How coaching moves you forward, fast

I have observed two camps of Disaster and Emergency Management professionals:

1. The ego driven camp

2. The learning and accountability driven camp

I have no time for the ego driven camp because they have no time for me, it’s an unwritten mutual agreement. Whenever I hear the phrases “I’ve been doing this for 20 years…..” or “this is how we did at or in….” I am the first to move on. Coaching can be very beneficial to this camp but I don’t have the time or energy that it takes to get through their thick personal armour.

I do have time for those who are driven by learning and accountability. These people tend to be curious, good listeners, open minded, and high performers. If you are someone who sees every encounter as an opportunity to learn, and is okay with being held accountable……I’ll stick around and discuss coaching with you all day long.

The ULTIMATE GUIDE TO…..

No amount of advice is going to satisfy your need for sustainable solutions that meet your unique needs. Advice overload. Tips and tricks. The ULTIMATE GUIDE to blah blah blah………….there was a lot of information being developed before COVID-19 but over the last few weeks the amount of guides and social media graphics that are being created is nuts……..

• How to work from home

• How to manage your team remotely

• How to be prepared for COVID-19

• How to stay healthy

Advice has its place but COVID-19 is hitting everyone in their very personal and private World. I understand, it’s easy to download a guide or seek out memes or social media graphics to try and find solutions for your unique problems. It’s easy in the sense that you can be anonymous, you don’t have to work very hard, you can do the work from your couch on your phone in front of the TV. If you have made and sustained the change you want by scrolling through your phone day after day then great! Keep it up.

But if you have 30 ultimate guides and know every motivational meme off by heart and you are still stuck……there is one reason for that. The advice and experiences of others are not moving you forward because you lack the understanding of THEIR situation so how can their solutions fit into your life and context?

So how is coaching different than advice or consultation?

In a nutshell, coaching helps develop sustainable solutions, and change, that meets the unique needs of the individual or team. Coaches do not tell you or recommend a solution.

During a coaching partnership:

• you are expected to work hard

• you are expected to be open and honest, with yourself

• you are expected to minimize distraction

• you are expected to learn about yourself

• you must choose the topics to work on and commit to success and be okay with accountability

During a coaching partnership no one:

• tells you what to do or how to do it

• judges you

• includes biased opinion or advice

• gives you the answer

• gives you orders

Getting coached is hard, its messy, its awkward, it requires your truth so you can develop solutions that are right for YOU!

Developing your own solutions that fit your context equals EMPOWERMENT which is why you are more likely to commit to the necessary actions that will create the sustainable change you want from your situation.

For information on Hazardscape Management Inc. visit our about page.

Author: Brad Ison is a professional disaster and emergency management coach. He’s held various position specific roles in the Alberta Provincial Operations Centre and had decade long career at the Alberta Emergency Management Agency where his focus was on Disaster Recovery and his last role served was as the Director for Training, Accreditation, and Standards.

Contact Brad