Who is a coach and how coaching can help you

New year, new me? How many times have we told this phrase to ourselves right after New Year's Eve and how many times nothing has changed throughout the year? There can be many blocks that keep us from getting what we truly want – fear of the unknown, fear of change, or just lack of support on the way. But how to understand the needs, get through all the difficulties, and achieve the goals? Here's when the role of a coach comes in.

In case you're ready to change yourself but don't know where to start or what resources to use – seek the help of a coach. Who is it, and why is it worth getting one? I got in touch with Executive Coach and Leadership Mentor Misa Kozinova and dug deep into the coaching topic.

Who is a coach?

According to the Cambridge dictionary – a coach is someone whose job is to teach people to improve at a sport, skill, or school subject. However, it's much more to it.

The coach would instead support you and guide you along the journey than directly teach you. The main goal of any coach is to build awareness, empower choice, and, as a result, lead to change.

Misa Kozinova shared with me, ‘Coach is someone who respects you fully, who never judges, and who has the tools to make you find the best solutions for you. You know you have the right coach when you feel safe, respected, and when you are coming with new ideas rather than with justification of the ideas you already had.’

How does cooperation with a coach work?

The relationship between coach and coachee is genuinely unique as it's all about the coachee. The coaching approach is quite different from mentoring as during the session, the coach asks a lot of questions and gets the client's perspective. There's no wrong answer. There's just a perspective of a coachee that the coach needs to work with.  

Conversations happening in the coaching sessions are less directive and focus on achieving your goals in a way that suits you, using your own talents and gifts. The main goal is to help you maximize your own performance and deliver outstanding results in a way that works for you in the best way possible.

Exactly that idea led Misa to become a coach herself, "I was always immensely interested in people's motivation which was incredibly handy throughout my 20 years of leadership career in IT. As much as I loved building high-performing teams, I realized that coaching is my life passion and gradually made it my full-time job."

‘I love to help people manifest miracles, achieve things they didn't think were possible. I love the shifts in energy as my clients suddenly access resources they didn't think they have.’

What are the benefits of cooperation with a coach?

By reading this far, you should already have an idea on who is a coach and how such cooperation works. But what does it bring you?

The essential idea of coaching is to get answers that are already hidden within yourself.

What is my dream job? How can I become a great leader? How can I keep the perfect work-life balance? When stating these questions to a coach, you already have an answer within yourself; the solution that works the best for you, based on your talents, skills, priorities, and life goals.

The coach helps you to locate these answers most quickly and efficiently. And, as a result, you're becoming a better professional and person, thanks to yourself. Deep, isn't it? That's why you should try it!

Let's see what coachees have to say. Misa shared with me some quotes of coachees that successfully finished the coaching sessions.

"The empathetic approach, thoughtful questions, diverse coaching styles and techniques helped me to look at problems from a totally different perspective and put me in a liberating state of mind."

"I feel stronger than ever, and I am using this strength in my daily life. "

"Every time we had a coaching session, I learned more about myself and got a different point of view on the challenge of the day."

Sounds like something you need? Femme Palette is launching a new Coaching + Mentoring program where you’ll get matched with a coach who can help you define your career goals. In the next part of the program, you’ll get matched with your mentor that will help you with your career challenges.

Are you a certified coach? Become a part of the Femme Palette community and help our members understand their priorities and set their goals.