Oxygen Mask

With the proliferation of executive and life coaches and the coaching industry in general, I often wonder when it all started - the concept of coaching.
There sure are a lot of coaches out there. What criteria should clients use when evaluating a coach’s ability to help them attain the life they want to lead? Should clients consider hiring only coaches with certification or should they select a coach due to a referral from a friend or colleague?
Just as there are some doctors who are more skilled than others in spite of identical training, so it is with coaches. A skilled coach is one who cultivates their client’s authenticity and who can ultimately help them expand his or her perspective on life.
In evaluating a coach, consider which one might ask you tough questions in the context of getting past roadblocks. Which coach is more likely to have an impact on your life and how will you measure that impact? Ask yourself which coach may be afraid of offending you and therefore may let you slip by because they want you to like them. With which coach can you be the most transparent and which coach would you likely be trying to impress so you won’t be entirely forthcoming?
Coaches don’t have to lead perfect lives to be highly skilled in this craft, just as some good doctors do not have the healthiest of lifestyles or habits yet they exercise the best of care for their patients. Great coaches though, do need to be professionals who are comfortable living within ambiguous contexts instead of pigeon holing their clients and they must have the ability to listen well and be able to hear what is not being said.
The best coaches are compassionate yet fierce, adept at seeing larger or different perspectives, insightful and forthright and have a great deal of intuition and compassion. These skills can’t be taught but they can be honed and developed through training.
An effective coach navigates between stereotypes and helps their clients gain clarity.
I wonder, which airline first announced that in the case of a loss of cabin air pressure passengers should first put on their own oxygen mask before attempting to help their children or other travelers.
Was the policy of “putting on your own oxygen mask first” the first twinkle in the coaching profession’s eye or was it some other seemingly innocuous or serendipitous event that triggered this line of work?
“Putting on your own oxygen mask first” has profound implications for us all. I don’t know which airline first taught this valuable life skill, but I doubt they realized at the time how profound this instruction was to the quality of our lives and safety on the ground as well as in the air.
“Putting on your own oxygen mask first” is a leadership quality that is developed during the coaching dynamic. We need to care for ourselves first before we are ready to care for and serve others.
What action do you need to commit to in order to take care of yourself? Breath deeply and be nourished so that you can eventually serve others.