Some people are passionate about teaching and sharing their knowledge but if you ever shared your expertise with a room full of people you might notice that it doesn't always lead to long-lasting change. Chris Green is one of these educators and he decided to find a different way to empower business owners.
This week our Coach in the Spotlight is Chris Green, who decided to start coaching after he noticed that his business training wasn’t creating the long-lasting change he aimed for.
Now he helps senior managers face their challenges and enables his clients to build habits that underpin their learnings and skills.
How did you first hear about coaching?
A few years ago, someone I respect a lot, asked me why I wasn’t a coach. To be honest, I was unsure as to what coaching was but in my mind, it was for wise people who had all the answers and that certainly wasn’t me! Nevertheless, my curiosity had been pricked and I quickly found The Coaching Academy.
What inspired you to enrol with The Coaching Academy?
I still remember coming away from the free two-day Foundation course thinking “I have found my home”. I say “thinking” but it was more like a feeling. Since then, I have come to realise that it is the emotions that drive our decisions far more than logic.
What was/is your profession before becoming a coach?
Previously I was a business trainer – delivering “soft skills” courses in the Middle East. As much as I enjoy delivering training programmes, I was always struck at how little change I was really delivering. Delegates loved the courses but once they were back at the office “real life” took over, old habits reasserted themselves and the aspirations to change slowly died. I wanted to help people on their journey, not just come and go in a flash.
What was the most rewarding part of your training/journey?
As a people person, the bits I loved most were meeting all the fellow students at the accelerator days. The added benefit was that I live about 10 miles from Wychwood Park, so it was a piece of cake getting to the courses! My heart always went out to the delegates who had travelled up from London, Bristol etc. (honest!)
Can you tell us about a breakthrough moment when training?
The learning and the assessment days were always breakthroughs in their own right but my big breakthrough came when, early on, I uploaded a post on LinkedIn saying that I was now training to be a coach and who would like coaching for a small fee. Four people signed up. That was a massive boost to my confidence as well as recovering my investment in the course!
Where are you now? How are you using your coaching skills?
I qualified back in October (having completed the course in 8 months). My mission is to transform people’s lives for the better and coaching is a fundamental part of my business. It reinforces the learnings from my training programmes enabling clients to build habits that underpin their learnings and skills.
What is your coaching niche and why did you choose it?
My coaching niche is with senior managers in medium-sized businesses. From my own business background, I understand that founders/owners of these businesses are pretty much on their own. Often the things that worked in the past don’t seem to get the same results anymore. They are often unsure, or unwilling, to bring people into their business or to delegate effectively. Finally, they feel vulnerable (they care about the business, their staff, their families); a lot is resting on their shoulders and that can make it very hard to see “the wood from the trees”. I am also investigating how I can serve people who are in the public space. Clergy and politicians have many of the same challenges as medium-size business owners with the added challenge that everyone thinks they have the answers (I mean, we go to vicars when we have a problem but who do vicars talk through their challenges with?). The same applies to politicians (who do they share their goals and dreams with who won’t use it against them or leak it to the media?).
What are your top tips for: People who are looking to become qualified as a professional coach?
Get yourself on an accredited training programme! Apart from the fact that you have a certificate (which does give you some authority), you will learn robust models and processes which will underpin your coaching delivery.
Those currently in training with TCA?
As far as completing your TCA qualification: keep on top of your paperwork. I filled in every piece of paperwork that needed to be done within 24 hours of completing the task. It saves you so much time and angst at the end of the course. The other tip I would give is to find as many coaching clients to practise on. Whether they are free or paid is immaterial, it’s all about the practice. Use LinkedIn and approach former colleagues etc. rather than friends. Whilst I had some great reciprocal coaching with fellow students from TCA, too many can be a bit samey, nothing beats real, live clients.
If you're interested in finding out more about coaching, just like Chris did, sstart by joining us in our interactive live webinar. Choose from available dates here.
The Coaching Academy was established in 1999, and is now the world's largest coaching school.
In that time we have trained over 14,000 people to become life coaches.
We are accredited by the International Coach Federation and the Association for Coaching, and we're rated 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot.
