Coach in the Spotlight - Anne Adeniyi

I was having a discussion with a friend and we started talking about coaching programmes. What initially drew me to the 2-day coaching academy event was the certificate of attendance. Coaching perfectly matched what I was looking for at the time, I’d been in a leadership and management role in the energy industry for several years and my role was becoming mundane, I felt like I needed new knowledge and skills to push myself further in my career.

Whilst at the 2-day event I quickly recognised coaching was very different to my initial understanding of it based on how it had been used in my work place. My staff hadn’t previously felt empowered by the targets set for them in our ‘coaching for performance conversations’ as it was directive and geared towards the businesses performance.

I found it very interesting to learn the real ‘side’ to coaching and couldn’t wait to get started with my Life Coaching Diploma. I started to learn how to get much more out of my staff by using the non-directive coaching style which improved their behaviour and attitude towards their personal performance/development goals which ultimately impacted the business performance – it was a win-win approach!

I came across some significant personal struggles on my journey towards qualifying, the most challenging being the sudden loss of my mother, which threw me completely off course, this was where I found the Values and Beliefs training most rewarding as it helped me to look inwardly, identify my core values and build the resilience needed to get back up and continue on my journey, not just in qualifying but in all other areas of my life.

The Diploma has given me a deeper insight into myself and my motivations. I have been inspired by the success stories shared at accelerator days, they are always my favourites because they always ‘hit home’ for me.

Having recently qualified in January, I have continued to use my coaching knowledge and acquired skills in my job as an operational manager where one of my key responsibilities is managing people and relationships and i have set up my coaching business. My key interest has always been in working with individuals to promote continuous personal growth and in retrospect, it was this interest that brought me into leadership and management in the first place 7 years ago.

My goals are now to continuously use my learned coaching skills in my current role and expand my coaching business. I have a keen interest in the Neuro-Linguistic Practitioner (NLP) Programme and this will be my next learning pursuit as it will expand my knowledge on the diversity of the human mind and nature.

I find myself applying coaching skills in my daily conversations with friends and family. I must say this is what I have enjoyed the most about coaching as these skills have become integrated into who I am and tremendously improved my communication skills over time. For example, from when my partner can’t seem to make up his mind on the next steps for his business, to helping my daughter build resilience when she is struggling with her homework and feeling discouraged, I have found my coaching skills have been a great way to generate solutions.
 
More than 2 years ago now, I sat in a room full of aspiring coaches like myself during the 2 day coaching program and the seed of my coaching dream was planted. I started to see an image of myself helping other people, working with individuals to enrich and empower them to be better and arrive at more effective solutions. This has now become my reality and as I look back, one of my favourite quotes comes to mind “If you see it in your mind, you will hold it in your hand.” – Bob Proctor