Unlike in Western countries where it’s common for people ranging from Olympic Athletes to businessmen to engage in coaches, coaching is still heavily under utilized in Singapore. You may not know this but even TSL founder Bryan Choo is currently under the tutelage of Silicon Valley American entrepreneur Vinnie Lauria, who helps him with TheSmartLocal.
Bryan is quite Western influenced so he took his own initiative to seek out this mentorship. And so far Vinnie has been an amazing help behind the scenes in giving him direction and helping the portal grow from strength to strength.
But the point is, why should you stop learning the moment you’ve left school and become an adult? We could always become better at what we do and upgrading yourself through coaching and training is just one of the ways.
You could think of coaching as enrichment, to maximise your potential in life and at the workplace. Picking up skills to grow further and develop your career. I recently had the opportunity to attend a coaching session with SeraphCorp. It worked out well for me so I decided to share my coaching experience with you.
Seraphcorp is an Approved Training Organisation of the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) of Singapore. In 2009, Seraphcorp was given a grant to develop modules leading to the Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) Professional Diploma in Leadership and People Management (LPM). Put simply, Seraphcorp has been working with WDA on the LPM framework from the beginning, and very happily so. Today Seraphcorp is a LPM WSQ Programme Partner, and Singaporeans and PR (both company and self-sponsored) enjoy enhanced funding of 70% on their LPM course fees.
Such training programmes even offer a cash reward from WDA to recognize the efforts of Singaporeans to upgrade themselves. Singaporeans who successfully complete and are awarded the WSQ Professional Diploma in Leadership and People Management are eligible for a CET Qualification Award (CQA) of $1000.
That means if your company signs you up for these programs, you make money for learning! That’s how much the WDA wants to help people upgrade their skills and remain competitive in the workforce.
Although I blog part-time, I’m still very much a full time office lady who faces her fair share of stress in the office. My stress in life mostly comes from dealing with clients, handling office politics and trying to develop my career at the same time.
When I first met my coach Grace from SeraphCorp, I really did not know what to expect. I was nervous but at the same time excited as I had never gone for coaching before.
I was immediately impressed by the way Grace carried herself. She had a refined and graceful demeanour, and the tonality of her voice made me feel at ease. I felt so comfortable from the moment I met her. Thinking about it later, I feel this is an important quality that all coaches should have. This is so students feel at ease and can open up themselves. Because after all, if you are unable to open up yourself, you’re not going to have a very fruitful session.
As it was my first coaching session, we warmed up with some casual topics as we introduced ourselves to each other. Like her first impression, Grace made me feel relaxed during the conversation which allowed me to naturally share what was on my mind without hesitation. I don’t recall opening up myself so easily to anyone before.
I shared with Grace my current concerns, which were mostly from work such as how to improve my career while keeping good relationships with my colleagues. I shared with her as much as I could and was surprised at how it just kept flowing out of me. I never knew I had so much to talk about, nor did I ever have the chance to speak about these issues to anyone before.
In the middle of the session, she asked my permission to run a profile on me. It was just a series of 20 questions on a single piece of paper. Grace does not know my full detailed background, so I was surprised that she could pinpoint and understand what I was going through based on my profile. I guess it is your perception of life that plays a big part in determining your approach to it.
She was a sincere listener and I felt so much better just by having a great listener. I normally keep these thoughts inside me, so the feeling of getting all of this of my chest was liberating. She not only listened, but suggested actual solutions for me which were very helpful.
At the end of the session, I felt much lighter and armed with actionable steps to use to improve my performance and reduce my stress levels in the workplace.
Seraphcorp runs training programmes on workplace coaching. One of which is the Certificate IV in Coaching Skills For the Workplace by SydneyLearning of the University of Sydney.
The aim of this course is to maximize an individuals performance in the workplace. It is aimed at experienced or aspiring leaders and managers of teams and will be also of use to learning and development managers, human resource professionals and consultants.
The Certificate IV: Coaching Skills for the Workplace is recognised by employers as a trusted indicator or competency in coaching. Whether you already have the skills or seek the knowledge, this qualification is a great way to up skill and gain the recogniton you deserve.
Professor Ann Brewer will be running this self-paced independent learning course at SeraphCorp. She has a Bachelor of Behavioural Science and is currently serving as Deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of Sydney.
This course is partnered with SydneyLearning from the University of Sydney. It comprises 8 modules with the dates for the next Certificate IV being 3-5 Apr and 29-30 May 2014. Some of the highlights from the course include:
PSPGOV516A – Develop and use emotional intelligence
Increasing self-awareness, self-management and social awareness in the context of the workplace.
BSBMGT401A – Showing leadership in the workplace
The performance outcomes, skills and knowledge required to work with teams and individuals and the conduct and initiative they take in influencing others.
BSBWOR401A – Establish effective workplace relationships
The skills and knowledge used to collect and communicate information to develop and maintain effective working relationships with particular regard to communication and representation.
SeraphCorp is happy to extend a $500 discount to readers who quote TSL for their Certificate IV in Coaching skills for the Workplace.
You many contact them here:
Office: (65) 6100 7372 | Email: enquiry@seraphcorp.net | Website: http://www.seraphcorp.net
You may also view the full Certificate IV in Coaching Skills for the Workplace PDF here.
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