The third cycle of coaching with a big municipal agency is coming to a close slowly, as the May end turned into a flood of last-minute make-up appointments that will run through June.
A few minutes ago I said farewell to another client who, after a slightly slow start turned out to make more and more significant changes than any of the other participants. I will miss her. I’ll miss her bursts of insight and the calls where she coached herself so effectively that all I needed to do was offer the occasional word of encouragement.
I’ll miss the guy who started with off-the-charts blood pressure and cholesterol counts who , in his newly calm state is laughing at situations that used to send him into a fury.
I’ll miss the client I knew from a past career who is becoming a friend and another client who I’ve bonded so strongly with that I can’t imagine not staying connected to.
I’ll miss the ones who kept canceling their appointments. I’ll miss the ones who were always late to call. And the ones who could never think of something to talk about but wanted to keep trying.
Fifteen vibrant, interesting men and women will be leaving my weekly life by the end of June. After six months, how could they not have changed me? I’m a better coach for having conversations with each of them.
In September, there will be a new group, different yet the same. I’m imagining the wave of change that is moving through the organization now that over a hundred men and women go on to create their own coaching cultures. And I smile.
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