A Coaching Model Created by Jenna Loh
(Career Coach, MALAYSIA)
Dancing celebrates life and has always been about self expression and body art moving to the beat of the music. All across the world, people of all ages strut out their talent on the dance floor of ballrooms, clubs, homes and more currently, movies as well as reality TV shows.
Among the most popular ballroom dance styles, the salsa and tango stands out. While having similarities, socially the tango is more intimate and sensual because both partners are intertwined together as they glide effortlessly across the floor.
The tango defines the social statement of two passionate people displaying their life-like chemistry while dramatizing their give-and-take story-telling of the dance.
Similarly like tango dancing, Coaching also performs that series of definitive steps taken by two individuals – the Coach and the Coachee, as follows:
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Purpose
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Private
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Professional
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Pace
Coaching Model: Dance the Tango
1. Purpose
Since every Tango begins and ends with a finale, each coaching session must have a final objective clearly defined with a plan of execution. Attention is then given to the space necessary for the Coachee to reflect, think, articulate and participate so as to define this objective. Then using the tools learnt from ICA, the Coach will guard the space purposely chosen (be it face-to-face or online) to provide the focus to coach purposefully towards achieving the objectives.
2. Private
Lyrics from Brother Sister – Don’t Make Me Dance Alone
Meet me on the floor wrap your arms around my body So you don’t have to dance alone
Just like every Tango is a private dance, Coaching is essentially an expression and communication between two persons. Each coaching session is private and confidential because it is all about intensely listening, actively sensing and responding to one another. The Coach will encourage the Coachee to share his innermost thoughts. Just like in the tango, the Coach will then lead by utilizing power tools learnt from ICA so that the coachee will arrive at the point of self-awareness and thereafter feel empowered to initiate self-action and direction.
3. Professional
Every dance can either be a spectator sport or a very private event. As such, every item like the dancers’ attire, dance venue and the music, is carefully planned with nothing left to chance. Similarly, every coaching session requires the highest standards of professionalism in both approach and conduct. Every step reflects the collaborative process where both parties show mutual trust and respect for each other thereby allowing for honesty as well as allowing verbal exchange of opinions. The Coach must show his presence and ability to listen, lead, motivate and inspire using the tools learnt from ICA. The Coach is trained to listen and to connect with the Coachee with his thoughts expressed; resulting in a two-way dialogue which will encourage new ideas and solutions can be explored as well as increased awareness of endless possibilities.
4. Pace
Since the tango dance is physically demanding and requires body-embracing, the male lead (the Coach) has to hold the partner (the Coachee) securely, but not too tightly so that the smooth and passionate movements come together with the tempo of the music to make the tango dance come alive. Similarly, feeling and listening to each other facilitates the communication and respect between both Coach and Coachee. This is then reflected in the mutual feeling of comfort whereby both parties feel connected. Like the tango, this intention of connection is vital to define the focus, techniques and the message of each responsetowards achieving the overall objective of the Coaching session.
It is a fact that every tango dance aspires towards quality, not quantity. This is best seen when the dancers display the mastery of their steps especially when the tempo slows down to a walk. Similarly, each Coaching session must always bear the distinguishing hallmark of quality(in thoughts and expressions), integrity(between both Coach and Coachee) and excellence(achieving the objectives together).