Benita Stafford Smith, Master Certified Coach and Accredited Coach Supervisor

Benita Stafford Smith, Master Certified Coach and Accredited Coach Supervisor

Benita Stafford-Smith is a Master Certified Coach, an accredited Coach Supervisor,  and a certified Systemic Team Coach.

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The necessity of coaching is increasing as time is changing. The continuous pressure of becoming successful, improving one’s abilities, etc. in the current time is immensely affecting large groups. This pressure often leads to multi-perspective and confusion. This is where coaching helps. A coach can help a coachee learn technical as well as emotional skills. 

Our guest for today, Benita Stafford-Smith, is a Master Certified Coach and Accredited Coach Supervisor. Today, she will help us understand the different aspects and the importance of coaching.

What does Benita mean by being an ‘Artist of Life’?

On being asked why Benita calls herself an artist of life, she enthusiastically replies that she believes that we need to be very creative about how we live. We need to create situations where we can live every minute every day. She believes that everyone can be the artist of their lives.

What made Benita become a coach?

Benita states her restlessness is the reason behind her becoming a coach. She further tells us that she grew restless in her career and came to a point where she felt that she needed to do something else. She then read about an emerging profession called coaching. She decided to pursue it.

Why has coaching become a profession?

Benita mentions that coaching and mentoring are two different things. Coaching and mentoring were earlier considered the same things and used to be done by family elders because they have a personal investment in their younger ones. However, now it has split up. She tells us that mentoring needs expertise on some subjects. On the other hand, coaching is more about who you are, crafting your life, finding and living the purpose of doing something in life, etc.

How can coaching help an entrepreneur or a professional?

Benita claims that coaching can help entrepreneurs in 100 million ways, but it will only benefit people who want something different.

When you should look for a coach and evaluation of the coach?

Benita tells us that she has had a coach for the past 30 years in her life. She considers it a great tool for getting a different perspective. So she says that you need a coach whenever you feel life has a different perspective in life or to a certain thing. She says that you should also keep changing your coach from time to time to get different perspectives. However, it also depends on the individual and your comfort level with that person. If you don’t feel comfortable with someone or you feel like there is a less understanding between you two or on any of the sides, you should look for another coach.

Benita also tells us that as a coach she looks for how willing the person is to do things differently before taking him as her coachee.

What kind of coaching should be given to younger people and how should the organizations prepare themselves to take them?

Benita says that coaching someone her age and coaching a millennial is very different things. She recalls that in her initial days as a coach, the coach and coachee used to sign a one-year contract of association. She says that millennials aren’t going to follow such rules. They need on-demand coaching and not routine sessions. She suggests that if organizations are planning to keep coaches, it should be the on-demand basis.

Benita Stafford-Smith is a Master Certified Coach, an accredited Coach Supervisor,  and a certified Systemic Team Coach. Overall, Benita has proudly coached over  5,000 hours with hundreds of clients spread across three continents.  

Currently, Benita manages the coaching practice for an HR Consulting, where  leading organizations and their executive teams trust Benita’s expertise to enable  them to get clarity on the results they want to achieve and how to accomplish  them.  

She was the founding President of the ICF Oman Chapter, past EMEA Regional  Advisory Council member, and was recently elected as Chair of the ICF Global  Board for Credentials and Standards, among several other roles at ICF Global  Committees.  

Benita is the author of two published books, co-author of another two, a frequent  blogger, and has articles published in traditional media outlets.