What coaching revealed about me

"I was going through a challenging time, and I started to question myself, along with my motivation. I knew then that I needed extra support to get a new perspective on things and start fresh." Can you also relate to this feedback from Carolina, Growth Account Strategist at Criteo? If many of us do, one question remains: What can you do when those feelings strike? How do you start anew? Well, for some of us, working with a Coach seems to do the trick! Judging from Carolina’s and Himanshu’s experience, not only did the coaching help them get their motivation back, but it also led them to uncover the unconscious patterns that were blocking them from moving forward. All in all, being coached seems to have a transformative and liberating impact on many people like Himanshu, a Data Analyst at Criteo, who has discovered a great deal about himself through his coaching experience.  

• Identifying your own thought bias: "The first breakthrough for me happened once we identified an unconscious thought bias that was holding me back from improving where I wanted to and taking on more ambitious goals. After uncovering this pattern, I felt free to better structure and believe in my ability to create an action plan." 
• Untangling confusion to get more clarity: "My coach’s guidance led me to uncover the underlying challenges I was facing. Sometimes it is hard to distance yourself... Acknowledging that brought me clarity and helped me in my planning process. I can now establish appropriate timelines and prioritize tasks more effectively."  
• Uncovering your automatic patterns: "I discovered how truly overly critical I am toward myself when taking up challenging tasks, tackling a difficult problem, or simply dealing with a new topic. Acknowledging this pattern led me to try new things like segmenting larger objectives into manageable, incremental targets, and making room in my weekly schedule so I would feel less overwhelmed." 
• Approaching dilemmas with a new mindset: "I was going through a career dilemma I didn't know how to solve at the time. Together with my coach, we tally the choices, exploring the shorter and longer impact of both possibilities. It was also about accepting that any optimal outcome invariably involves a certain degree of compromise. Instead of seeing it as making choices, we strategized to align both opportunities along an optimal timeline within my career trajectory. Changing my mindset was incredibly liberating and I was overjoyed by the ingenuity and teamwork that led us to this breakthrough."   
• You are often the one standing in your way: "The program reveals the huge impact self-sabotage has on our lives and decision-making process. It revealed my difficulties in spending time on ideas I wish to explore. My coach helped me think through the steps it would take to reach my goal before breaking down this main goal into simpler milestones so I wouldn't feel overwhelmed with the more ambitious tasks." 

Many companies have gone out of their way to diversify their career development opportunities, offering buddy systems, mentorship programs, team-building activities, workshops, learning platforms, and more. So, while all these offerings are effective, what makes coaching stand out?  The fundamental principle lying behind coaching is to consider everyone as naturally creative, resourceful, and whole. Coaches don’t tell you what to do or how to feel but rather guide you in your journey of building self-awareness and self-confidence. By perfecting your innate capability to make your own discoveries, find solutions, and recover or learn from mistakes, you connect with your personal values and inner strengths to truly become the captain of your own ship.    

Of course, as Carolina also shared it; opening up to someone and digging deeper into things you sometimes don't want to address can be challenging. But in the end, it is worth it! In Himanshu’s own words, it is "an exploration journey to discover additional bits of your potential; kind of like a video game where you unlock treasure chests as you level up."