On Course for a week

So this week I am on course at George Brown College taking a class for Life Skills Coaching. This is help me be a better all-round coach. So as part of the course, we are to write a journal for each day. I thought I would post my daily journals as part of my blog.

Day 1

Morning:
What on earth am I doing out on a Sunday morning? Driving downtown, parking and wandering around trying to find a room for the course. At least it’s not a Monday morning and it’s crazy busy down here. Nice sunny day, no traffic, pleasant people; good start.

Finding the room – another challenge. I knew where the main building for GBC was and found the list, but I didn’t understand the room coding. I was trying to find the room in building D and not knowing it referred to the corrider. Anyway, I found it all in good time; second one there which is good.

We’re just getting accustom to one another today and getting the lay of the land on what to expect over the next week. Not quite sure I’m totally in tune with what the course will give me. Guess it’ll depend on how much I put in.

Now I can be a talker or a quite one; depends on the crowd. Participation counts, so I’ll try for somewhere in the middle. Hopefully the others will have interesting levels of participation and offer great stories. No one wants to listen to me all the time.

One thing I hope I get out of this is an understanding of how to apply these skills in corporate and non-corporate environments. I draw my experiences from corporate work but also from theatre.

Still pondering if I will continue to take the 2nd course and then the 3rd. I’ll see how this group gels together as I would likely be in with them the next time too. Getting certified is a goal, but I need to ensure it’s the right program for my ultimate path.

Afternoon:
We start the afternoon with defining Life Skills. Essentially problem solving to manage personal affairs covering by 5 areas of life: self, family, community, leisure and job.

It was suggested to me before I chose to come to this course that I should look for a program that is more corporate coaching focused. I then had another recommendation that life skills coaching is just as good as corporate coaching, but encompasses whole life experiences not just work life. This made a little more sense to me. Plus this course was cheaper.

We also spent more time learning about everyone in the class. The alphabet exercise was great. It was interesting trying to come up with a word that means something to me. Helps you see things about yourself too. How many words can you think of that start with Z that mean something to you?

This was all about disclosure. Interesting how disclosure opens you up and lets people see you better. We find the similarities that bind us together or common interests within the group. We have to have something other than this course in common.

It also builds trust in the group. Every little bit you reveal allows others to feel more comfortable in opening up. It’s one brick at time to build a house. We build it because we have got to live in it together for a week.