Coach In The Spotlight - Sally Humphries

I was introduced to coaching by a close friend of mine who had attended the course and was convinced that I’d be good at it. I came to the two-day event based on her recommendation alone and not really knowing what to expect. Needless to say I enjoyed it immensely and found the ‘it’ I’d been looking for forever.

I have worked within people focused jobs for years, from sales to customer services, in the fitness industry teaching group activities, and as a personal trainer and consultant in my own business as well as on a voluntary basis with young people as a youth leader and mentor. Most of my interactions with people have been on a one to one basis and mostly concerned with the betterment of the person. No wonder my friend thought that this was right up my street.

As a personal trainer and lifestyle consultant I could see how coaching would fit into my remit of bringing the best out of people’s fitness, health and lifestyle. I have always had a passion to help people become better versions of themselves. Coaching has given me the skill to help people more strategically to get the results they want.

The most fascinating part of my learning was that you can empower someone without telling them what to do. I have been amazed and still am to see a client’s ideas, creativity and potential unlock when they are just asked the right questions. It is tempting for us to think that we know better about someone else’s life but that doesn’t allow an individual to work things out for themselves. Coaching believes in the individual’s power to change. This is my favourite part of coaching. Another interesting and very powerful aspect of coaching is active listening, which is not only about what you hear verbally but what you hear that is not being said directly and making the client aware of ideas, beliefs and opinions that they didn’t know they had. This in itself can be very liberating for them.

There is nothing more satisfying than seeing your client progress. To see them achieve their goals and their confidence soar and doing things they have only ever dreamed of. It is both a privilege and very humbling. My clients inspire me! I always learn from them.

Currently I am using my coaching skills to coach women to make lifestyle changes to their health and wellbeing, both physically and emotionally. I also use coaching in a group setting at the end of my Lifestyle Seminars, where, after learning about nutrition and exercise and how to implement these into their daily lives, delegates are taken through a group coaching session to create a goal and action plan to go forward. This means they not only leave with lots of information but with a clear plan and motivation to make the changes they need. I follow this up with personal coaching to ensure maximum results.

I also coach women one to one on living a healthy more vibrant life and fulfilling life-long dreams. My coaching sessions focus on practical ways of making life better, like getting organised, meal planning, exercise programming, prioritising, time management, discipline and doing what you love.

My coaching niche is health and wellbeing, physical and emotional, and I mainly work with women. I am passionate about helping women to feel better about themselves and how they look by being able to regulate hormone function and generate better emotional wellbeing through the foods they eat and keeping fit.

My favourite coaching question is ‘If you had no limitations what would you do?’ I believe that half of our problems come from the limits that we, or others, put on ourselves. Some are real but a good deal of them are imagined. Changing a person’s perception of what limits them is a great way to help them to move forward.

I love being a coach because it gives back the steering wheel to a person’s life.

It gives back the power to the client. It believes in the client’s ability in to do, be or have whatever they want. It’s actually very honest and very fair as it puts the client in the centre of their life again. It assumes the best of the client. How can that not boost anyone’s confidence?

My advice to anyone looking at coaching would be to really think about why they want to pursue it. If they care about people, are patient, able to stay impartial and really want the betterment of the people they work with then coaching would be good for them. However, there is a lot more involved with coaching and it takes discipline to learn and keep to best practice and to stick to the methodology of coaching.

My top tips for new coaches and those training are: Don’t doubt yourself. I spent too long fussing about whether I was doing things right that it almost stopped me from doing anything at all. Have confidence in yourself and confidence in the coaching process. Be sincere. Really listen. Get yourself out of the equation (clear your head space). Be professional and… don’t give away too many freebies! They don’t always convert to paying clients.

All the best to everyone training to become a coach!

Sally