Winsor Jenkins

In the process of coaching a client, you are not expected to go into the process with answers for the client.  As coach, this means you are not there to perform.  Stay open to learning about your client’s needs and trust the process.

When I went through my coaching training at the Hudson Institute of Coaching, a critical learning was understanding (and developing) “self as coach.”  We are charged with understanding our own “internal landscape” in or order to understand and help a client and avoid “leading from ahead” (versus “leading from behind,” advocated by the Hudson Institute).

For many of us who enter the coaching profession, the temptation to “lead from ahead” shows up in telling and solving your client’s concerns or issues.  For me, this was a challenge since I got paid big money to provide answers to problems that surfaced while working inside a corporation.  That was the expectation others believed… and the barometer used to determine my way of adding value. So a big part of my transition to coaching was to understand how to “lead from behind” and trust the process.  This journey to hone my “inner theatre” is never-ending… continuing to learn and develop how I show up with my clients.

About the Author

Winsor Jenkins is an accomplished business partner who brings a wealth of HR and business experience gained from working in three Public companies in senior human resources positions – including VP, HR.  His passion is in leadership development applied at the individual, team and organizational levels.  Along with being an ICF (International Coaching Federation) certified coach trained at the Hudson Institute of Coaching in Santa Barbara, he’s a certified facilitator in various leadership development programs including Situational Leadership II.  Winsor is a graduate of Cornell University (BS) and the University of Idaho (MBA).  He is a speaker, blogger and author of the book, The Collaborator:  Discover Soccer as a Metaphor for Global Business Leadership.