The profession of coaching is often misunderstood.

Some people think of it as a part of a professional improvement plan to address weaknesses and deficiencies.

Some people think coaching sounds patronizing, as if to imply you aren’t capable of doing your job on your own.

Others think it is giving advice, mentoring, or therapy.

Coaching is none of these things.

I have come to think of my coaching as strategic decision support for the people I serve.

You see, you make decisions every day of your life, whether conciously or unconsciously.

Here are some of the conscious decisions you make:

• what your goals are

• what your priorities are

• what you take action on

• ways you contribute to the world

And these are some of the unconscious decisions you make:

• automatic habits you do without having to think about them (these began as conscious choices and, with practice, became unconscious)

• what your desires are (you don’t choose them as much as they choose you)

• the kind of people you are drawn to

And then there are things dwell in the unconscious because you haven’t yet made them explicit:

• what your values are

• what energizes you

• what stories you live into / what drives you

• how you show up for others

• how you respond to stress

These are behind-the-scenes actors that shape much of how you operate in the world, and yet most people never slow down long enough to really examine them.

This last category is also where your cognitive biases will show up and thwart your best efforts at decision-making.

The things that stay buried in your unconscious mind hold really important clues that need to be mined and brought to your conscious mind as relevant data to help you make informed decisions.

And it’s simply something you can’t do for yourself. None of us can.

Without doing this, however, you are effectively ignoring critical data about yourself and leaving them out of the decision-making process.

If you’d like a thought partner to support you with your next strategic decision, you and I should have a conversation.

Love,

Audrey