Hello, and welcome to a another lessons minisode mini episode of the conversations with coaches podcast. It’s me, Kevin, and this one, this one’s come to me, ah, like so much of so many of these lessons. It’s something that clearly came to me a long time ago, but has revisited me recently in the form of a of a conversation I was able to have with a coach. We try to explain it this way. One thing that uniquely positioned to coach to be of tremendous service to their clients, is what I think of as an unexpected combination of characteristics. That turns a coach into what I sometimes call or what I’m like, I’m kind of workshopping what to call it, but it’s an it’s called the familiar stranger. Now, you’ve heard you know, that like the bad ability to talk to a stranger and tell you know, stranger, all your problems, and like, you have these unexpectedly, profoundly deep conversations with people you barely know, I feel like most of us have had at least an experience like that before where you were able to open up in ways to this new person in your life that you were not able to, or could not to people who you’ve known for years, maybe your entire life, your closest relationships, your family or friends. And there are a lot of reasons for that. We don’t have to get into things like baggage or scars or calluses that might form up as relationships are long standing.
But for a while, I think I want to think of a coach and where I think a coach serves a really unique purpose, a very powerful purpose is that a coach, through their experience, their skills, through their natural inclination towards service and empathy and connection and bridge building, can come in to someone’s life personally, or professionally, has something of a stranger, with a trusted stranger, a familiar stranger, somebody that knows how to connect with you, who’s whose purpose whose passion whose point is to get to know you, to knows how to get to know you, and ask you the questions that you need to be asked. And then be there for the answers to sit and listen, as a familiar a caring stranger. There’s something I think very powerful about that almost enough, but not quite paradox, you know, something, something truly special that I think makes and makes coaching so powerful, and so good, is that ability to move past maybe some of your own obstacles or obstacles that are placed between you and the closest people in your life. And move into a conversation and a connection with someone who is functionally to you a stranger, this coach has been brought in either you’ve hired them, or your company has brought them in, however they come into your life. They’re there, they’re looking at you. And they’re asking you some interesting questions. Maybe there’s simple, maybe they’re complex, but they’re asking you some questions.
And they’re listening for your answers. And they’re taking the time to get to know you, and they are bringing you the safety and the distance of them being a stranger, but with the closeness, that their empathy and their desire to serve, and their skills can provide. Its powerful combination. And I think it’s it’s a way to speak to how important good coaching is in I was going to say your professional life, in your professional life, your personal life, your private life in life period, good coaching can have a tremendous profound impact on who you are now, how you see yourself and where you’re going next. So I think of it as the familiar stranger. So maybe don’t think of yourself as the familiar stranger I’m not sure there may be 1000 different ways to say this to speak to this concept that will speak to you that will speak to your clients. So anyway, that has been my my thoughts on the familiar stranger that is a good coach. Thank you for listening and indulging me and another slightly extended analogy but that I think, nonetheless does does make a lot of sense. So you let me know if I’m if I’m off my rocker here, of course. But thank you for listening, and I’ll talk to you again soon.
