Still teaching, now coaching and still learning

I've been a teacher for over 8 years now, a profession that I totally love and one that fulfils and challenges me in more ways than one. 

Though I started out teaching young learners,  I'm now mostly working with adults and professionals and most recently with high placed executives.

This means that I'm teaching business/professional English and communications, but I'm learning a lot more. I'm learning about the habits of successful executives, I'm learning about what makes them tick, what gets them going. I'm learning about the frustrations involved in high management positions, about leading people, about directing and succesfuly or unsuccesfully completing projects. I'm hearing what they tell me, but I also listen for what they don't say. I'm researching and reading everything I can

Over the years, a whole lot of my students have told me that their classes seem to also double as a session with the psychologist. (I'm still not sure if that's good or bad).

Nevertheless, when they share things with me or when we do role plays in class,  I'm given the rare opportunity to share their lives and their work.

In my classrooms, there're basically no taboos, no off-limits topics. I'm dark skinned, so thankfully I don't blush and even if I did, you can hardly notice.

They tell me a lot! A whole lot! And I listen, and learn!

The more I teach, the more I learn and the more respect and admiration I have for the wonderful people I've had the honour to teach.  

I mentioned in one of my previous blogposts that most of my students have become friends and the list is still increasing.

I'm still teaching and I'm still learning.
Teaching is one of the best jobs in the world, by no means easy, but totally worth it!
And now it seems only natural adding Coaching to my job definition.