Why communication coaching ?

Dear Cathy*,

thank you for writing.

I do agree that, if you lack confidence and have issues in communication, that this may be an obstacle in your career. This is especially true if you are from another language or culture background ( as you imply) than the one where you are working in. Even when you are working with people from the same culture, you may see things in different ways and therefore sometimes feel as an outsider.

I also understand your hesitancy to undergo coaching . In most cases its quite expensive and the results are not immediately clear. This is usually because people don't know exactly what they wish. Becoming a good communicator is not good enough. We need to define what this means for you concretely.

What I propose is first to explore together what may be the issue. Sometimes it's your personality (introvert/extrovert). Sometimes it's about the way you were treated and has deeper roots in feelings of shame and even trauma.  Sometimes it's simply a matter of culture and expectations, or even gender expectations- what you believe is expected of women and men in the workplace. In most cases, failing to communicate effectively has to do with a lack of self worth. Therefore, we need to always start with that: to find out what is your value, your skills and what you already do to provide value to others. Then we see how you can communicate that. We also need to find what you enjoy doing, because that can already be communicated by the spark in your eyes.

It's not about achieving clear cut results: “Bingo, now I can communicate well!". It's a process. It's about growing and starting to be aware of ourself- how others perceive us and what we can do about it. It's  a way to get you out of your shell, to reach out to others, to be brave, to speak in stories and pictures... to connect.

This is what I teach.

Have a wonderful weekend and please get back to me if you have anymore questions!

*Cathy is not my clients real name 🙂