Coaching helps individuals better their lives
Burst for Prosperity Stories - Lisa Roy
Lisa Roy works with the YWCA of Seattle-King-Snohomish Counties and is completing Burst for Prosperity's Coaching for Prosperity Training at Highline Community College. She worked with the Career Coaching Pilot at the South King County YWCA. A community volunteer for 20 years and a former Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa, Lisa has worked with many at-risk populations. She sees career coaching as a breakthrough method of helping people achieve greater success and financial stability. Here's what Lisa has to say about her experience:
"Coaching is about listening. It all goes back to the idea of empowering people."
I worked with all types of people: homeless individuals, individuals that had domestic violence in their background, individuals that had masters degrees but were unable to find employment, individuals who were in recovery or just out of recovery.
The response to coaching was phenomenal. One of the main things people really liked about it was that it gave them hope; it empowered them; it motivated them. I had individuals tell me they were able to make and follow through with decisions easier with coaching, that they were making changes with coaching quicker than they were making in other areas of their life. They would tell me, “I feel like I've come farther here than with all other counseling I've tried.”
It's about giving them the space and letting them know that they do have the answers, not imposing my belief or what I think they need to do. It's about getting to the core of what their values are, who they want to be in all areas of their lives, and if they're not sure who that is, then helping them figure that out.
A lot of coaching is about listening, and knowing that it's more powerful when the ideas come from them, rather than me saying, “Here's what you should do.” I love seeing the lightbulb go off in the individual's head and really seeing them get it. It all goes back to the idea of empowering instead of just having it be lip service. You also see them applying what they've learned in their everyday lives.
I've worked with a lot of at-risk populations and have always seen them as being human. It's about seeing their situations and recognizing that it's just a lack of resources that have gotten them into that situation, with bad decisions occasionally. It's saying, “I see you where you are right now, so let's get you out of this situation, and not have you get stuck time and time again.”
One of the things I like about coaching is that I don't expect people to have change overnight. They're moving at the pace that they need to move. I had a woman who had a son whose behavior wasn't the behavior that she wanted her son to have. She made the decision that she was going to set her boundaries with her son and stick with them. She did what she needed to do and that helped her in other areas of her life. After that she was able to get and keep a job because she was being true to herself.
Another woman came in and was completely devastated. She was thinking of going home to her country in South America. But she was able to get a job that she loves in her field. It's the fact that she was able to stick it out that made the difference. For her it was a matter of three months. We did the whole resume. We had job interviews that we prepared her for. She was offered a different position that wasn't quite what she wanted. She made the tough decision to turn down that job, and right after that her dream job came along.
Lisa Roy sees coaching as a breakthrough method of helping people.
