Coaching For Life

Pheww... Sarawak ANTS ( Advanced Non-Commissioned Officers Training School ) 2009 is finally over ! After 4 days and 3 nights of intensive training, it's about time too !

Group Photo of the ANTS Participants

This is, so far, the fourth ANTS i've been to since the revised version started in 2006 in Miri. Now it may seem strange to some, but i keep on attending ANTS and God willing, next year too ( in Sibu ). in ANTS, the participants are taught modules like Ethical Decision Making, Conflict Management, Value Centered Leadership and so on. But, those ain't the reason why i keep going to ANTS. I enjoy attending ANTS because in my opinion, this training course is like an onion. You peel it layer by layer, and with each layer peeled, you realized and learn something new. Beyond that layer, there are OTHER layers to be peeled off, tempting those who are hungering for more knowledge.

I joined ANTS in 2006 and 2007 as a Learner, 2008 as a helper and this year, i attended the ANTS & BNTS Coaches clinic.

Ah yes... coaching, an important element in the entire training course. I'm fortunate enough to meet a lot of coaches of caliber and learn from their life experiences.

Captain David Wong, the very dedicated coach who coached me
in ANTS 2006, BNTS 2007 and Coaches Clinic 2009

Lt Desmond, one of the in-between session coaches

ANTS 2009 got me contemplating on this coaching issue.

Anyone can be a coach. Coaching is not exclusive domain for people managers. While few of us will ever serve as full-time coaches, we are all expected to be full-time coaches. Even if we have never served in this role, we have been coaching unknowingly for all our life. In short, we are coaches of sorts to others unintentionally. ~ ANTS Coaches' Guide

I like what Captain David ( trainer for the Coaches' Clinic 2009 ) said; he shared with us. Coaching is pretty much like a football coach. While coaches are the ones coaching a football team, he himself is not involved in the match itself. Coaching is not about yourself, it's about sharing your story as a reference for others to write their own life's stories. Coaching, it is not about managing results through number but all about knowing the potential and how to maximize it through the ongoing coaching towards the desired performance.

Coaches Clinic 2009

As Tom Laundry so rightly put, 'A coach reminds you of who you are, even when you forget."

Coaches have to watch for what they don't want to see and listen to what they don't want to hear. A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment. At times, coaches have to sacrifice themselves in order to illuminate their players and provides a sturdy shoulders to stand on so one can see further than they might see on their own.

I'm really amazed with these coaches. Although they are not young anymore, but they are still willing to go through all sorts of difficulties to ensure a brighter future for the younger generation. For the 4 days, all of the coaches slept at around 1 in the morning and woke up the next day at around 6 to prepare themselvesfor a full day of coaching. Sometimes, they had to wait for 1 hour just for lunch because the learners could not execute the lunch procedure well. They had to take leave from their work, spend a full weekend of sufferings away from their families and children, go back on Sunday tired and start working again on Monday. And the worst thing is, they need to pay for this kind of life.

But you know what, they are willing to do all those because of their passion and their love for theBoys. Coaching is truly a profession of love. You can't coach people unless you love them. And for that, i am truly duly impressed.

This Coach Certificate has marked another milestone in my life. Hopefully with it, i can start my journey as a coach, training one of the youngest and brightest minds to success in life next year starting from BNTS and slowly work my way up the hierarchy.

Coaching, like leadership, is fighting for the hearts and souls of men and getting them to believe in you. And the test of a good coach is that when they leave, others below them will carry on successfully.

Others below them will carry on

And that's exactly what i plan to do.

P.S. Photos Courtesy of LT Boney Wong

ANTS & BNTS Photos

Part I - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=10362&id=100000178066907
Part II-http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=10416&id=100000178066907