Helping Clients as a Creativity Coach
Thursday, January 28th, 2010One of the essential roles of a Creativity Coach is to offer support and accountability and it’s support that a client needs most from a coach. Support feels most like compassion and kindness. Its hard for people to be kind and compassionate to themselves. They tend to beat themselves up and say tough words to themselves, especially if they have been failing in life for a while.
Clients normally have no one to talk to about there work or the fact that their dreams are fading or their goals are not being realised. They often have no one to talk to about their struggle or the gap between their dreams and reality. Many clients are looking for someone to say, “You have it in you and I will help.”
Support is a broad church and what it involves exactly is dependent on the kind of Creative work the client is involved in. Support is a general attitude on the part of the Coach but it also includes actions like coming along to see a showing at a gallery or a first night performance. It might include supporting issues a client has with making meaning from their work or it might take a more psychological nature and include work on procrastination or performance anxiety.
One way a coach may offer practical support to Creative is by speaking with them about starting a new routine. For example writing in the morning before the emails are looked at.
Getting a client to embrace their anxiety is another way a Creativity Coach can be very supportive. Creative anxiety is not often talked about and it’s something that even the most experienced creative might not be aware of.
Other support could take the form of encouraging a client go deeper when thinking and reflecting. Encouraging a client to forgive themselves and Letting them know that it’s not too late and they have still got a chance to get it right.
For better written information about Creativity Coaching get in touch with Tom Binns at the Creativity Practice.
