Who is Wiser!
In the first movie of the Star Wars series, we were introduced to the “Jedi Knights” and the “Force”. Coaching was a gentleman hero in the basketball team stories in "The White Shadow" series during the same period. A “Master Jedi” was like an autonomous frontier lordship where wisdom, goodness and philosophical maturity met with action. It is obvious that almost everyone who was interested in the movies from the first movie of the series, from 1977 to 2017, dreamed of becoming a “Jedi” at some point. It is exciting to think about the magical effect a Jedi master created on people and the masses by using a lightsaber or the force.
Over time, while “Master Jedi” has solidified its place in our imagination, another discipline, “coaching”, has found its place in the dynamics of real life with its “professional” nature. Its variety has also developed, with suffixes such as “life coach”, “executive coach”, “career coach” etc… The masters of this business have become “Master Coaches” over time. They have become the “Jedi” knights of the internet and self-reflexivity age…
Coaches have become the sages of those struggling in the chaotic storms of the modern world, the monks of career escapees who have lost their way, the scholars of the mass consumer unhappy ones. They have shed a light of hope for the white collars by developing their hormoned and fabricated sub-disciplines. I think they have sometimes promised more than they did, or we have. Sometimes it has been hyped up a bit, either to make it easier to sell or because it is good for the coach. Sometimes, we even have to be realistic, coaches naturally have financial concerns as well…
Coaching Adds Value When Used Properly
At this point, as a consultant and trainer who uses coaching as an effective development tool in his work, I would like to summarize some of the findings and suggestions below with the concern of minimizing the erosion of the concept of coaching in society. Ultimately, my aim is to define the coaching discipline with concrete aspects that can purify idealized stories and have a positive impact on life;
In order to do professional coaching, a communication-based skill set must be transformed into behavior and the tools and techniques developed by masters in this field must be used only when and where necessary.
The awareness of using coaching skills is humane in this respect. Therefore, it does not make a person wise, does not require having the wisdom to solve ontological issues, does not turn them into magicians who can suggest perfect lives to others.
Unfortunately, there are only a few people on earth who are experts in the field of working on the development of coaching in terms of intellectual capital. The rest of us are just using the existing literature. We should not get into the mood of becoming wise through coaching just because we know what we have.
Coaching has a direct impact on people’s self-awareness and behavior. Therefore, anyone using coaching for business or life development needs to be “ethical” and not think about unnecessarily influencing clients with mindfulness techniques ( like a Jedi Knight using “mind tricks”) for commercial benefit.
It is a valuable distinction to constantly remind our clients to distinguish between structured professional coaching and the use of coaching skills by a manager or teacher in business processes. It seems important, at least to me, to state that both can be valuable on their own paths.
We need to accept that basic coaching skills are the minimum human need to support balanced communication. Therefore, it is necessary to stop teaching basic coaching skills with high financial expectations and to constantly remind all coaches of this mind set.
In summary, in order for coaching to find its rightful place in society as a discipline, I think professional coaches themselves must first embrace it, with a simple and humble perspective, knowing what it is, observing its effects and side effects, and foreseeing its limits.
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