What is Empowerment Coaching?
I have received many questions recently about what I do. What is empowerment coaching is? Why do I call myself an empowerment coach? And, are people “broken” hence they see a coach? I thought it will be helpful to clarify them in this blog post.
So, what is empowerment coaching? To me, empowerment coaching is like the metaphor of a lighthouse and a sailboat. The lighthouse gives captain the freedom to think, feel and act what is best for the sailboat to reach its destination.
The coach is just like the lighthouse…
In empowerment coaching, the coach is like the lighthouse providing the light for the sailboat. The lighthouse gives the sailboat the freedom to find their path. It helps them to utilize their sails to handle the challenges and reach their destinations.
The Sailboat
Elements of Life
Our Destination
Just like a boat can sail to certain destinations, people can steer to reach goals. Without a destination, we may feel lost and lack of meaning in life.
Our Compass, Steering Wheel & Sail
Similar to the sailboat, we are all equipped with our compass, steering wheel and sail.
Our compass is like our emotions and feelings, acting as a tool to help us navigate and orientate our lives. Hence, it is important to pay attention to our compass as an invaluable guide.
The steering wheel is our personal values, providing us with the general direction in life and determine how we want to live our life.
Our sails refer to our strengths. We all have different and unique strengths. Importantly, we need to learn to adjust our sails to cope and promote well-being in our life.
Leak in our Sailboat
At times, our sailboat may have a leak, similar to how we may have limiting beliefs interfering with our preferred course in life. Or, we may suffer from rumination, worry, self-blame, or unrealistic standards. In other cases, we may engage in behaviors which do not serve us well. These are internal stressors we can learn to overcome to enhance our own well-being.
The Water, Weather & Other Boats
In addition, our sailboat has to manage the water, weather and other boats, similar to the environment, life events and relationships with others. These external events are outside our direct control, but we can control how we view and adapt to them.
You are the Master of your boat, you are the Captain
We are all the masters of our boat, just like how we are the souls to our life. And, we are empowered to choose how we think, feel and act in respect to each of these elements of our life.
We are the captain to our boat
Your Empowerment Coach is your Lighthouse
Coach is like the lighthouse
As an empowerment coach, I see myself as the lighthouse providing the empowerment to the captain by shining light on his or her boat. And, I empower the captain to clarify its current position and environment the boat is in and how each different element interacts with other elements.
Similar to the light house, the light I shine is a temporary aid. Hence, I teach the captain how to calibrate the strategies and re-steer its sailboat to reach the desired destination. Most importantly, each captain will learn the strategies to cope with future challenges in their journey.
How are you, as the Captain, steering your boat?
All sailboats need the lighthouse at some point of their journey. The sailboat does not need to be broken before the captain seeks for help. So, are you being a strategic captain and sailing your boat on the right path to your destination? And, do you have your coach or mentor to shine this light for you when you need it?
Elynn Teo | Creator | The Mind Studio
From a finance-leader to a coach, Elynn is passionate about empowering others through their mindset to become a better version of themselves and live a flourishing life. Elynn spent 18 years working in highly dynamic and fast-paced corporate environments and held various global leadership roles. During this time, Elynn had the privilege to lead and serve global and virtual teams. And, it is through these beautiful souls that Elynn discovered her passion of empowering others to become a better self. Elynn holds a Bachelor in Accountancy, Graduate Diploma in Applied Positive Psychology and Graduate Certificate in Counselling. She is currently pursuing her Master Practitioner in Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Masters in Counselling.