Cooking and Coaching - what on earth do they have in common? (Apart from a little light relief from the General Election).
Maybe nothing for you. For me though
1. Cooking is the way I express a large part of my creativity.
2. Cooking is a way to make a difference in other peoples lives.
3. Cooking is about moving forward, not dwelling on the past.
4. With cooking you have to take action.
5. With cooking I am interested to continue to learn and grow.
All of the above are qualities a Coach should have
1. A Coach needs to have a creative mind. No two clients are the same and finding the words/vision/analogy to help your client achieve their goal requires creativity.
2. With cooking you are giving flavour, texture and taste experiences and sensations. I've had friends for dinner who have said I don't usually like that and today it was cooked in a different way and it was amazing. Or when cooking some of my friends still recall memorable meals and the other fantastic aspects of the time spent together. As a Coach you make a difference in peoples lives - they achieve their goals and then achieve beyond their original goals. And, as with cooking a great meal, this is the point where you can reflect and feel that happiness halo.
3. Everyone has kitchen disasters! The oven doesn't come up to the right temperature, you forget to buy something vital for the recipe - whatever! Of course you are fed up at the time, but it just makes you more determined to do better next time. And that's the crucial words - next time. There is always a next time. We learn from what went before or we choose to "put it down to experience" and not examine it too much. And with coaching whilst the past may come up in conversation, it is the future that matters. I love this food analogy I'm about to share - food only has a certain shelf life and isn't that just amazing! It can't go back and say, actually I wanted to be edible for another 2 weeks. It decomposes and we put it in our green bin and the energy is not lost, it is changed ( this is another topic). With food we have to move forward. It is part of the life cycle and it is a huge part of of coaching. Forward, Goals, Achievement.......
4. Of course flour, butter, eggs and cheese need to have something done to them to make the delicious parmesan shortbread in the above photo. Simply shoving these ingredients without any action into the oven would result in a gloopy mess at best!
Coaching is about asking your client to take action - it is about taking all their best bits, their achievements, who they are, their desire to achieve their goal/dream - putting it all in a "pot" and working with them to find the right way for them to achieve their own "parmesan shortbread".
5. Finally, a good coach needs to be committed to their own personal development. I can't think of a better example then cooking for this! The final of Masterchef - the amateurs has just finished. Looking back to day one and comparing it to where the finalists are now is amazing! They were so committed to becoming chefs of Michelin star quality. Could they see how to get there when they first stepped in that kitchen? No! They trusted the process. And as a Coach I trust that too. I don't know how that's going to happen - I just know it will.
Should I do a Blog post in a years time and let you know?
Anyone want this ridiculously easy recipe?
Maybe nothing for you. For me though
1. Cooking is the way I express a large part of my creativity.
2. Cooking is a way to make a difference in other peoples lives.
3. Cooking is about moving forward, not dwelling on the past.
4. With cooking you have to take action.
5. With cooking I am interested to continue to learn and grow.
All of the above are qualities a Coach should have
1. A Coach needs to have a creative mind. No two clients are the same and finding the words/vision/analogy to help your client achieve their goal requires creativity.
2. With cooking you are giving flavour, texture and taste experiences and sensations. I've had friends for dinner who have said I don't usually like that and today it was cooked in a different way and it was amazing. Or when cooking some of my friends still recall memorable meals and the other fantastic aspects of the time spent together. As a Coach you make a difference in peoples lives - they achieve their goals and then achieve beyond their original goals. And, as with cooking a great meal, this is the point where you can reflect and feel that happiness halo.
3. Everyone has kitchen disasters! The oven doesn't come up to the right temperature, you forget to buy something vital for the recipe - whatever! Of course you are fed up at the time, but it just makes you more determined to do better next time. And that's the crucial words - next time. There is always a next time. We learn from what went before or we choose to "put it down to experience" and not examine it too much. And with coaching whilst the past may come up in conversation, it is the future that matters. I love this food analogy I'm about to share - food only has a certain shelf life and isn't that just amazing! It can't go back and say, actually I wanted to be edible for another 2 weeks. It decomposes and we put it in our green bin and the energy is not lost, it is changed ( this is another topic). With food we have to move forward. It is part of the life cycle and it is a huge part of of coaching. Forward, Goals, Achievement.......
4. Of course flour, butter, eggs and cheese need to have something done to them to make the delicious parmesan shortbread in the above photo. Simply shoving these ingredients without any action into the oven would result in a gloopy mess at best!
Coaching is about asking your client to take action - it is about taking all their best bits, their achievements, who they are, their desire to achieve their goal/dream - putting it all in a "pot" and working with them to find the right way for them to achieve their own "parmesan shortbread".
5. Finally, a good coach needs to be committed to their own personal development. I can't think of a better example then cooking for this! The final of Masterchef - the amateurs has just finished. Looking back to day one and comparing it to where the finalists are now is amazing! They were so committed to becoming chefs of Michelin star quality. Could they see how to get there when they first stepped in that kitchen? No! They trusted the process. And as a Coach I trust that too. I don't know how that's going to happen - I just know it will.
Should I do a Blog post in a years time and let you know?
Anyone want this ridiculously easy recipe?