How to be a Phenomenal Coach to Anyone, About Anything
Three little questions changed my coaching game forever
I’ve been an educator for over twenty years, primarily in secondary schools. In all this time, I didn’t know what an academic coach was until I became one. For almost a full year, I floundered in this position or felt like I did. I read countless books about coaching, some really phenomenal ones like The Art of Coaching and Coaching for Equity by Elena Aguilar, some great books by educational giant Jim Knight, and really practical workbooks based on the student-centered coaching model by Diane Sweeney.
If you’re not in education yourself, chances are those are a bunch of names you’ve never heard of. The thing is because I was so lost in terms of figuring out what, exactly, I was supposed to do as a coach, I researched the crap out of all sorts of coaching: life coaching, creative coaching, business coaching, stress management coaching, you name it. I learned that, if there’s a thing out there, like, literally ANYTHING, there’s likely someone actively coaching or studying to become a coach to support others in doing that thing.
I had dozens of friends coming out of the woodwork with realizations that they wanted to become coaches, getting certifications to do so from institutions that, I guess, are legit since…