People are often fascinated to learn about the work I do. It’s not often you hear someone answer ‘what do you do‘ with “I use coaching to improve patient adherence and the wellbeing of healthcare professionals.”
Though we’re making progress beyond the ‘C’ Suite, coaching in healthcare is still a relatively new phenomenon. Some are excited by the concept, some see the value immediately and integrate coaching into their organizations, and some remain skeptical.
After focusing on coaching in healthcare for the past decade, I know it makes a difference. I’ve seen the shifts that happen within the organizations that bring me in to consult, train, and coach nurses, pharmacists, surgeons, nurse practitioners, directors, managers, and more. I’ve celebrated the wins with each one as they master a new skill or deepen their understanding of things like the impact of the patient mindset on adherence and recommended lifestyle changes. We also bring mastery to areas such as time management, team communications, productivity, and process management.
Personally, I know from my own experience being coached that it can be life-changing. It wasn’t until I started researching coach training schools and was seriously considering a career change to coaching from a successful career in Hollywood that I realized how great an impact coaches have had on me since I was a child. I didn’t recognize, until that moment, that every time I took on something new – ballet at age 5, figure skating at age 7, French in grade 5, training for my audition with Ice Follies when I was 17, competing at the world level in competitive horseback riding in my twenties, and when up-leveling my film career interviewing for companies like Morgan Freeman’s Revelations Entertainment – I worked with a coach. Coaching has always been the modality that helped me to continually live a life of high performance.
But you don’t have to take my word for it. The hard data on the impact of coaching is quickly adding up. If you have any doubts about the impact coaching can have on patient adherence, patient care, or the wellbeing of healthcare professionals, invest 15 minutes of your time and listen to Dr. Atul Gawande’s 2017 TedTalk, Want to get great at something? Get a coach. In his talk, he explores the impact of coaching for a labor and delivery team in India. It is an inspiring story about choosing a path that involves striving for excellence, not settling for good enough, and the power of coaching. It left me feeling honored to serve in a profession that can so directly and positively impact lives.
I know that coaching changes lives…but in Dr. Gawande’s application of coaching at this remote hospital in India, he documents how it is actually saving lives.
There are three coaching-based communication skills that can change everything for patients, healthcare professionals, and healthcare organizations. I’ve spent a decade developing how to integrate a coaching-based approach to care because, frankly, the current paradigm no longer works. Want to learn more? Download my white paper or set up a consultation call so you can learn more about how coaching can change outcomes in healthcare.
