Distractions

I’m a zealot about managing distractions when coaching. I normally think of cell phones, email, doorbells, children, dogs, cat walking across my desk, small child practicing mousemanship … the regular list.

That’s changed.

For the past few weeks I've been plagued by back problems … which is quite a distraction. I can work, take care of clients, get my house ready for sale … those kinds of important items, but I have not been blogging. Therefore, distractions have expanded into my blogging world. Just because I hurt doesn’t automatically translate to “can’t do my blogs” but apparently it has.

Blogging requires having something to say about something. I’m not pleased with myself for using pain and inconvenience as an excuse but it seems I have.

Distractions are a big deal in the world of professional coaching. That’s why there’s a very important competency called Coaching Presence. I’ve learned to manage this competency when coaching so now it’s time to expand its reach. Where this ‘reach’ goes I do not know but in case I wasn’t finding something new to learn, here it is!

While I’m on a roll, let me say something about Coaching Presence. Over the past couple of months I’ve had the pleasure and frustration of evaluating 4 coaching exams. The key to success, as I long ago discovered, is to be fully present, completely flexible and totally in service of one’s client. There is no other way to pass the ICF exams at a high level.

Distractions for coaches taking their exams are often subtle … so subtle the coach is unaware of them. These kinds of distractions include “trying really hard,” “preparing so much the prep itself destroys presence,” “having exam anxiety (performance anxiety),” “being awed by the assessor team (trust me it happens),” “failure to practice a 30-minute session,” “letting any other distraction get in the way,” “being late to the call,” … got the point? This list of what could be construed as beneficial (e.g. trying really hard) actually is subtle sabotage to peak performance in an exam setting. Any of these distractions will get in the way of being fully present in the conversation. A low score in Coaching Presence is not supportive of doing well in the exam, most definitely at the MCC level.

You might wonder if anyone passes their exam … the answer is yes! My past blogs talk a lot about what it takes to pass. This blog reminds us all that we must overcome distractions and not let them destroy our capacity to be fully present and natural.