as engineering leaders!