Profession and Passion: Why be OUT if it matters to you?

Posted on September 17, 2010 by Catherine Wood, One of Thousands of Executive Coaches on Noomii.

I admit that I have been largely uninterested in the “why” of things for some time. My experience, until recently, has been that looking for why is the same as hunting down a tiny hole for a small piece of cheese that usually isn’t there.

Then today in my Master Mind group, the question of “why” was hit with a new light: why are you passionate about what you do?

Now, I KNOW why I am passionate about being a Coach. But I don’t often talk about why.

Why. Hmmm. I know I am a Coach because I genuinely love the beauty of people, I respect the fabric and colour of their dreams, and I know beyond a shadow of any doubt that dreams do come true. I’ve seen it happen.

WHY. I’ve seen dreams come true as often as I have had the privilege to work with unique clients – and more often than that! Each time the “coming true” of someone’s dream is as resplendent as a sunrise or a sunset, and I never get bored or complacent seeing them, no matter how many. Each “dream realized” – or dream made real – is unique. I also believe in uniqueness.

That is why I am OUT as a Coach – a lesbian, queer, married-to-a-same-gender-person, gay, LGBTQ – Coach. I believe in putting myself OUT there so that people can find me as the Coach they have been looking for.

WHY might it smart to be OUT there as a Coach?

The fact is that the jury is still OUT on that matter (pun intended).

I have always been out, and I have always been open and honest about my “bend” as a Coach. WHY? I know that my ability as a Coach is assisted by my queer – therefore questioning – nature, and I like to honour that publicly. WHY? It honours the work I’ve done, and the lives that have inspired mine. So there is nothing really new – except where I spend my marketing dollars and all of my time.

But I’ve never been hired BECAUSE I am a lesbian. Yet, I totally look forward to the day that I get to say “people are hiring me because my business honours Queer”, and “I make a very very good living because of that”. WHY? It’s part of my dream.

Now, that is not to say that all my clients have been, are or will be lesbian. Or gay. Or queer. Or bi. Or polyamourous. Or straight. Or questioning.

I work with human beings who are a match for my Coaching style – and not everyone is a match. Chemistry between Coach and Client is so important. WHY? Because we go into some pretty gritty places together over the course of our work together, and trust is helped by chemistry. WHY? Cause it’s easier when you can clearly and directly say to someone “it’s ok if you need to hate me for a moment or a week”…then purposefully ask the tough question that will make the difference to their dream coming true. Chemistry allows for the space of creation…the sparks of fulfillment.

WHY am I passionate about being a Queer Coach? Quite simply because the more queers out there who have fulfilled their most precious, heart-filled dreams, the more beautiful a world we will have to play in. WHY? The faeries told me so.

In adventure,
Coach Catherine