Coaching: An Army Perspective from SFC. Kitty Doenges

I’ve always had a very positive outlook on the concept of coaching. The United States Army defines coaching as “the guidance of another’s person’s development in new or existing skills during the practice of those skills”. It is an expectation that is set forth from basic training. You have a book with all the basic Soldier tasks to learn. At any given time, you can be called on to help train your fellow Soldiers on those tasks to build team proficiency. You quickly learn to identify three types of people:

• The natural coaches/trainers are those comfortable with delivering the training, often without much guidance or structure. They aren’t shy and tend to volunteer first.
• The “smart guy” who can read the material and remember it inside and out. This person becomes the subject matter expert but isn’t always keen on leading the learning process.
• The intuitive one who can almost always read the group and see those who are struggling without them saying a word. They can provide a new perspective and make the information easier to digest.

You also learn that these are not usually the same people. After 19 years in the Army, recognizing those people and knowing how to foster their innate abilities has become one of my greatest assets in leading successful teams throughout the organization. It is one of the few opportunities I have where my military training and experience truly translates to a skillset that I can utilize in the civilian sector and that I am truly passionate about.

There are many industries and many organizations where people find themselves in leadership positions that they may not be inherently suited for but showed success in the role and now they are tasked to manage others in that role. If they are coachable and self-aware, they can be successful. Being coachable requires empathy, initiative, and motivation. Being truly self-aware allows someone to be confident in their strengths and humble in their weaknesses. The coaching relationship is, in my opinion, one of the strongest ways to build and leverage self-awareness. In order for us to develop and grow, we need an outside perspective that can provide feedback on our performance, strategies, habits, and biases. With that feedback and a positive coaching relationship, anything is possible.

Epicenter Innovation’s Resilience Innovator Coaching Program is unique due to the variety of concepts available to you and your team. It is unrealistic for anyone to be highly skilled and effective at… everything! Many businesses and organizations get stuck in the decision wheel of not wanting to pay for something they believe they can do themselves. Then without the true expertise or experience, change never comes. Investing in the right people to deliver the right support to you and your team is invaluable. The Resilience Innovator Coaching Program connects you with our extended network of coaches to best meet your individual needs and goals. Whether you are looking to support organizational change, team development and cohesion, or an individual career path, coaching is a critical part of that process.

Connect with Resilience Innovator Coaching at Epicenter and start that relationship with someone that is passionate about that journey.