Coach of the Month – September 2016 – Coaching Q & A « Executive and Life Coaching Courses and Information

Do you enjoy belonging to a community of like-minded people? We do too. At Positive Success Group we are truly grateful for our diverse and talented group of coaches. Our community of professional coaches is growing constantly. In order to allow you to tap into the wonderful wisdom that this community offers, every month we introduce you to one Featured Coach of the Month.

We are excited to announce that in September our Coach of the Month is Aisling Hannon. Take a look at the knowledge and experience that Aisling has shared. This is a brilliant opportunity to get new ideas and guidance.

Here is our Coach of the Month – September 2016 – Coaching Q & A

PSG September 2016 Coach of the Month - Aisling Hannon

PSG: Since qualifying, what are the top 3 lessons you have learnt that support your growth as a coach:

Aisling

1. Trust in Yourself
One of the most important things I have learned since qualifying is that the only thing that makes me different to every other coach – is me. The more I truly own my personal coaching process, beliefs and way of doing things, the more I will authentically stand out and attract the right clients.

With this in mind, I always check in with my intuition and make sure that I’m leading with my heart and balance that with my head. Clients really do notice and appreciate what you do when it comes from the heart and are more likely to let their barriers down and reveal their true selves too – leading to a much more enriching coaching engagement.

You owe it to your clients and yourself to own your differences, appreciate your unique gifts, discover your own way of doing things that feel genuine to you and most importantly shine your own light.

2. Find your niche and immerse yourself in it
Finding your niche is all about positioning yourself as a trusted expert in front of your target market, so when they have the need, they choose you. In order to find my niche I firstly had to decide who am I, what are my unique gifts, who do I really want to work with and how can I truly impact them. This really helped me narrow down my niche by leveraging my professional life and network pre-coaching and analysing what I enjoy reading and learning about, what events I’m interested in attending and the type of people I enjoy spending my time with.

Once I settled on my niche – Tech Start-Ups and Entrepreneurs – I needed to understand who they really are, what do they need help with and where do I find them. To build connections and engage with potential clients online, I joined LinkedIn and Facebook groups, networks and forums related to my niche. I attend local meet-ups and networking events to strike up meaningful conversations with them and frequent various digital hubs and work-sharing spaces to further interact and engage with them. By far the best step I took in order to immerse myself in my niche was to enroll in the UCD Innovation Academy to do a PostGrad in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Enterprise. Here I am learning what it is like to live in their world, witnessing the struggles they face, discovering their hopes and dreams for the future and building a strong network of friends, colleagues and clients.

By focusing on what your potential clients need and gaining insights, you’ll soon build budding relationships that can turn into paying clients.

3. Never Stop Learning
There is no such thing as standing still in life. The world around you will always be moving ahead, and by standing in one place you’re choosing by default to be left behind. We owe it to ourselves and our clients to keep ourselves informed and familiar with the latest research and developments in the field.

To this end, I attend coaching conferences, watch Ted talks and webcasts, read relevant material and network with other experienced coaches from various backgrounds. I have found the PSG’s Quality Coaching Circle (QCC) to be a fantastic resource for continuing my professional development, deep diving into important topics and gaining invaluable experience and feedback from triad coaching practice at our QQC events.

PSG: To – date, as a coach, what has brought you the most fulfillment?

Aisling

For me, witnessing the coaching process working well is like magic. Each time a client experiences a breakthrough I am humbled by the experience and feel it is a huge honour to be in their presence and witness such a transformation. I leave each session on a high, buzzed by the energy of the session. To have a job that renews my energy rather than depletes it is rewarding in itself, but to work in an area that benefits me so much personally is truly a gift.

My self-awareness has grown exponentially since qualifying. This new knowledge has helped me to live more courageously, tackle problems head-on and take on bigger and braver challenges. In order to be a great coach I have to walk my talk and that spurs me on when times get tough. I no longer fear failure and live by the motto: “No es el fin del mundo,” (It’s not the end of the world!). No one likes to fail. But fear of failure can hold us back from amazing opportunities. Taking risks and learning from the inevitable failures along the way allows us to live much more rewarding lives.

PSG: What do you foresee as the key skills our clients will want to focus on for development and growth for the rest of this year?
Aisling

I’m going to focus on this question from my own niche’s perspective as I don’t want to go over the same ground that previous coaches have covered so well!

Summer’s over, that back-to-school feeling is hovering in the air and Entrepreneurs are looking to knuckle down after the summer madness. Many realise they’ve been spinning their wheels in the sand for too long and know it’s time to change. They have a deep desire to do better for themselves and to make a real impact in the world with their business – but their current mindset just won’t go there with fear of success looming as large as the fear of failure. They want to push themselves out of their comfort zone but find it hard to do so without someone holding them accountable. They are looking for coaching to identify and eradicate the limiting beliefs that keep them repeating the same cycle over and over again and to finally break this chain by reconditioning their mindset for success.

Conversely, Entrepreneurs and Start-Up Founders can be highly focused and motivated, but don’t always make time for strategic thinking. They are too busy serving clients and working in their business rather than on their business. As the year end approaches it’s important for them to take stock, re-evaluate and decide what’s important to focus on next year. My clients are looking for me to help them take a step back and think more strategically about their business and determine how they can best grow their business and align employees and clients with their vision for 2017.

PSG September 2016 Coach of the Month - Aisling Hannon