Making a Difference

The biggest benefits of being a coach, and or a trainer of coaches, are:

Working with people that really care about what they are doing and how they are doing it.
Working with people that want to make a difference.

It is so wonderful to hear their stories, their examples, their motivators, and what they really want to focus on in terms of making a difference.

Over the past year one thing I have noticed is more and more are wondering, where do you even start? There is so much going on, so many people that are struggling and dealing with challenges. There is so much call for change. As coaches we wonder, where do I even start? What can I do? I’m one person, how can I make a difference?

There is a wonderful story for insight: A young child is walking along the beach with their grandparent. On the beach hundreds of starfish have washed up. The young child is picking up the starfish and tossing them back into the water and picking up starfish and tossing them back into the water. The grandparent says to the child, “what are you doing?” The child explains, “if they stay on the sand, they will die from the sun, so I am saving them.” The grandparent says, “oh, there are so many you cannot possibly save them all.” The young child leans over, picks up another one, throws it in the water, and turns to the grandparent and says, “I saved that one.” That is the key for all of us. We cannot save everyone; we cannot fix everything. We cannot do it all. We can impact and make a difference within our sphere of influence.

What does that tell us? As a coach, focus on what you can do and what is possible. Reflect on these coaching questions for yourself: