Last week I finished with my Career Accelerators coaching group. it’s always a little sad to say goodbye and yet at the same time so incredibly inspiring to see just how far the 6 women in the group have come, especially in the middle of COVID-19. Here we are celebrating over our last zoom call:

A big moment for me was when I asked the group to look at the goals we set in the first session. Back then I asked them to individually to finish this sentence for me:

‘This coaching will be a success for me, my family, my team if…

Of course, not all of the goals were met but most of them were and I love seeing the look of surprise on their faces when they realise how much they have achieved and the energy around how to attend to the others.

Another big moment for me and the group happens in the first session.  In every group I coach there is a moment at the end of the first session when I ask what they have valued and without a doubt someone will say it’s a relief knowing they aren’t the only one who feels the way they do, quickly following by nods of agreement from everyone else.

The powerful thing about group coaching is that it brings together a group of people from different backgrounds, from across a network, industry or organisation to collectively work on a shared topic. The learning is multiplied as each person learns as much from others dilemmas as they do their own and members of the group help each other make sense of the context they are in and how to work more effectively.

One of things I noticed with my recent group was how the sense of purpose and belonging helped them navigate this time of ambiguity and economic uncertainty. Where I’ve coached groups from within an organisation as opposed to a network the other power I hear is how confidence boosting it is to have someone in the room that you know thinks like you and will back you up if you need it.

I must admit though, this group really surprised me. Between each session I buddy up in pairs to agree actions and check in on each other for support. Part of this is to keep the momentum up between sessions and also to help them form relationships that I hop will go beyond the last session. With all of our interaction being online I wasn’t certain if they would continue to catch up without me.

I usually put in time for the group to discuss this in the last session and I almost didn’t because I thought it would lead to an awkward ending. After going to and fro with it I decided I would do an anonymous poll and ask if they wanted to time to discuss what next and all of them did! They’ve even set up a Linkedin group to share ideas and resources!

It was a proud coach moment 😁

And here are a few of my past group members sharing their experiences.