I had the great privilege of conducting a supervisory session this week for a business owner who is completing the MOE Foundation certified coaching course. That is the same coaching qualification that I undertook, and I well remember my own supervisory session where I checked in with an existing MOE Foundation certified coach to see what I had learned from the course.

When Lucy Everett contacted me to ask if I could be her supervisor, as she knew I had qualified with MOE, it made me stop and reflect. I qualified as a coach in May 2020, and as such I still think of myself as a newbie. Yet since that time I have coached women business owners and those starting their own businesses through all kinds of professional and personal challenges, and I am now running group programmes that have proved to be really popular.

So often we think of ourselves as newcomers long after that label ceases to be appropriate. Lucy will no doubt think of herself as a “new” coach for quite some time even though from what I saw during our evening session she will take to it like a duck to water.

Rather than getting hung up on how new or experienced we are, the more relevant question would be are we still learning? Years of experience are impressive, but the willingness to keep learning, stay up-to-date and discover things we didn’t know we didn’t know is so valuable, in business and in life. Having an understanding of this is why most of the coaches that I know, including myself, have coaches of their own, and are always interested in new ideas, new learnings and new ways to frame a concept.

Speaking to Lucy this week gave me the opportunity to reflect on how far I have come, and on the fantastic progress my clients have made over the time that I have coached them, and beyond. It is really important to take a glance at the road behind us every now and again as a reminder of what we have already achieved, before we then look ahead to the next opportunity to learn.

Helen Calvert
October 2021