As the summer wraps up, it’s time to reengage and reflect on where you are in meeting your professional development objectives for the year. It’s not too late to create your personal individual development plan. Whether you are creating or updating your plan, are you leveraging the ATD Competency Model to incorporate other areas of expertise? As I update my development plan, I’ve added Coaching as my focus for the remainder of this year, The description for Coaching in the ATD Competency Model, “apply a systematic process to improve other’s ability to set goals, take action, and maximize strengths” resonates with me the value of coaching. Specifically, understanding how and when to recommend coaching as a performance intervention and how I can leverage coaching in my own professional journey.
From the perspective of understanding how and when to recommend coaching, I’ve had the pleasure of increasing my exposure to coaching and many of its aspects through the webinars offered as part of a professional development network (PDN). The chapter has recently partnered with a new PDN, Executive, Team & Group Coaching led by Dan Johnson. This has given me the opportunity to increase my awareness and therefore ask additional questions of myself and my colleagues in better understanding how to incorporate coaching into a learning strategy. If you haven’t participated in one of the webinars offered through the Coaching PDN, I invite you to take advantage of this opportunity. As Talent Development Professionals, it is one of the areas of expertise identified in the ATD Competency Model.
When I think about coaching that I’ve received primarily from my manager reflect on the 2nd perspective and how I have experienced coaching in my own professional journey. It was just in recent years that I began to hear from my peers about the relationship they have with their coach. My colleagues have formal coaching relationships outside of their primary full-time job or their independent consultant work. Establishing a formal coaching relationship is the next action step that I plan to take. More and more people are leveraging the coaching relationship for a variety of reasons. Whether seeking counsel to determine what’s next in their careers or in starting a business, having a coach is more accessible and considered the norm for most professionals today, and no longer appears to be reserved for C Suite executives.
The key take away I’d like you to receive from my message is that Coaching plays a role in your learning strategy recommendations and as a Talent Development Professional. In closing reflect on your answers to the following questions:
- What do I personally know about coaching?
- Is there someone within my network that is a Coach?
- Is it time for me to facilitate a formal coaching relationship outside of the manager/employee relationship?
