Enthusing - Part 2

The second class in this course was held on Thursday, March 22, 2007. One of the best things I got out of this class was that Angela enthused us that coaching takes many forms…sometimes it looks like therapy, sometimes it looks like teaching, sometimes it is more questioning and sometimes it is enthusing. I was encouraged by this because I know that my approach to coaching, mostly due to the nature of coaching I do, is different from a lot of what I hear at ICA. I coach women who are in crisis in their marriage, I spend a lot of time encouraging, listening and just being present with their emotions. Thank you, Angela for enthusing me!

Angela shared a diagram that she uses to help people see where they devote their energy. I thought it was a good way to help our clients focus on what is important to them. I imagine that it would also be a way for them to see if something is taking their energy that they don’t want to be a priority. One of the steps in the diagram was to assign a percentage to each of the six things that they name. Where are they putting their energy? This includes where our thoughts are (if you are doing something else but your thoughts are on work…the energy is on the work). If nothing else it would be an eye opening exercise. Whatever you put your energy into you are building, whatever you don’t put your energy in will eventually die.

Going into this course I was feeling really frustrated and inadequate about my ability to enthuse. I now realize that my perception about what enthusing is was incorrect. I am so encouraged to see that enthusing is more than standing on the sidelines saying “Rah-Rah-Rah” but, rather, bringing energy to my clients by supporting them, helping them see a different perspective or helping them to feel empowered.