rofessional athletes have coaches, they recognise that in order to perform at their best under pressure they may need a little help to get there. Have you heard the saying that behind every great CEO is a great coach? It’s a well recognised avenue of support in sport and in business but the healthcare industry is only just catching up to the benefits of coaching.

Take here some examples of women who might benefit from coaching:

Lucy is a nurse, she works shifts and has young children. She often feels overwhelmed at keeping up with changing shift patterns, housework and pressure from her extended family to spend more time with them. She would love to have a calmer life and to feel more in control but struggles to know where to start. She’s often tired and finds herself snapping at her partner and children more than she would like, then feeling guilty. She would like to think about the future, getting her career plan and finances in order and improving her health but there just isn’t the time. She loves what she does but sometimes wonders if she should just look for a less stressful job…

Maryam is a physio. She is about to take on more responsibility at work and is excited about making a difference but worries about how she is going to juggle her new responsibilities and find balance. She doesn’t feel as confident as she would like to and thinks the other people doing her new role are more trained or experienced than her, she hopes that she can match up. She’s frequently being told to speak up more but she’s naturally quiet and struggles to be heard and seen as much as her louder colleagues. She wonders how she can step up and still be herself?

Simone is a junior doctor. She enjoys her job most of the time but finds herself thinking about work frequently when she’s at home. Sometimes she feels sick or tearful before her shifts, worrying about what might happen and whether she’ll be able to cope with it. Work has been getting more stressful over the last few years and keeping up with exams, projects and portfolio are using a lot of her free time. Her family are so proud, she daren’t let on that she doesn’t love every minute of the job. She’s not sure what the future looks like and whether it’s going to get any easier but at some point she’d really like to settle down and relax a bit more…

A coach is a bit like a tour guide. You may know where you want to go (or you may just know you don’t want to be where you are), and sure, you could get there by yourself but you may not have everything you need to get there, you may get lost on the way and you may miss a lot of cool things while you’re focusing on the map and trying to find your way. A ‘tour guide’ can expertly help you to navigate the journey, point out interesting optional detours along the way and will get you there much faster. If you decide that actually, you’d like to change the route and go somewhere else, they can help you do that with more ease – and probably less blood, sweat and tears!

So, how could a coach help you get to your destination?