Demystifying Coaching
By Kim Deans
Growing numbers of farmers are experiencing the benefits from investing in a coach for their business. Farmers can now work with farm business coaches, soils coaches, regenerative agriculture coaches, marketing coaches and more. As farmers become more open to working with coaches there has been a corresponding increase in the number of people claiming the title of “coach”. Along with this there are large variations in the types of approach coaches use and the outcomes you can expect. This article will explain what coaching can offer your business and how to find the right coach for you. We will also explore what coaching means to us and what you can expect if you choose to work with us.
What is coaching?
Coaching emerged initially as a process for athletes to overcome their mental blocks and boost their performance. Coaching gained momentum in the world of business in the 1980’s when Sir John Whitmore developed the G.R.O.W. model. The last decade has seen the coaching industry explode, particularly online coaching and we now have access to coaches in every niche imaginable.
The International Coach Federation (ICF) provides the following definition:
“ICF defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential, which is particularly important in today’s uncertain and complex environment. Coaches honour the client as the expert in his or her life and work and believe every client is creative, resourceful and whole. Standing on this foundation, the coach’s responsibility is to:
Discover, clarify, and align with what the client wants to achieve,
Encourage client self-discovery,
Elicit client-generated solutions and strategies,
Hold the client responsible and accountable,
This process helps clients dramatically improve their outlook on work and life, while improving their leadership skills and unlocking their potential.”
The coaching industry is unregulated which means anybody can call themselves a coach. This creates an interesting diversity of options but it can also make it confusing for those interested in working with a coach as it is hard to compare apples with apples. There are people offering “coaching” who may not have ever invested in coaching themselves or may not have been trained in coaching skills. Coaching qualifications alone will not guarantee quality or competency.
Coaching is best described as a skill set rather than viewed as a service provided “for” others. An effective coach brings their skills in deep listening, questioning, non-judgement and reframing in combination with other expertise as you work together towards goals defined by you, the client. Coaching is focused on creating solutions from within the business/land/person rather than imposing external solutions. By empowering clients to brainstorm ideas and find their own solutions, coaching promotes focus, confidence and self-motivation, leading to increased productivity and a stronger sense of achievement. This stronger sense of achievement is directly linked to the fact that, having come up with their own solutions and developed their own action plans, clients truly own their results.
What coaching can offer your business
Coaching is different from teaching, mentoring and consulting. If you’re considering hiring a coach, the first thing you need to clarify is what type of service you are looking for. If you are looking for an expert in a field where you have little or no experience to give you their solutions, you are looking for a consultant. If you are looking for someone who has extensive experience in the same field as you, who offers professional advice and guidance, you are looking for a mentor. If you are looking for someone who can support your learning and growth, work with you to develop a strategy for facilitating your progress towards your goals you are looking for a coach. Some professionals have the capacity to offer a combination of these services and can work with you to create a tailored program that fits your needs.
Finding the right coach for you
There are many benefits to be gained from working with a coach and you can reap the rewards from the investment for many years when you commit to the process. Whilst ultimately you get out of the process what you put into it, finding the right coach for you is vital. Referrals can be a useful starting point however it is essential that your coach is a good personal fit. Most coaches offer a complimentary conversation with prospective clients for this purpose. This call is a valuable opportunity to find out more about their approach, make sure they are a good fit for your needs and feel whether there is good rapport or trust before you engage their services.
Consider these attributes of effective coaches to help guide your decision:
Clients are the centre of their attention. Effective coaches focus on creating successful clients, they aren’t always well known with huge numbers of followers.
Life experience. Effective coaches have an established track record in their field and experience in facilitating processes of change. They confidently engage in difficult conversations around tough issues.
Coaching skills and presence. Effective coaches are deep listeners who ask stimulating and challenging questions that bring alternative perspectives into view. They put their ego aside and provide a safe, non-judgemental sounding board.
Your success is their business. Effective coaches are focused on your goals not their own agenda. If they are selling products this can create a secondary gain from the coaching relationship. If this is the case you will need to consider if this something you want to avoid or encourage.
Walking the talk. Effective coaches will be actively engaged in their own personal growth journey. They will invest in their own professional coach with a fresh perspective who will challenge them and keep them actively engaged in the coaching process in their own life. (note: investing in coaching is different to having like-minded mentors within their own niche/industry).
Our Reinventing Agriculture coaching approach
We focus on empowering you to be the expert in your business. We work alongside you to develop a strategy suitable for your individual context and goals. As a result you will be empowered to make informed decisions in line with your vision for your landscape and business.
Your success is our business. We do not sell inputs or receive commissions on product sales. We can educate you to make informed, unbiased choices around inputs when necessary, acting as a non-judgemental sounding board where there are no stupid questions. We frequently save our clients more than they spend on our services through cost savings gained from eliminating unnecessary inputs. We add value to your business through working with you to design strategies that do less harm and transition off inputs gradually, maintaining profitable production.
We do not impose a one size fits all approach. We work with you to design your unique strategy for your unique context, providing you with a clear direction and actionable steps. Through investigative conversations and processes, we empower you to deepen your observational skills and understanding of natural, human and financial resources and their contribution to the long-term viability of your enterprise. You will be empowered to find points of leverage that will give you the greatest return on investment in quality, production and performance.
Diverse life experiences underpin our approach. We bring with us over 30 years each of lived experience in agriculture in a range of enterprises and roles. We have been restoring our land using practices now known as “regenerative” since 2004. We have been using and developing coaching skills in our careers for over 20 years. Kim worked as a Rural Financial Counsellor for 12 years and completed training in mediation, facilitating farm family business meetings, negotiation, counselling and communication which were all skills that were put to use in this role. Angus has worked in management and also has completed a Diploma of Counselling Studies. Angus has been providing counselling services for over 10 years, recently adding powerful skills in The Richards Trauma Process to his coaching tool kit.
We walk our talk. We see challenges as opportunities for personal growth. We recognise the need to constantly work on our own blind spots as we can only take our clients where we can go ourselves. We love to question everything and to take new perspectives. We embrace life-long learning and are avid readers who are passionate about implementation, not just collecting qualifications and consuming information. When we are struggling or looking for access to new insights we engage outside help, choosing to work with coaches, kinesiologists, counsellors or healers who will empower us to access our own breakthroughs, not impose their solutions on us.
We are holistic. We have always had an innate ability to see the whole, as generalists and systems thinkers we are skilled at seeing connections and relationships in complex systems. This means we readily distinguish between skills that can be learned and skills that must be realised from the inside first as you journey from where you are now to where you want to be.
The outcomes from working with a coach
Investing in a coach will provide you with a sounding board for your questions and concerns and access to valuable insights and awareness to overcome self-limitations. Coaching will improve your access to relevant information and networks. Our coaching clients report improved confidence as a key benefit of our coaching programs. Confidence is a critical piece in making changes yet it’s different to having certainty. Growing our confidence helps us navigate the inevitable uncertainty in agriculture better.
Coaching will facilitate learning, build awareness, empower choices and lead you through the process of reinventing your agricultural business to achieve your desired outcomes. You will go beyond finding nicer ways to do the same things and expecting different results. You will build your support network as you get out of your comfort zone and ask better questions to create a thriving, profitable and enjoyable business.
Intrigued and interested in learning more about working with us?