Coaching Has Fired Me Up! - Sailaja Manacha

My sister and I are going through a reflective course together. It invites deeper conversations around our beliefs and I was gratefully sitting with insights of how I have changed in a big way.

Psychotherapy introduced me to the world of looking back to move forward. I healed parts of myself through deeply cathartic processes and did that year after year. I overcame a lot of my limits through the support of teachers, mentors, therapists, good friends, and working with my clients. I continue to be in therapy to this day.

Coaching was my 2nd life changer move. Coaching made me look forward while holding a broad and ambitious horizon. I have had a coach almost continuously for the last 10 years. This blog is to share how I have thrived through it.

1. My coach as a mirror:

My early coaches reflected back my strengths to me. They got me to list them out and build my work around my strengths – Articulation, teaching, psychology, relationship skills, listening. A big part of my early business was providing services connected to these.

2. My coach supported my identity development:

I was part of a cohort at the Institute of Generative Leadership USA. It was time for me to stop and ask what niches I wished to serve within the coaching world. Niches that helped me take care of what I care about the most in the world. A place where I want to leave my mark.

I identified Leadership/Executive Coaching and Women’s Leadership as two areas to focus on. Building my identity in these two areas helped me create a few digital products, intensive journey courses, and my book Step Up which became an Amazon bestseller in a few categories. Recently I have authored a chapter in Growing Groups into Teams. I also became an ICF MCC in 2023. Every action led to a consolidation of identity. I stopped pitching for work in some areas, dropped some business ideas altogether, and focussed on creating new offers that matter.

3. My coach helped me build a business mind:

Not having an MBA and being inward-looking with my psychotherapy work had not helped me be a good business owner. I was not clear about my business goals. I was an entrepreneur and I had ignored the skills needed for it. As a coach, I was sometimes in a feast with lots of work or in a famine with too little work.

Having a business coach allowed me to sharpen my skills in choosing where to focus my energy. It was in brand building and marketing. I built new skills in planning work for my teams, investing in infrastructure, social media, blogging, video creation, and speaking. A big expansion of thinking and action which I continue to do. The learning goals in this area are growing as I build muscle in new domains.

I have had people asking me is coaching worth the investment?

I say a resounding YES. The worth of something is based on the value you hold. I value learning, growth, identity, and most of all making an impact in the world. I believe most leaders worth their salt share this value and hence have a coach.

A coach fires up your game.

A coach is a scaffolding- they provide support and care.

A coach can alter your solo game.

A coach brings wind under your wings for whatever form of growth you decide.

I have received this as a coachee and I provide these as a coach. If you are sitting on the fence, think again!
You can watch this interview of Inmobi leaders Abhay Singhal & Veena Sethuraman who discuss the power of coaching here.

Sailaja Manacha

Sailaja Manacha, a MCC, is known for her programs and coaching methods that combine psychology with leadership practices. In her work, Sailaja draws from Psychology, Ontology, NLP and Spiritual frameworks as well as rich, real-world experiences.