The ear of the retirement coach

I heard some time ago in a podcast that a survey was taken which found that – on average, and I stress this – that a patient spends 14 seconds in a GP’s office before the GP starts talking. To put it differently you get an initial short time, as a patient, to be heard before the doctor speaks.

I am not saying this is bad practice. I have no opinion on the matter. But contrast what can happen in coaching where, as a client, you may occupy the whole hour in being listened to.

You see the point and please hear me out. It’s not to compare coaching with medicine, rather it’s to point out that there is at least an opportunity to be listened to in a coaching session. So if you grant me a hearing, or lend me your ears, let me make another point.

That is: a good coach has resources beyond listening. For when we communicate we do so in many ways: through our body, our tone of voice, our emotional state, in writing (perhaps these days that means email).

So a retirement coach will offer you the chance to formulate your feelings and thoughts about retirement; but without pressure and with a free chance to take the floor. How often does that opportunity present itself in life?

Everyone deserves to be heard and, even more importantly, to be listened to properly and attentively.

Retirement: You won’t know what it is like until you get there.