Client showed up to get ready for an interview.

She talked about her strengths, ‘I have knowledge of the subject. I implement projects..’

All boring stuff. I started drifting..

I wondered, ‘What do you think are your special superpowers that you have, that other people don’t?’

‘Oh, my communication skills, my ability to work with multidisciplinary stakeholders, actors, lay office-wide change, build cross-sector alliance, influence different levels.’ 

That starts getting interesting! She’s talking about leadership!

I remember, ‘That’s it! You told me there are hundreds of people applying for this, only 10 will be selected for the interview. All of these applicants have the technical foundation. They’re good at designing programs; they’re subject matter experts. The person who is going to take this role needs to show they’ll get things done, they influence, they have great relationships at all levels.’

I realised as a coach, my value-add is from my intuition, perspective, and most of all, my belief in my clients’ ability. In this case, I have known her for 10 years now. I know she’s an outstanding professional who has dedicated her whole life to the area. She’s the subject matter expert. 

It’s our belief as coaches that the client is capable of handling their own lives that gives them confidence to succeed. We are not necessarily telling them anything new. We help them see more clearly what they don’t see, especially their strengths. We help them take a step back, see the bigger picture of their situation.

(As I’m writing, I’m wondering, what made the first answer boring? I realised it’s because it doesn’t stand out. They’re not strengths she connected with. It was what she thought she had to talk about. On the other hand, the second time, the answers came from within; she gave off sparks when she said them. That energy is contagious. It’s electrifying. That’s charisma!)