Coaching is summarized as follows: 1. Coaching involves facilitating self-discovery and performance through questioning rather than advice-giving. It helps uncover strengths, weaknesses, and goals. 2. Some key applications of coaching include executive coaching, business coaching, career coaching, health coaching, and life coaching. Coaching can be used to help individuals, businesses, social workers, patients, and more. 3. Coaching is effective because it allows individuals to gain insight into their own thought processes and beliefs in order to realign their perspectives and achieve desired outcomes tailored to their specific needs and situations. The coach acts as a facilitator rather than teacher.

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REENA SAXENA

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INDEX
Sr. No Title of Chapter Page number
1
2
3
4
Coaching
21 Applications of Coaching
Why is Coaching Effective ?
Reality Under Construction
3
7
10
12

3. 3
COACHING
What is ‘coaching’ ?
Is it training? No. Training is imparting knowledge, andragogy, helping adults develop skills through observation and
experience.
Is it mentoring ? No. Mentoring is letting a person below your stature benefit from your knowledge and experience,
and being there with the mentee, in his/her journey towards success.
I see the picture of an onion, cabbage or decorative lights in my mind. No… this is not for a table or party decoration. I
see the human mind, being peeled layer by layer, revealing all its strengths, weaknesses, fears and dreams. I see a
light moving through different parts of the brain, illuminating hitherto unknown and unseen aspects. The connections
created by this process, lead to the formation of a new picture. The thinkers find the solutions or insights they were
looking for. These would not be of much value, without application and implementation. The learner needs to reach
the goal within a specified time, within his resources and without any damaging impact on others.
“Enter the Coach” in the picture. He is the Handholder taking the learner ( hereafter referred to as ‘coachee’) through
the mental process, by asking relevant and leading questions, and facilitating pathways of thought. He is also
the Monitor to ensure that you act on the intentions in a defined framework of time and resources, helping you to
revise goals and plans if needed. The two copper wires in an electric cable illuminate the space around you. Reverse
them, and energy gradually dissipates. If the radio waves in the sky are picked up by a receiver with a matching
frequency, it creates soulful music. If the frequencies do not match, it creates unpleasant sounds. The coach facilitates
the harmony and unity of all related elements, to ensure delivery of the desired outcomes.
What the Coach is not ? The Coach is not an advisor, not a mentor, not a trainer, not an educator, not a spiritual guru.
The Coach is totally non-judgemental, refrains from expressing his views or opinions on anything. If the coach has a
story, that can help putting a framework on the coachee’s thoughts, he will narrate it. But if the story is identical or
contradictory to the coachee’s experience, it will not be used. The Coach is only a facilitator, who puts a structure to
your thought pattern.
How ? By asking questions, by creating varied mental pictures, by reframing paradigms, by paraphrasing your answers
to re-confirm and emphasize. The language would by and large be as follows :
 I am curious to know …
 Is that what you are thinking about ?
 Would you help me in reframing this ?
 What do you think will enhance …. ?
 What do you think can be an obstruction ?
 Can you think of any other resources to support your goals ?
Then, why does a person need a coach ? They need a companion to travel with them, and take them to their
destination with minimum interruptions. They need someone to ensure that intentions are converted to action plans,
action plans to time-bound activity plans in a logical pattern, after taking into consideration all the external and
internal resources and impact on the immediate environment. They need somebody to help them develop on their
innate strengths, and utilize available resources. They help in re-inventing a person.

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Every person needs to overcome some cognitive biases :
1. The Escalation of Commitment
The tendency for people to continue to support previously unsuccessful endeavors.
2. Hyperbolic Discounting
The tendency to accept a smaller gain in the short term, rather than wait for a bigger gain. The “ A bird in
the hand is better than nine in a bush” syndrome.
3. Reactance or Rebellion
Reactance is the urge to do the opposite of what someone wants you to do out of a need to resist a
perceived attempt to constrain your freedom of choice. It may not always be in your best interest.
4. Herd mentality
Herd mentality is the tendency to adopt the opinions and follow the behaviors of the majority to feel
safer and to avoid conflict. This may be detrimental to your own interest.
5. Self-fulfilling Prophecy
Self-fulfilling prophecy is engaging in behaviors that obtain results, which confirm existing attitudes.
One can never break new ground with this.
6. Gamblers’ fallacy
The Gambler’s fallacy is the tendency to think that future probabilities are altered by past events,
when in reality, they are not.
Coaching helps in elimination of these fallacies, to reveal a clear path of action.
TYPES OF COACHING
1. Executive Coaching
This could be for the star performers to help them deliver better, the ones in a transition phase, the
key executives to manage a crucial project, or anybody the management views as suitable.
2. Business Coaching
This is for helping the executives hone their skills, and eliminate all mental roadblocks for high
achievements in business. Applicable to all business heads.
3. Career Coaching
This is to help employees smoothly glide over various phases of their career.
4. Leadership Coaching
To help leaders evolve appropriate leadership styles.

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5. Life Coaching
This is for individuals who think they need a guide and partner, in transitional or life-changing
situations.
6. Health and Wellness Coaching
This includes health, fitness as well as spirituality development.
SKILLS NEEDED TO BE A COMPETENT COACH
The skills that a competent coach will need, other than a professional certification will be :
 A good sales strategy
 Effective networking
 Emotional intelligence
 Persuasive skills
 Awareness of the Johari Window Concept – the four quadrants on how we see ourselves, and how the world
sees us.
 Awareness of Learning Theories - Kolb’s Experiential Learning, Stages of Learning, Multiple Intelligence
theory, Classical Theory of Learning, Bloom’s Hierarchy and Sensory Learning Preferences.
 Application of the learning theories to build a better connect with the client, and facilitating his thinking
without advice from the coach. The difference between coaching and training is always to be borne in mind,
but the learning matters.
 Deciphering body language.
 Excellent communication skills.
 Refraining from giving advice at any step in the coaching process.
THE COACHING PROCESS
The coaching process broadly consists of the following steps, though the methodologies can be modified as per the
need of the situation.
 Identification of the desired outcome
 Spelling out details of the desired outcome.
 Checking commitment level.
 Understanding steps taken so far.
 Identifying the internal and external blocks
 Identifying the greatest individual strength and the external resources.
 Understanding the impact of success and failure on self and others.
 Visualization exercise.
 Action Plan.
 Chunking down steps in the action plan, with a time frame.
 Responsibility and Accountability
 Checking commitment level to execute the action plan.
Summing it up as follows :

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Thoughts  Words  Intentions  Actions  Positive Habits  Success
IS EVERYBODY COACHABLE ?
No. The giver cannot give, unless the receiver is willing to receive. Certain people are not open to accepting
suggestions, or acting on a plan. Some are in the coaching session, since it is sponsored by the company or someone
else. The coach can lead a horse to the water, not force him to drink it. Non-coachability is mostly due to the following
reasons :
 Seeking validation of their beliefs
 Seeking sympathy for their victimization by others.
 A previous experience which did not work
Both the parties are at liberty to terminate the coaching arrangement, if they see no benefit ensuing from it.

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21 APPLICATIONS OF COACHING
The Industrial Society says: "Coaching is the art of facilitating the performance, learning and development of
another."
Fortune Magazine says: "One to one performance coaching is the way for both organisations and individuals to
significantly impact the bottom line."
Coaching is defined as a context-free tool, and has fascinated me immensely. It does not need subject matter
expertise, and yet, holds the potential to help people unlock their potential. It is tool for self-discovery, which can be
applied in almost any sphere of life.
Coaching does not work in the following situations, and both the client and coach are free to withdraw at any point :
1. The client is closed, rigid, unwilling, derives satisfaction from proving others’ wrong and places the onus of
change and initiative on others.
2. Non-supportive organizations with a leadership that obstructs change, and do not allow implementation of
changed working patterns.
3. Unexpected, disruptive changes in the external environment.
4. Absence of a functioning feedback system that allows measuring and evaluating the change.
5. Anything that can invite strong legalor constitutional repercussions.
Where does coaching work ? In all situations other than those mentioned above.
Coaching for Survival - People going through any kind of transition in life –whether planned or imposed, will need
help in sailing through it.
Coaching for Excellence is about bringing out the best in a person, tailored to a specific goal
Some applications are listed below :
Business applications
1. Financial coaching
This can be used in Private Banking to devise client-specific solutions about retirement planning, getting out of debt,
multiplying wealth, estate planning, insurance needs, determination of risk etc.
This can be used by Finance Heads of companies to determine the long and short-term organizational goals, and
devising business, financial and accounting plans.
2. Business coaching
This is for every entrepreneur, Business Head, Product Head to devise action plans tailored to the Key Result Areas. It
helps in creating the right affiliations and collaborations.
3. Sales and Productivity Coaching
This is used to devise sales activity plans, resource activation, awareness of external constraints and knowing how to
work around them.
4. Executive Coaching

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This is normally sponsored by the organization, to extract maximum performance from the employees, and as a tool
of retention.
5. Career coaching for employees
This is not mentoring or grooming people for success. It is helping them devise suitable strategies and action plans for
success ( promotions, job changes, career transitions etc.). It also helps them in accepting what cannot be changed,
and developing a positive mindset.
6. Employees working in multinational environments across different time zones and cultures.
A constant realignment, readjustment of waking and working hours is needed. They need to manage their personal
and social relationships amidst all the chaos.
7. Entrepreneurship Coaching
This is all about resource planning and utilization, sales planning, right mental attitude and impeccable awareness of
the external environment.
Social applications
8. Social workers and employees in social service organizations
This could be an individual or a group of individuals, working in rural management, financial inclusion, education,
employment generation, upliftment of women etc. They face roadblocks at every step and need boosters to stay on
the path, based on their professional choice and personal value system.
9. Patients
This can be done in collaboration with hospitals and doctors, for patients in the clutches of terminal diseases, or those
undergoing long drawn out therapies. This can also help victims of abuse and violence , which leave them physically
and psychologically scarred.
10. Religious converts or disciples
They need to develop a motivation to follow a code of conduct, a way of life and alignment to the religious principles.
11. Prisoners and convicts
They need to return to a preferably normal way of life. A SWOT analysis, repercussions of continued unlawful actions
and the benefits of a law-abiding citizen’s life need to be understood and accepted by the convicts.
12. The victims of natural disasters
They have narrowly escaped death, and need to re-start life from scratch. People need a lot of motivation and clarity
of thought , in their weakest moments.
13. Immigrants to different countries/cultures
A massive reorientation and realignment in the thought-process and lifestyle is needed. This includes migrants from
rural to urban/metropolitan areas in the same country, or students moving to the premier institutions such as
IITs/IIMs, where performance pressure is high.
Individual applications
14. Individuals seeking weight-loss or cosmetic transformations
The need for these treatments usually stems from a low self esteem. Coaching can help the individual in achieving
maximum benefits from the beauty/medical treatments, building a positive body image, and accepting what cannot
be changed.

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15. Retired or About-to-retire individuals.
This is a transitional stage in life. The persons might need support in helping them devise suitable lifestyles, financial
plans and social or family realignment.
16. De-addiction cases
This would stop at a level below therapy. A coach can help the addict realize the causes and consequences of staying
addicted, and the benefits of moving towards a non-toxic, de-addicted life.
17. Career coaching for students
Students are at a very raw and sensitive stage in life. They lack experience, and are at a stage, where the decisions
taken, can catapult them to success, or doom them to failure. A coach can help them in an effective SWOT Analysis,
and deriving an action plan.
18. “Empty-nesters”.
Parents are in a transition stage after the children have developed their own lives and moved out. They need a
realignment to living for themselves.
19. Couples in long-distance relationships
They need to make a success of the relationship, by accepting the limitations imposed by the situation and aligned to
each other.
20. Newly divorced individuals
This is about acceptance of their single status, single parent status after a break-up, and preparing the ground for the
next relationship, if a person so desires.
21. The Bereaved
These are the people separated from their loved ones ( family, friends, lovers or pets), by the force of Death, and need
to get used to a life without them.

10. 10
WHY IS COACHING EFFECTIVE ?
In one of the workshops I attended, I was given a deck of 75 cards, and asked to pull out one. The value mentioned on
the card was supposed to give me the direction, that the universe wanted me to take for the day or hour. Closer
inspection revealed that all 75 cards had positive values (like honesty, tact, understanding, compassion etc.) printed
on them. All the 75 values put together may well constitute the essence of positivity in the world. It was a
commendable effort to pull out one aspect of the good within us, and let it flow freely in the universe.
Pulling out a card every morning did not make the world an idyllic place. The universe was not returning the favours. I
thought about all the positive values that I grew up with, and lived by, before setting my eyes on this deck of cards. I
could sense a lot of black holes in the universe, that had swallowed up the energy. Did it return Something or Nothing
? What was it doing with all the positive, negative and neutral vibes that it was receiving for aeons ? Where was the
Processor ?
Eureka! There was my answer. The micro-processor inside me was creating the miniscule universe around me. And
there were innumerable micro-processors around me, which created different results with different interactions.
What was my micro-processor made of ?
1. The values imbibed from the environment I grew up in.
2. My experiments in application of those values, and the conclusions from those.
3. Selective reinforcement of some values, which became beliefs, behavior patterns, attitude and then
personality.
4. The interaction with several personalities, each of which had gone through a similar, but unique process.
5. The absence of a positive value, became a negative value. Hence, there were as many negative values as
positive. Black is not a color. It is just the absence of reflection of light from the surface. White is the result of
total reflection. All the colours that we perceive are created by selective absorption of light.

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And also reflections and reactions to the outer world.
1. The filters were the ratios that I experienced, which colored my view of the universe.
2. The choices that I made created my social, professional, political and online circles. These circles undergo a
constant churning, guided by the microprocessor inside me.
The innumerable microprocessors around me have created a very chaotic world. The problem lies in a total absence of
real-time responses from the universe. If I see it quick enough, it reinforces the value. If I don’t , I replace it with
something else.
The concept of Time has been a subject of research for long. Do the past, present and future co-exist ? I don’t care,
and I can’t wait. I know that my life has a limited span, and I create my reality with the limited awareness that I have.
The Universe has not equipped me with a larger processor. Hence, I create my own concepts and apply them in my
unique way. All Philosophy and Religion is an effort to induce harmony for the perceived larger good, but at the cost
of my own. Hence, it does not cut ice with me.
The solution for every problem thus, needs to be customized to suit my needs. And, this is where coaching scores over
training and education. It does not preach, it does not teach. It gives you an insight into your own microprocessor, and
helps you in realigning it to your micro-universe, to yield results that suits your needs.

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REALITY UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Creative Indians get busy in the festive season. And it is not just about good food, clothes and celebrations. We re-
interpret mythology, and test our own lives against the given benchmarks. It leads to imaginative creation of both
comic book heroes and caricatures. The strengths and weaknesses of the hero (Lord Ram) and the anti-hero ( the
hydra-headed Ravana) are re-examined, and we opine on what led them to their respective destinies.
Examples have always been a great way of teaching and learning ------ but not more than Experience.
Individuality is a myth, and yet nothing could be more real than that. The individual remains at the core of whatever
shapes him or her. And the collective impact of several individuals shapes the environment. The relationship between
the unit and whole is symbiotic, and allows the individual to stretch and recreate his reality.
The ecosystem that nourishes our existence is closer and more real, than society and environment. Our life changes
only if the ecosystem changes. The protagonists of Ramayana moved to different eco-systems and reinvented their
lives with adaptation. The story was created in this process of Choice and Change.
Myths and legends are both attempts to influence the individual, the core of the larger system. Each can transgress
into the territory of the other. The dictionary meanings of ‘legend’ and ‘myth’ both point towards the realm of
unverifiable, but possible details of the past or present. It is the ‘possibility’ that makes them exciting and believable.

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The religious institutions and town-halls have been replaced by the social media, with a deeper penetration in our
lives. Whatever our senses absorb and interpret day-in and day-out, threatens to become our ecosystem.
Dictionary definitions
Legend
A narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to
possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude. Legend, for its active and passive participants includes no
happenings that are outside the realm of "possibility" but which may include miracles. Legends may be transformed
over time, in order to keep it fresh and vital, and realistic. Many legends operate within the realm of uncertainty, never
being entirely believed by the participants, but also never being resolutely doubted.
Mythology
a. A body or collection of myths belonging to a people and addressing their origin, history, deities, ancestors, and heroe
s.
b. A body of myths associated with an event, individual, or institution.
The value of both is in their use as a ‘hypotheses’ to arrive at scientific theories. A theory or evidence of the real,
which can be tested, proved and replicated.
 The reality that constitutes your ecosystem.
 The reality that needs planned and consistent action.
 The reality that is reviewed and modified, as we move through life.
The idealistic Ram is the hero of the epic, but each character of Ramayana was functioning within the reality of his or
her ecosystem. The Uniqueness and Authenticity of individuals remains at the core of every story.
All these techniques are used in the process of Coaching (‘Enabling’ is a better term), to help you in defining and
recreating your ecosystem. The one that enables you to function better, and contributes to a more congenial
environment.
I am neither Ram, nor Ravan ! Nor are you !
Life is all about YOU.

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ReInventions is an outfit that provides Success , Life and Career Coaching to help you in achieving your highest
potential.
Those interesting in the coaching sessions may contact Reena Saxena at the following coordinates :
Cell number +91 9711598390
Email reena.saxena@reinventions.in; reinventions.reena@gmail.com
LinkedIn profile https://in.linkedin.com/in/reenasaxena
FB page https://www.facebook.com/ReInventions.Reena/
Twitter handle @RReinventions
Blogs https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/
http://reinventionsbyreena.blogspot.in/