Post by Fern Deng, 邓玮芬 (ICF PCC, Coach Mentor)

In many organisations today, leaders are expected to have answers. But what if leadership was less about having the answers, and more about 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣? 🌱 It was a privilege to facilitate 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙀𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙨 workshop with a diverse group of professionals- HR leaders, entrepreneurs, army officers and C-suite executives from different industries- all coming together with a shared commitment to develop coaching capabilities. Congratulations to Yen Do Quang Nguyen Phyllis Woon Phyllis Choo Wan Ting Wong Lynn Tan Radhika Jain Jeffrey Jerry Banny George Nicholas Syed Catherine Despite their varied backgrounds, a common theme emerged during the sessions: coaching requires a fundamental shift in how we support others. Three key insights stood out from the group: ⭐️ 𝙀𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙨 Coaching begins with the ability to listen deeply and create psychological safety for others to think, reflect, and explore. 🧠 𝙈𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙚𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 “𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙩” 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨𝙚𝙩 Many leaders are trained to solve problems quickly. Coaching invites us to pause the instinct to give advice or share our own experiences, and instead trust that the client is capable of generating their own insights. 🤝 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩 Effective coaching requires curiosity- understanding the situation from the client’s point of view rather than approaching it from how we would personally handle it. What stood out most was the humility in the room: 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜-𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜. 💖 Coaching is not just a skill set. It is a 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩, 𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜-𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨. Congratulations to this group for completing the journey. I look forward to seeing how each of you bring coaching into your organisations and teams. 🌟 #icfcoaching #leadershipcoaching #coachinimdset #leadershipdevelopment