ON THE JOURNEY TO COACHING

By Rahim Moosa, Founder of DigitalQ.  

Originally posted on May 2, 2019.

For those of you who have discreetly reached out to ask what I’m learning in the Royal Roads University Executive Coaching program, here is a tiny sample of the creative work I’ve done collectively with my cohort called the “Searchers.” I’m already halfway to completion!

1)   Breaking it down

We all play multiple roles in our lives and portray different personas. In most cases, these are the outer shells of ourselves, the personalities we portray because we feel pressure to perform in our work environments, in our society, in our family structures or in cultural contexts.  Having the distance from my ‘outer self’ to conduct activities around renewing and connecting with my ‘inner self,’ I’ve been able to surface some natural gifts and strengths as a coach. One powerful strength for me is my intuition. What I’m learning is that we can connect to our authentic being if we are willing be vulnerable, to open up a bit, and to have another person break our protective layer down with the intent of becoming a whole new self again. From the coaching received with my triad, my team, my cohort, my mentor and alumni coach, the entire combination has been extraordinary, helping me ensure that my coachees (a.k.a. clients) are truly seen, heard and understood as we design action oriented outcomes in the coaching process.

2)   Pruning the tree

Pruning in the literal sense of the word means to remove certain parts of a plant from damaged or non productive parts. To take this a step further, pruning for me means (in a professional development context) activities like reducing obligations, deporting toxic people from your inner circle, or optimizing your time spent during the day – all the while knowing that what you say “no” to is actually saying “yes” to the actions that will bring you closer to your vision. Whether it comes up in conversation of career transition, leadership obstacles, or learning how to celebrate success, the pruning work has deepened my own sense of purpose and connection as a coach, while giving my coachees the confidence knowing that I’ve done my work to be fully present for them.

3)   Embracing my authenticity

My goal is to connect individuals to their true purpose of being in the world, personally and professionally, to embrace their highest potential and to achieve their greatness. In my career, I was conditioned by the corporate environments where the highest paid person’s opinion (a.k.a. the hippo) counted the most. For those in such work environments or having to deal with this behaviour in your workplace, know that you are not alone, and that you don’t have to conform in order to be seen, heard, and understood. Find out what being authentic to yourself means to you and don’t suffer through your career expecting validation from a hippo’s opinion. Love yourself enough be true to your innate strengths and values, and get a coach to accelerate the transformational process!

This is only a sample of the work on the path of executive coaching. It’s an exciting journey and there is more to do before graduating. My team and I will begin coaching a non-profit organization, and my cohort is looking for more coachees to practice with in order to strengthen our skills. So, if you want to experience the same life changing coaching that we’ve been going through, feel free send me a message and I will connect you to a coach in my cohort looking to drive transformational change.