The Gift of Encouragement
by Coach Howard Bass
People crave leadership.
People yearn for authentic leaders who can encourage them and help them discover how to grow in encouragement themselves.
Coaching is high level leadership that does just that!
Clients come to coaching for many reasons but in essence what they’re looking for is leadership. In fact, clients come to coaching because they recognize their need for leadership in specific areas of their lives.
One of the most important acts of leadership that coaches provide their clients is to give them the gift of encouragement.
What is the gift of encouragement?
The gift of encouragement is the belief, confidence, energy, and hope that coaches give their clients through the dynamics of the coaching relationship.
Every coach possesses a unique set of skills, strengths, wisdom, and expertise. These unique factors are gifts that we bring to coaching. While we don’t all have the same gifts or serve in the same niches, every coach can give their clients the gift of encouragement.
Giving our clients the gift of encouragement is both an intentional act and a natural result that flows from coaching. It’s both strategy and substance.
As coaches, we have the honor of working with clients on their journey from being to becoming. When we give them the gift of encouragement, we help them harness the courage to make the shifts and take the steps that are vital to their success.
Why is the gift of encouragement so important?
Think about it.
How encouraged are you when a leader you admire expresses belief in you?
How energized do you feel when you’re encouraged?
How does being encouraged impact your focus, your motivation, and your follow-through?
Our clients experience the same impact when they receive the gift of encouragement from us.
- Encouragement impacts everything.
Encouragement impacts more things than we might realize.
Energy, focus, follow-through, mindset, motivation, how we process information, our
willingness to make tough decisions, among a host of other things, are directly impacted by
how encouraged we feel.
- Encouragement is empowerment from the inside out.
When people are encouraged, they feel empowered.
Have you noticed that you can’t spell “encouragement” without the word “courage?” Courage and encouragement go hand in hand.
Courage births action. Courage is internal fortitude. It’s the willingness to step up and take action. Courage is inner empowerment that gives our clients the confidence to move forward in hope.
Encouragement is the fuel that ignites courage, propelling our clients beyond their barriers and fears. It reinforces hope and gives them the courage to face and overcome obstacles. When our clients are encouraged, they possess more courage and are far more likely to power through adversity and create the outcomes they desire.
- Encouragement is contagious.
Encouragement changes atmospheres, in us and around us. It shapes individual perspectives, organizational cultures, and team dynamics.
Have you ever come away from a conversation feeling more encouraged than you did before the conversation? Our clients experience this when they emerge from a session with an encouraging coach. When we give our clients the gift of encouragement, they become contagious with encouragement themselves. This helps us multiply our impact as coaches.
How important is encouragement for a coach?
Encouragement isn’t just an important gift that we give our clients. It’s also an essential gift we must give ourselves. If we’re not careful we can get so caught up in the business of coaching that we fail to be intentional about raising our own encouragement level.
As coaches, we need to remember that our encouragement level determines the energy with which we engage our clients. It determines the enthusiasm we bring into the moment. It helps us focus our minds, listen to what our clients are really saying, and craft powerful questions that lead to breakthroughs.
It’s amazing how encouragement and mental focus are so directly connected!
Closing questions….
How long has it been since you evaluated your own encouragement level and the impact it’s having in your coaching practice?
What do you need to do to increase your encouragement level?
How much would you grow as a coach if you embraced the gift of encouragement as both a state of mind and a coaching strategy?
How would doing so shape the questions you ask, the wisdom you share, and the larger culture you’re creating in your coaching practice?
How would your coaching skills be sharpened if you became intentional about cultivating more encouragement in your own life?
Be encouraged!
Coach Howard Bass
