6 tips for your own self development

Limited numbers of coaching courses and high demand – plus the added challenge of a huge backlog caused by the Covid-19 pandemic – means coaches can sometimes go years between attending officially recognised coach education courses.

This can not only cause problems getting on to the next rung of the coaching ladder, but may also leave you feeling a little static in your coaching career.

I am sure many of us have felt that frustration at some point. But, fortunately, there are plenty of ways we can take charge of our own self-development and learning.

Recently, in particular, I have found people to be more open to sharing ideas, sessions and self-development tools and become increasingly innovative in how they do it, too.

So get inspired, feel motivated and reignite your career with these simple tips to work on self-development...

01 - Get a mentor

We can sometimes find ourselves surrounded by people with shared views who support our ideas. Great, right?

But ask yourself: who might be able to give you a different perspective, challenge your ideas and constantly ask you the ‘why’?

I have found mentors extremely useful throughout my career. They provide an external viewpoint and enable me to voice my opinions in a safe but different environment. Find your blind spot.

02 - Be a mentor

This needn’t be a formal arrangement. But being a mentor enhances your ability to ask open-ended questions that provoke thought and enable mentees to go on a journey that automatically demands you use your own insight and reflections to support others. This process can be very rewarding.

03 - Speak to new people

I met one of my best contacts on a train. This relationship enabled me to dive deeper into another discipline within the game I had little experience of or knowledge about - agents.

You never know who you might meet through a polite gesture, demonstrating some curiosity or commonality. Likewise, people are always looking for interviewees as part of research, which provide another platform to network and reflect.