This week's Coach in the Spotlight is Bradley Hession! Bradley is a Youth Career Coach & Mentor on a mission to unlock present & future generations' potential whilst empowering them about their future careers. In this blog article, along with 3 tips for coaching young people, Bradley shares with you his passion for youth coaching and how he has already made a significant difference in the lives of teenagers and young individuals using life coaching.
I work with 14-24 year olds on a one-to-one basis, as well as run programmes/workshops in schools, colleges and youth organisations. A few key skills I utilise in my youth coaching niche area are active listening, creativity & focusing on rapport building because these are 3 key elements that create a safe, trusting, understanding & fun environment for young individuals to thrive & grow in. As part of the rapport-building process, I do offer face-to-face coaching services because I believe wholeheartedly in the power of human connection, especially for the younger generations in a technologically driven world.
Working with young individuals has long been a passion & aspiration of mine because of the impact that my PE teacher had on me as a young teenager. This experience encouraged and inspired me to become a PE teacher myself, which I then studied at university, but youth work became my true calling. Youth work became the place where I knew I could make a greater impact, so for 5 years now I have been supporting young people through youth work in the different phases of their lives, 14-16, 16-18 and 18 plus (depending on post-college steps) - 3 key phases of a young individual's life.
I have an ethos in life which is 'be the person you needed when you were younger' and this drives me every day, because in our young teenage and early adulthood lives we all needed support beyond our family circles. There is a saying in the working world of fulfilment that when you help others you are also helping yourself and that's the impact life coaching has on me personally.
As I said above I thoroughly believe that we all needed support between the ages of 14-24, many of us at some point in our young lives felt lost, confused, lacked self-esteem or simply needed a positive voice in our ear that said, 'you can do it'. Times have not changed and young individuals experience these same thoughts & feelings today!
Therefore through my youth coaching business (Bradley Hession Coaching) it is imperative to me that I help each individual gain the tools, resources & self-belief that their life is in their hands and they can be who they want to be or do what they want to do career wise. Through this transformative process the outcomes are a more self-aware, confident & resilient individual who is better prepared to deal with tough times & make the transition to early adulthood.
1 - Be open-minded to learning & unlearning, each generation will teach us, as coaches, different things and as society changes it is important for us as coaches to adapt to our audience.
2 - Be creative in your approach and utilise the coaching tools as well as visual aids ensuring the sessions do not feel like a classroom.
3 - Listen, listen & listen again. Young people just want to be heard & empowered to believe they can make informed choices themselves whilst building a 'Can Do' mindset.
To wrap up this blog, I would highly encourage anyone interested in coaching to make the investment in the Life Coaching Diploma because it is truly empowering, enlightening & eye-opening. I am also studying the Coaching in Education Diploma with The Coaching Academy and both investments have been the greatest in my life so far.
Even if you do not plan to open a coaching business, the impact the process will have on yourself is equally worthy. In the words of many greats in this world 'feel the fear & do it anyway'.
Thank you Bradley for sharing your inspirational coaching journey with us!
If you’re feeling inspired about using coaching to positively impact the lives of others why not join us for our free Introduction to Life Coaching webinar?
If you are interested in youth coaching, or using coaching skills within teaching and education, you may also be interested in our free follow-up session: Insight into Coaching Within Education which shares insight to our Coaching within Education coaching qualification.
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