Co-founders of Empower World
Marie: Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening wherever you are. Marie Quigley and my lovely business partner Jeanine Bailey here, bringing to you hopefully, trusting, another wonderful podcast that supports coaches and leaders to really get curious about themselves and how they're leading in the world. Good morning Jeanine.
Jeanine: Hi good morning or good afternoon from Australia. Good morning in Doha.
Marie: So today we've just been chatting before the podcast. We always do this checking in with each other, where we are, what's going on for us, What's going on in our business, What's happening in our podcast world as well… we've done a little bit of that. And we've been talking about some questions to bring to today's session. And one of the questions both of us use when we're working with our supervisors, as coach supervisors, is the question what is your client work telling you about yourself. And we thought it would be an interesting topic to bring today because we looked at ‘what is our business telling about us about ourselves? What is our podcast telling us about our business? And we thought: let's ask that question and reflect on it to support coaches to get curious about their clients and what is it telling them about themselves.
Jeanine: Yes, we both agreed, Marie, that it's such a powerful reflection and question to ask of ourselves when we stop and pause and take a breath and reflect and recognize what is happening to ourselves, to our business, our experiences… all those sorts of things. When we just really check in and identify what's working and what's not working. So it's a powerful thing to work out how our experiences… how are they a reflection of who we are being as a person, as a coach and as a leader. So it's again a powerful question to ask our clients when perhaps they may be celebrating and recognizing some great success or perhaps complaining about what's not happening or what is happening to them that they're not happy with.
Marie: Yeah. I know we were asked in an advanced coaching supervision group that I am working with other coaches in and it's a really lovely experience, and we were asked that question as we are supervisors… “What is your client work telling you about yourself?”. And I realized that at the minute at the moment I'm attracting a lot of clients who really want to go deep. Who really want to uncover purpose, passion, meaning. And yeah, well, in my life that's what I am on- this journey of discovery, of going deep and getting curious and looking at my life in different kinds of ways than I have before. And it was it was interesting to reflect that that’s the type of clients that are coming to me right now. And it's great learning as I'm listening and observing and coaching them, I'm also coaching and listening and observing to myself. So there are some great learning lessons for me as I'm listening to their amazing journeys as well.
Jeanine: Yes, and I completely resonate with that, with what you're saying, Marie. I, too, am attracting those kinds of clients and we both recognize that our business is evolving and changing and expanding in different ways. And for us, it is about connecting with our purpose, our values, the things that are really important to us. So I'm not surprised by what you share and it's a theme that I'm noticing with my clients and also the people that come to our coach training programs as well. You know, they really are on a journey of personal development and discovery and connecting with what is really important to them, and often it's about supporting others, themselves as well, but also supporting others in a deeper transformational way. And I remember when I first did my coach training all those years ago, that I was advised or told by my mentors and trainer that we will attract clients and what they bring to the sessions are potentially what we will also experience. And so after many years of coaching and training that is still the same. That reflection is still the same. So that's why it's such a powerful reflection exercise to do, you know, when you notice that you’re observing and judging or experiencing stories from others… where does that show up in my life? Is it serving me? Is it not serving me? What do I need to embrace? What do I need to let go of? What do I need to enhance? Whatever it may be.
Marie: Absolutely. I've just done a beautiful… I actually was a sample session, with a new client and in the sample session she asked it was virtual and she asked if she could show me a piece of art that she's created for herself for this year. And she showed it to me and it was breathtaking in the fact that I asked permission to share a piece of artwork that I'd done for myself for this year. And as I held it up to the camera and she held hands up to the camera, the resemblance of our work was phenomenal. And it was kind of mind blowing for both of us because we knew that we were the perfect fit to work together as client and coach and there was some really deep learning about that ripple effect that, you know, they say when the butterfly flushes its wings in the Amazon and we get a Tsunami at the other side of the world. It's that kind of thing that resonated with me with that.
Jeanine: Yes. And that's beautiful reflection, Marie. And I of course I’ve seen that piece of art, I believe, that you've created and it is magnificent. And there is a butterfly theme in there I think.
Marie: Yeah. And I'm also reflecting, Jeanine, some of the things that my supervisees, my coaches, are bringing to their supervision. And they are also noticing that when their clients are feeling stuck in their lives, they're feeling stuck. And one of my supervisees said you know “oh I have been putting off going to supervision and I've noticed that my clients have been putting off coming to coaching”. So it was a great space to do some reflection on what was holding her back and potentially, once she works that out, her clients will stop coming back to her work.
Jeanine: Yeah. I love that you shared that, Marie, because there will be coaches out there or leaders that are listening to this podcast and potentially they're experiencing some, you know, “what's stopping me from getting my business? What's stopping me from abundance? What's stopping me from getting new clients?” Or whatever it may be. And that question of “where are you stopping yourself? Where are you cluttered?” Or whatever it may be, can release that energy so that you're creating space for that abundance to come in, all those new clients to come in. So it's incredible how this reflective process and paying attention to it can really impact our lives if, again, we listen to it and take the appropriate action that we believe that resonates with us.
Marie: Yeah. And you use that lovely word a number of times as you've been speaking, Jeanine, about reflection. And that's something that we both do as coaches and it's also something we really encourage new and established coaches to put into their work is some time to reflect on this question: “What are my clients telling me about myself?” And other questions to support you to really know who you are as a coach and how you're impacting others and therefore how you're impacting the world. And in this world of climate change and ecological questions that keep coming up, “how am I impacting the whole universe?”.
Jeanine: And that's a really great question: “How am I impacting the whole universe?”. Because in this in these times where there is so much going on in terms of the Corona virus and the Global warming and so forth, we are, I believe, many of us are really making that recognition that we're all connected. Somehow some way we're all connected to this earth and we can all make a choice to do something different. So as a coach, if you're listening to your clients and you're hearing the surface stories, we really encourage you to go beyond the surface story and ask the question such as “how is this a reflection of yourself? What you're experiencing how is this a reflection of what you are perhaps doing or believing? What habits have you got in place that are a reflection of what you're experiencing?”. And maybe Marie, you can say that in a different way that might make sense.
Marie: I think you said that beautifully, Jeanine. And if your clients are still at surface level, ask yourself “how is that a reflection of me?”.
Jeanine: Yeah beautiful and because we do hear so often don't we, Marie, people that are just not listening at that deeper level and not giving themselves… the ego's kind of getting in the way and not giving ourselves the opportunity to go to go deeper. And again, going underneath the patterns and the habits and finding out you know what's the source? What really is the source? What's the belief that perhaps is holding someone back? Or perhaps what the belief that could be enhanced even more?
Marie: Yes. And of course we still want you to we still encourage you to meet your clients where they're at? And simply get curious about where they're at. And how does that reflect where you are also at?
Jeanine: Yeah beautiful. So I think it's time to wrap up Marie, I think we've perhaps covered this and we trust listeners that you're taking away that understanding, that it's going beyond the surface level that it's looking at the reflections of who we are being as a coach and perhaps noticing or supporting our clients to also recognize who they being to attract the outcomes they're experiencing and creating that beautiful ripple effect. So thank you listeners for tuning in today. We trust that you're taking away some great value and if you are getting value out of this podcast we'd love to hear your feedback. We would love you to potentially share this podcast with others because we know that this is about supporting coaches and leaders to be the best that they can be. So we would appreciate that sharing and also follow us on our Social media Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter. So anything else that you'd like to add Marie.
Marie: Please share. We really appreciate it. We really want to make a difference and spread the messages we have and our guests have around the world. Thank you for your support.
Jeanine: Yes absolutely. So look forward to you joining with us next time. And have an amazing day. All the best.
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