March 2023 - Coaching Young People

When I began my coaching journey, I didn’t expect to find myself preparing to visit a school on a volunteering project to help young people. I thought the coaching path might take me deeper into the corporate world or possibly working with adults getting back in to work, but I didn’t consider that going back to school could be so exciting and potentially a very fulfilling way to share my coaching skills.

I have always wondered what it would be like if I could be a young person again but with the knowledge that I have now - how things could have turned out differently or what I could have achieved. Knowing that the world is much bigger than your school, knowing that a life path doesn’t have to be linear, knowing that other people are way more concerned with their own self-consciousness than me etc would have been so freeing.

Coaching young people is different from coaching adults in terms of starting from where the young person is rather than assuming they understand things such as values, limiting beliefs and drivers. It can be a bit more directive as they may need a bit more prompting to search for answers and of course the support aspect is more important than the challenge. The fundamentals of empathy, non-judgement and questions to shine a light still remain and of course ultimately that the power is in their hands. Having the opportunity to go and work with young people on the cusp of adulthood to help develop their confidence, communication skills, resilience and self-awareness is such a privilege and something that I wish all children could benefit from.