The Sprint : Highlights from the panel discussion
Lean In Network Bangalore’s pro bono Coaching Initiative for women: In Collaboration with Navgati’s Coaching Collective
When different people come together with the great intent of paying it forward and making a difference, it’s a win-win-win situation and magic happens! That’s exactly how we would like to describe our experience with ‘THE SPRINT’ — A collaboration between Lean In Network Bangalore and Navgati’s Coaching Collective to bring the expertise of ICF trained coaches to impact our community of fabulous women.
The Sprint is our flagship pro bono coaching program, spread over 3 months, where a coach works one on one with the women in our community helping them find ways to move forward and create growth for themselves.
Kickstarted, in Dec 2021, We had over 100s of women embark on this journey and make a bigger mark.
The recent panel discussion we had to launch the COHORT 3 had Sweta Pachlangiya from @Leanin Bangalore, Sunitha Krishnamurthy from Navgati and a group of coaches and coachees Srinath tirumale, Deepika Mahidhara, Divya Dixit and Rachael Ferreira who wholeheartedly shared their learnings from the coaching experience. They not only shared heartwarming testimonials, they also busted myths and shared their take on what is and what is not covered in a typical coaching conversation.
Sweta Pachlangiya kickstarted the session by welcoming the panel and the new cohort. She spoke about how the coach and the coachees are the stars of the journey while the core team will act as the cheerleaders to enable the participants. She also decoded the structure, expectations and the outcomes of the program.
And here are some highlights from the panel which will give you insights about what to expect from the program.
Coaching as a metaphor:
When asked to describe coaching through a metaphor, the panel came up with some interesting responses. Deepika said it is like a treasure hunt to understand ourselves through patterns and codes, Srinath said it’s like a google navigator which helps one navigate once we have decided our destination and sometimes inspires us to take detours and maybe even change our destination without really directing it. Divya and Rachael described it beautifully as a self-care experience equal to a mental/emotional spa where we are taking time out for ourselves.
If you know a little about coaching, one of the fundamentals of it is that the coach is not going to advise you OR tell you. So, you may wonder what is the value of having a coach if the coach doesn’t really tell you what to do? Here’s what the panel members said:
Ask, don’t tell.
- The coach comes with a firm belief in your abilities to think/decide for yourself
- It’s like looking in the mirror. You hear yourself aloud and that reflection helps you gain clarity. Otherwise, it’s all in your head
- The coach gives you a safe space to talk without fearing judgment. The silent accepting spaces which are so rare.
- If you are talking to a friend or a family member about the challenge you are facing, the first thing you would hear would be ‘advice’. The ‘do one thing’ syndrome unleashes itself and you can feel discounted/not heard in the process. In coaching, you have someone to listen to you without an agenda. And sometimes having a person with no direct connection to your life and offering a neutral perspective helps a lot.
- The coach also helps you pause by asking relevant questions which you are probably not asking yourself (most often because you are afraid of the answers you may get)
- The coaches will also nudge you to experiment with new ways of doing things with the awareness you have got through the conversations. It’s like unlocking your own hidden potential.
The NOTs:
Now you may ask if this is coaching what it is not? What will the coach not do?
- Coaching is NOT a venting session.
- The coaches are trained to NOT bring their personal bias into conversations.
- We are all walking bags of assumptions and have limiting beliefs such as ‘I must keep everyone happy’, ‘I cannot say NO to authority figures’ etc. The coaches will challenge us and may NOT agree with us when we are making such assumptions that are not rooted in reality.
- And remember when the coach is not giving us readymade solutions, it is not because they don’t want to help us. But comes from a place of great trust in your abilities.
The panel members busted some myths about coaching and decoded why it is not true:
Facts:
- Coaching is for everyone
- The coaches can be of any gender and are trained to listen and offer professional coaching experience
- The process of coaching is not just what happens in the conversation. The insights can lead to change in behavior
- Coaching is for anyone who is keen on working for themselves
Myths:
- If am in coaching, then something is wrong with me. Coaching is only remedial
- The Sprint coaches are only women because only they can understand my context
- The coaching duration is not enough because it is only 3 months
- Coaching is only for senior leadership members
Counseling, Coaching, Mentoring, Therapy — What’s the difference?
The panel members explored the differences and similarities between the 4. They said there is an overlap between all the four because the common thing is there is a desire to be there for you. In all 4 areas, the coaches are trained in skills like deep listening and inquiry. However, the key difference is that coaching is about the here and now into the future. Whereas counseling and therapy addresses the root cause of the issue.
For example, if the challenge is about a struggle to ask for promotion at work, the coaching conversation may explore the experience with previous managers, the current challenges and ways to address it whereas in therapy the same issue can be explored with the lens of historical data like relationship with authority figures in general.
When asked what kind of things you can get into coaching, the panel members clarified that it can be both personal or professional ranging from stuckness you are experiencing at work which has a connection to the personal situation like conflict with partners for example. It could also be things like ‘how do I say NO at work’, ‘how do I have a conversation with my manager after restarting my career’, ‘how do I claim my space at work’ etc. Coaching is about ‘coaching the whole person’ and hence you can bring in any question that is about YOU.
Advice to the new cohort members:
In conclusion, here’s some wisdom from the panel for the new cohort members and anyone who is considering joining THE SPRINT.
- Come with some level of clarity about your goals
- Have an open mind
- Trust the process and don’t set boundaries for yourself
- Plan your schedule and give it your 100%
- Respect your coach’s time and honor the commitment
- Communicate in advance if you have to reschedule and give at least 24–48 hours of notice
Now if you are enjoying the coaching journey and you wish you extend it beyond 3 months, you can always talk to your coach about the charges and engage in paid coaching. Remember only the 4 hours are pro bono ☺
Cheers to those who have completed their sprints and wish all the new cohort members a wonderful journey ahead. And the ones who want to start the sprint — what are you waiting for? Hop in and invest in yourself.
