91����

23 April 2018

Coaching

I remember my first coaching session well as something magic happened that day when I met my coach, Tina, who made me see things in a whole new light.

I came to the Business School with extremely low confidence because I had set myself such high expectations, which I didn't feel I was meeting. The Edinburgh Award only allows us to choose a maximum of three areas to develop, but at that time it seemed that I had numerous areas that needed to be improved. Tina helped me to look through my key objectives (interpersonal communication, leadership and self-awareness) and ranked my current level in those skills.

Initially, I had hoped my coach would be able to provide a clear way forward. Or at least, to offer some suggestions so that I could get away from my terrible life and start living up to my expectations.

Surprisingly, I did not receive any recommendations, but I learned two of the most valuable things in my life:

1. When you face difficulties in life, you need to think of a way to overcome them on your own
2. Negative emotions are absolutely useless if you only immerse yourself in those emotions without thinking about how to move forward

Tina asked me a series of questions, and step by step she guided me to analyse my problems in terms of the three areas that I had chosen. Surprisingly, by answering her questions, I managed to figure out the solutions by myself.

In our second session, we reviewed my development over the previous six months and re-ranked the level of my skills. We also worked on a plan to help me achieve my goals. What I want to share is the valuable lesson that I learned here, which is to link all of your experiences together and identify how they can contribute to your next steps.

I was reminded that every experience we have in life means something and offers an opportunity for us to learn. We need to review our life regularly and use our experiences to improve our future self. For example, we can continue good habits or behaviors that have contributed to positive outcomes; and also learn from our failures and try to figure out the reasons behind them. As I said, negative emotions are useless, so instead of worrying about failure, we need to self-reflect, keep passionate and carry on.

Anthony said that, “eventually you may not remember the difficulties you experienced in life, but you will never forget that you overcame them. It is the courage you found that is worth remembering.”

And your past experiences and your self-reflection may be the sources of your courage.

Mentoring

As part of the Edinburgh Award we were invited to take part in a trial mentoring programme. My application was successful and I was assigned my mentor, Bing Guo. Bing is an alum of the Business School, graduating with a Master’s with distinction in IBEM in 2015. Until now, we have arranged two mentor sessions and both were informative and inspiring. From my mentor, I have gained more knowledge of the world of work, and have learned where I can develop my skills when it comes to job hunting.

The key thing I have learned from my mentor is that we need to be responsible for our own future. Although mentors can provide some useful suggestions and may answer your questions, you need to put in a lot of effort to achieve your goals. As an introvert, I tend to think too much before I take action. This can be beneficial to some extent, but in terms of job hunting my over-thinking can lead to procrastination. Thanks to my great mentor who shared his own career experiences, I have been able to bridge the gap between transitioning from student to employee.

Overall, it is nothing serious if you feel there is a huge gap between your actual self and your ideal self. Don’t hate yourself. Instead, plan step by step how you can transition towards your ideal self.

As you embark on your self-exploration, your coach and mentor will be here to support you.

Qingfen, MSc International Human Resource Management