Alan Roby
My Path To CoachingMr. Frazier was my 11th grade English teacher. I mention this because we read Dickens in his class, including "Tale of 2 Cities" and "Great Expectations." After high school, I sent Mr. Frazier a Christmas card and in his reply, he asked me about my school, my major, and my plans in general by writing, "Tell me your hopes, your dreams, your Great Expectations!" Not really having an answer, I continued along my collegiate career and forgot about the question. Or so I thought.
After college, my career path began like that of many people, born more out of practicality than passion. Not knowing precisely what I wanted to do, I chose to major in business management, deciding that it would likely provide a good foundation for whatever I would end up doing, once I really figured out what "it" was going to be.
After graduation and a brief stint in retail management (which was definitely not my "it"), I went to work in the financial services sector, which fortunately turned out to be a closer fit. Moving from a savings and loan to a mortgage bank, and then on to mortgage banking software, I seemed to be on what appeared from the outside to be an upwardly mobile, "successful" track: more responsibility, more recognition, more money.
And more angst.
Along with the success there was also a barely audible voice inside telling me that I was not doing what I was supposed to be doing. While there were elements of my job that I definitely enjoyed (mentoring my team members, being a sounding board for colleagues, designing and delivering end-user software training), I nonetheless could not shake the annoying, gnawing, and growing feeling that I was meant to be doing something else with my working life. But what? I did not know and I made up that I was too busy to figure it out (too scared was more like it).
Then in 2003, fate was kind enough to step in and offer some help. The company for which I was working went through a major restructuring and downsizing, and although invited to stay, I decided that it was time to step back, slow down, and let the insistent, rather irritating little voice have its say.
And I decided that if I was really committed to listening to the voice and likely changing careers as a result, then I wanted to get some help from someone who knew what they were doing in this regard. Partnering with a career and life transitions coach, we looked at the elements of my past jobs that had been fulfilling for me; i.e., those things that I not only was good at, but that I actually liked doing and was interested in getting better at.
Within a few months, I found myself in my first coaching class and I immediately fell in love: with the material, with the course leaders, and with my fellow students and future colleagues. Finally! I felt as if I had found The Thing; the career that was a great fit for my talents, skills, interests, and passion. That was reinforced when on the 2nd day of that first class, as I asked one of the leaders a question during a break, she asked if I had signed up for subsequent courses. Oh yes, I said I had. "Good," she said, "because you are what I call a 'born to'. You seem to be born to be a coach."
And there it was. The "aha" moment I had been seeking for so long. In that moment of clarity and excitement, I knew that I would be a coach. After completing the course work, I went on to complete my school's certification program and launched my coaching career.
And Now
Today I work with small business owners, partnering with them towards greater success by helping them get clear on their vision for their work and their life outside of work, developing strategies for making the vision a reality, and providing support and accountability along the way. And I also work with those who feel they are lost in corporate America, and want to stay there and thrive by bringing what they do more in alignment with who they are.
I am engaged in my coaching community, serving as Co-President of my local coaching chapter--SF Coaches--and attending many professional programs to further my work. I am grateful every day that I have found this calling, had my "aha" moment, and as Mr. Frazier would say, have finally discovered my "Great Expectations."
