Gabor Holch – Cross Cultural Coach Hungary

Ever since I left my civil servant position and went into corporate consulting, I have been drawn into new fields by the market pull, often with next to no knowledge about the field in question.

I got into coaching in a similar way. I have been working as a corporate trainer and consultant with multinationals in China and East Asia since 2002. My focus areas have been cross-cultural leadership and communication.

Eventually, my clients kept asking me a recurring question:

Could you sit down with our VP and talk over the new product strategy?
Our General Manager would need some help in how to apply the content of this training in daily work; would you mind talking this over with her?

I didn’t mind, I did it, and I told a friend about it.  At that point, I spent a good number of hours talking things over with the top managers of my clients. Non-billable, but good for long-term business developments. Starting off with internal communication or the restructuring of the branch, we ended up with diverse topics, from work-life balance to managing conflicts in the company.  My friend was listening patiently. “In other words, you are coaching them”, he said. “I do?”, says I.  It occurred to me only then that my career could include another set of services. However, if I do something I like to do it right, so I went for a certification.

What was the most valuable thing you learned at ICA?

For its flexibility and user-friendliness I choose ICA over a number of resident programmes in the US. Although at the beginning I had doubts I would learn too much at an online coaching course, I started my classes and the community quickly grew on me and now I am a fan (honestly!). The global community of would-be coaches as well as the instructors (in this order though) will help me tremendously in developing a sound coaching model and build up a quality network. I find the exchange of ideas at classes invaluable. Students come from as various backgrounds as psychiatrist, priest, entrepreneur and fireman, and each perspective adds to the common good. In particular, I have learned from my peers and instructors: – How to write a “teaser” for prospects; – The right attitude to closing a prospect in coaching (as opposed to consulting); – That most of the challenging situations I find myself in as a coach are okay; other coaches experience them and manage to tackle them; – The professional standards and pricing of coaching in other countries.

Website:  Cross Cultural Coach

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