Coaching is an incredibly powerful tool that can benefit you, your life, and your career in countless ways. Most of Ama La Vida’s clients come to us with a specific goal in mind that they are seeking guidance on and accountability to achieve. But what happens each and every time is that in addition to goal achievement, the coaching brings unexpected benefits that truly transform the individual and make a lasting impact on their life.

I asked both Ama La Vida coaches and clients what they see as the unexpected benefits of their work.

The unbiased, safe outlet.

While many of us are lucky to have wonderful support systems around us of friends and family, each of these people has a distinct perspective on our lives which is shaped by their relationship with us. Coaches, however, have no such bias and are there solely to help us define and achieve success on our own terms.

In a professional environment, we often can’t explore ideas with colleagues and bosses due to the impact it may have on them, and we may not feel comfortable opening up about our insecurities. Having a safe space in a coaching session to explore these ideas, test new behaviors and evaluate different decisions is an invaluable resource.

“As a leader I love that I have a safe space to say what is on my mind and either get validation or feedback to think through.”

Elizabeth Martinez

“Having a focused and active listener who was genuinely invested in my joy and success.”

Robbi Crawford

“Non-judgmental, outside perspective that helps me to ground myself and refocus on what is important and how to move forward in a strategic and realistic manner.”

Shelby Davis

Discovering things you don’t know about yourself, and maybe weren’t even looking for.

So often we come into coaching with a specific goal in mind and a set of beliefs we are holding about what will enable us to achieve that goal. Through the process of coaching, we uncover new insights about our behaviors and belief systems, challenge old ways of thinking and begin to rewrite narratives that may no longer be serving us.

For example, a client may come to us saying that their boss doesn’t like them, and that is the reason they haven’t gotten the promotion they are seeking. Through coaching, we might uncover that this was purely based on assumption, and that a fear to trust is what’s holding that person back from building a stronger relationship with their boss and better advocating for their performance.

“We have about 60K thoughts a day. It took coaching for me to realize that there were significant patterns, beliefs, and assumptions underneath some of my more visible thoughts and actions.”

Joseph Neary

“I fought starting with a coach for a really long time. I truly didn’t think there was anything someone could tell me about myself that I didn’t already know; especially in terms of direction for my career. I knew what I was good at. Turns out, I was right. What I didn’t understand about coaching was that it isn’t some magic promise that someone is going to come along and tell you the perfect thing that you should be doing. Instead, it was a lot of (really hard) work. But in doing that work with a coach, you’re with someone who can guide you to see some patterns that you might be overlooking when you do the work yourself. Going into coaching I felt like I was walking in with all the puzzle pieces I needed. What I hadn’t realized is that I was trying to put them together without the picture on the box for reference. In my case, my coach didn’t give me information that I didn’t already have, but I was given a different perspective.”

Haylie Kinsler

A healthy, productive approach to problem-solving and decision-making.

I can attest to this first-hand as I tend to be an overthinker and a ruminator. I often enter my coaching sessions with a cacophony of thoughts swirling around my brain that are exhausting me and causing me to not show up as my best self for my team. Coaching helps me make sense of the noise, organize my thinking, and make decisions and action plans to move forward in a clear way.

“Coaching brings calm thinking about new approaches to old dilemmas.”

Betsy Westhoff

“Shari Santoriello can see through the noise and help me figure it out.”

Elizabeth Martinez

“Coaching helps me to take a step back and organize my brain!”

Rob Nimmer

The pay-it-forward effect.

One of the beautiful things about coaching is that it has a ripple effect. By being coached you are exposed to new ways of thinking and new processes for supporting others. At Ama La Vida we believe, and research continues to back this up, that leaders who integrate coaching skills into their management styles outperform those who don’t. So, where you are benefitting from this new exposure in your life or at work, your coaching work will not only serve you but those around you.

“I didn’t expect that I’d love it so much that I immediately sought out how to contribute to others in a similar way!”

Robbi Crawford

“I get tons of great resources to consume then pass along/share with my team.”

Jen Maynard

The accountability to actually take time to reflect.

We are all so very busy. We are moving a million miles an hour and can often measure our contributions in terms of how many things we checked off the to-do list. But moving from one task to the next without taking time to reflect can actually cause you to miss opportunities to learn, derive insights and make better decisions in the future. Dedicated time for reflection helps you better plan for the future.

Coaching creates a space in your day where you can slow down and be both reflective and intentional. It can break down a behavioral pattern you’ve sunk into and allow you to purposefully design a more optimal behavior that you’d like to adopt. Instead of just moving along to the next thing and potentially repeating the same mistakes, dedicating this time to reflection with a skilled professional can help you generate frameworks and philosophies that lead to better decisions and actions going forward.

“The ability to truly spend time on reflection. Some may assume that this is as easy as carving the time out for reflection but it’s not. You have to also be asking yourself the right questions during that reflection. That is what my coach has helped me with. Being intentional with my time and really gaining insights from my reflections that have made me a better listener, a better learner and a better leader.”

Erika Angell

The fact that it actually works.

I get this. I too was a skeptic. When I was first given coaching by a previous employer, I thought I was doing it for them, not me. I saw it as checking another corporate box to further my career but had no idea how much it would actually transform me as a person and professionally. Not only did it help me achieve tangible goals like navigating a career transition and learning to manage a team for the first time, but it helped me change my mindset and outlook throughout those experiences which was incredibly powerful.

“I really didn’t expect coaching to change my life, but here we are! It’s been totally transformational for me. Now I’m living my life with purpose!”

Kelly Frush

As you can see the benefits of coaching, both planned and unexpected, are undeniable. If you’re looking to achieve results like these, click here to speak with a member of our team and get matched with a coach.