Anne Lawrie
Mentor
The following is a short account of my experience of being coached by Bruce Quin.
My own work in the field of mentoring has informed me of the benefits that mentoring and life coaching can bring to the lives of many people. Life coaching can be used as a support mechanism at a time of change and transition but the resultant change to the belief system can sustain the individual throughout the whole of his/her life.
On a personal level I was slightly reluctant to open myself up to life coaching although I recognised that there were changes which I wanted to make.
The coaching sessions were to be held over the telephone and again I had doubts. I have always preferred face to face communication but I was pleasantly surprised by how effective and enjoyable the telephone sessions were.
Bruce explained the process thoroughly at the beginning highlighting the confidentiality of the relationship. His voice and manner were both encouraging and reassuring and, although I approached a couple of sessions with uncertainty, the use of open questions, excellent listening techniques and some humour ensured that I finished the sessions on a really positive note.
The sessions are an opportunity to articulate your hopes and dreams and with the facilitation of the life coach to work out steps towards fulfilling them. It was interesting at times to discover that some things that you initially considered to be essential to your overall happiness were on closer scrutiny not so important.
Bruce always made sure that I had understood and remembered what had been discussed and it was reassuring to know that he had listened well, responding to the tone of my voice rather than facial clues. I have taken some steps towards achieving my goal and although I'm no longer feeding back to Bruce on my progress I feel he has given me the tools to stay motivated and follow my plans through.
I would recommend Bruce as a life coach to anyone hoping to make some positive changes in his/her life.
