#ReflectionOnCoaching #CoachingAsOneOfManyProfessional(AndPersonal)Roles

#ReflectionOnCoaching #CoachingAsOneOfManyProfessional(AndPersonal)Roles

Poh-Sun Goh

29 June 2021, 0526pm, Singapore Time

One of the many joys, privileges and deep responsibilities we (i) have as clinicians and healthcare practitioners is to teach, and engage in scholarship (which includes writing, exploring, integrating and disseminating ideas, of which this short reflection is an example). The role of teacher, and educator includes many additional subroles, spanning instructor, trainer, guide, 'coach' (and later as mentor, sounding board, peer-collaborator-colleague-team member or team-mate; and for some of us, for a time, manager, leader and 'coach'). To effectively (and efficiently) perform these roles and responsibilities ideally requires knowledge, skills (ideally acquired through formal instruction and training, including practice with feedback and personal reflection, in an iterative, cumulative, mastery training model; but very often acquired through observation, repetition of what we have been personally exposed to which resonates with us, or 'seems to work'; practices, approaches and behaviours modelled by others - who we admire or 'look up to'); knowledge and skills which ideally should be founded on and build upon a deep foundation of values, professionalism, passion for the science, art and craft of what we do; and personalised to 'why, and what' a student, trainee, colleague, peer, person we have conversations with - work with - teach - and 'coach' really want, and need (and wish for), before either entering a discussion and having a conversation on 'how to' - through teaching, instructing, guiding, mentoring or 'coaching'. Coaching in this context, the coaching role, might be a minor, or a major part of a one-off or longer series of conversations and discussions. Coaching might be performance-technically-feedback-prescriptive focused, or tilted toward capacity building and self-awareness, by building up the ability of the individual being coached to observe themselves in the moment, in action - how and what they think, use language, feel and express emotions, their breathing, tone of voice, and how they use their body, their posture, and posturing - use of gestures. An 'ontological' coaching approach with focus and emphasis on the individual as an aware 'observer', of their body-emotion-language (BEL), and through this observation intentionally (and not reactively, in an unconscious, previous reflex) choose new actions, in order to produce new results (observation-action-results or OAR). My role as a coach, when I put on a coaching hat, and when our conversations tilt toward coaching (away from teaching, instructing, mentoring, guiding) will be to focus on this aspect.