When we say, “I lost my head for a moment,” it is an allusion to that brief period of time when we stopped thinking rationally. A moment that was possibly brought about by feelings like irritation, anxiety or confusion but one that is usually swiftly followed by an insight that denotes self awareness.
Raising the client to a heightened sense of self-awareness is usually the first step taken by experienced coaches. By assisting their clients to identify those distractions that ‘block’ them and improving self awareness they create the space for expanding their potential.
Awareness operates in multiple dimensions and layers. Moving beyond self awareness, we become socially aware when there are people around us and that might induce a plethora of feelings ranging from apathy or indifference to empathy and compassion. In another dimension, when we are conscious of the challenges posed by the environment and culture in which we operate, systems awareness helps us to plan and strategize tasks for maximum effectiveness.
At the same time, over the course of a day, we function at varying layers of awareness that range from oblivion during deep sleep to meta- self awareness while fully engaged in an activity. Champion sports-persons, theater artistes and business leaders frequently attribute their successes to heightened levels of these various dimensions of awareness while deeply engaged in their professions.
Deeply interested in the concept of awareness and its critical value for coaching, I developed and presented, the AWARE© Model at many global forums in 2016. The model introduced the five stage ‘path to awareness’ that included: Awakening- Willpower-Action-Reflection-Engagement. In the model, a methodology to integrate the IAC Coaching Masteries was also shared.
While the concept of Awareness is present in every IAC Coaching Mastery, given this context, a particular favourite with many coaches is our Mastery # 4 (Processing in the Present). Which would be your favourite?
Interested readers who would like to learn and share more on the topic are most welcome to connect with me at president@certifiedcoach.org
With appreciation,
Krishna Kumar
