Mind Matters – Coaching: Improve Performance, Achieve Potential

This talk was conducted by Mr Saqib Sheikh, a Media & Communication lecturer at the Centre for American Education (CAE). Mr Saqib is also a certified coach, trainer, communication specialist and social innovator. Being part of the Sunway We-CARE team of lecturers who are all dedicated lecturers passionate about helping students beyond academic issues, Mr Saqib is also playing an active role in improving the well-being of Sunway students.

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In this talk about coaching, the speaker gave an insightful introduction about coaching and how it compares to counselling and mentoring. Being a bona fide coach himself, he explains that the first step to coaching is the realisation and belief of the fact that every individual has a talent. This is certainly an important takeaway to students and lecturers in Sunway as the awareness of this fact is truly the key to meaningful transformation for individuals and groups.

Other than just presenting the audience with information about the power that coaching entails, the speaker even gave a live impromptu demonstration of a simple coaching technique. Needless to say, the audience was mesmerised and captivated by this session as very few have had the chance to witness coaching taking place in real life--especially in front of their very eyes!

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In the live demonstration, the speaker showcased the unique skill of active listening as well as how going through a series of standardised questions can help the coachee realise the fundamental steps to achieve their goal. Other than the live demonstration, his talk also included an interactive session in which the audience tries their hand at simple coaching by sharing a problem with a partner and gracefully accepting the advice that was given. This was a quick and easy activity that audience members thoroughly enjoyed.

Overall, this talk was indeed a success as it provided lots of impactful key takeaway points for the audience members to ponder on throughout their journey in life.