Looking back at 2023 

   Another year is passing, leaving behind lots of memories and occurrences. Therefore, people might need clarification concerning what to take out of these memories and what to drop out. Everything is supposed to be taken as a supporting asset for the subsequent phases, whether constructive or not because every stride we pass through teaches us new things that can be capitalized on in the future. Furthermore, considering mistakes and learning from them is a solid strategy for successfully avoiding them and overcoming potential obstacles afterward.

Archiving these memories in whatever available tools, like photography, digital documentation, or manual writing, accumulates them with memories of previous years. Thus, the incredible usefulness of this documentation comes out when assessing life’s experiences and challenges, leading to understanding reality in-depth. Moreover, it accentuates our character and its interaction with the various components in the surrounding realm, i.e., especially if this realm is diverse and acting professionally, it pushes us to consider the required characteristics, like communication, intercultural competency, etc., for proficiency. Working in such a realm helps us explore various perspectives and views of the world and indicates our strengths and weaknesses, where we can develop and where we can’t. We can assess our character and proficiency in various contexts with many more components.

These memories might have taken a foothold within black, grey, and white zones, which means life doesn't run in the way we anticipate it to be. I can't claim that life's circumstances are inevitably stationed in one of the three zones mentioned earlier, like the ancient black-and-white cinema. It's believable that this might occur in these three zones simultaneously since the reality runs as such; we encounter the point of how we lead a myriad of changeable circumstances to create a better-off life, achieve our goals, or build up a lucrative project. Certainly, it drives us to think of that wisely, set up the right plan, and implement rules wisely. Above all, being hard-working and perseverant is the giant asset for the success of your project, no matter how long it takes or how many failed attempts you have gone through, because climbing up the summit isn't necessarily a flatty green meadow, but worth putting into account that it might be an excruciating path full of hurdles.

From these introductory paragraphs, I capture one of my still-running professional, first-hand transformative career experiences as a coach with the private sector in Germany during the second half of the year, which will be a memory sooner or later. At the coaching sessions, many topics were highlighted, especially the ones that aim to integrate into the labor market. Still, the issue of intercultural competency through cultural exchange to mitigate misconceptions among multi-ethnic groups also noticeably took a foothold. This track of coaching with customers from Germany and abroad pushed me to think of the significance of strengthening the tendency of learning this competence in a diverse society like the German in socio-professional milieus. It was an informative opportunity to encounter different perspectives that triggered the discussions, turning the roundtable sometimes into conflicting arguments amongst proponents and opponents once the thoughts around the issue arose and each raised an idea.

The target group with whom I led group coaching is socio-psychologically affected. The affected group generally couldn’t handle their life’s affairs due to family separation, alcohol, unemployment, family violence, drug addiction, etc. So the challenging task is retrieving the normal situation as it used to be for those people. Encountering the target group wasn’t daunting regarding managing conversations with them. Still, some other issues that are highly recommended to be considered are their level of education, comprehension, background, harrowing experiences, and the methods they already applied to escape the harsh circumstances.

As a coach, it’s pretty helpful to conduct a first assessment for each case so that treating the case would go smoothly, considering that each individual has different needs. It turned out that such people need to listen to them carefully and attentively so that it could be easier to understand their feelings, perspectives, needs, goals, obstacles, and plans if given. With this stride, the coach shows them the right path, moving on with it, and then following the stride of getting the target group back to normal after a long isolative and depressive time. At this point, specifically, the coach is responsible for returning them to embark on the job market again. Returning to the job market again and starting a new job would be a great success. It means the affected person had fought a magnificent battle to overcome the hardships in daily life. But how can one overcome these hardships? Where is the tipping point? Which tools are to be capitalized on?

It’s a supporting process that the coach is supposed to follow. It can be structurally through well-prepared training topics revolving around socio-cultural or professional issues to develop the highly required skills to advance in their lives, i.e., communication, etc. Based on my experiences with clients, topics like conflict management, communication methods, intercultural competency, problem-solving, getting rid of negative thoughts, and thinking positively, STAR/TIPP Methods were requested. After presenting these issues, I got an indication of where the clients moved on, where they stayed, and how they stepped back. Their experiences on the round table discussion referred to the degree of their motivation and where I could follow improvement steps.

Leading coaching with affected people isn’t a matter of training them on a particular topic; once it ends, the goal is not achieved at all. However, it’s a matter of how these people could build on later, how they grow up in the field of interest, implementing the methods they learned through the coaching. Above all, it’s eventually a matter of continuation until the needs of success and overcoming the obstacles are garnered. In other words, as a coach, I conceive the strenuous efforts for overcoming barriers resulting in the abovementioned circumstances as a great success since some clients think it’s hopeless to start over and achieve something pleasant after being socially and psychologically devastated. In addition, it’s essential to stimulate clients to change their daily routine and replace it with healthy and valuable activities, which is the strategy of perseverance towards the optimum goals. E.g., if involved in a language exchange club doesn’t work out in terms of changing your thoughts, try out something else; don’t hang in there without giving it another try because the path is still long.

Indeed, my experience with the affected social category showed me that grappling with socio-psychological issues -without overestimating and not generalizing- is a long journey. It's a journey that might accompany a diagnosed disease followed by a lengthy treatment. Therefore, when a person finds himself under such circumstances, the following ramifications are expected: isolation, losing the desire to carry on, losing the mood to carry out whatever constructive activities, distrusting the entire surrounding people, obsession with negative thoughts, panic attack, etc. The challenge is rebuilding trust so the affected person can interact freely with the coach in different contexts and environments. Thus, I had to bridge understanding with the clients to make them feel that they were still accepted in the surrounding society.

Thinking back on the occurrences of 2022 and touching upon hopes that I had been striving for, it turned out that hopes gave me the strength to retrieve the already frozen track. Ambitions would slip out of the way if no hard-working people were behind them, no matter if the efforts went as a mirage. But they will come out again if we persevere. Through my observations, the desirable result is once the clients are exposed to inspiring stories and fruitful experiences, including mine, presented at the coaching sessions. Moreover, through intercultural competency coaching for building skills in communicating with people from different cultures after exploring their socio-cultural and religious values and orientations, including respecting them, the clients went out of their comfort zone to think critically about what's happening behind the wall. Although I touched upon the need for this competency, it turned out that diversifying coaching topics impinge clients to the track and cultivate the fact that there is always an exit for the long, undesirable journey.

The coaching assessment indicated that some clients expect a lot from the coaching sessions, believing their goals would be easily attainable after attending the motivating sessions and learning the educational elements. That would be gorgeous if easily attained! However, considering the target psychologically affected group encountering difficulties in their lives. Still, they have to find the right path by motivating tools according to their individual needs; sometimes, finding the right direction takes a long time after passing through probably multiple ways without avail. In this regard, the coach takes the turn to show this path, and as a result, there is a possibility of understanding the impact of the coaching. Assuredly, this mainly depends on the eligibility of the coach.

Therefore, without conveying a critical understanding of the coaching and its impact on the clients, it won't come to fruition. On the other hand, coaching once managed perfectly, it'll stir up inner feelings towards positivity, opening up horizons and, more importantly, might stir up stagnant positive thoughts that had been collected through previous experiences but vanished away due to psychological trauma or depression. As well as at the coaching session, the feeling of reminiscence comes out, showing the clients the significance of these thoughts and their applicability, which are still valuable for projects or professions. In this sense, it poses a compass guiding the right track, highlighting inspiring instances and success stories that play an instrumental role. However, there is something else to pay attention to: coaching isn't necessarily the fastest way of fulfilling dreams or goals unless it's followed by continuous and intensive efforts to overcome the current obstacles, build up skills, and keep applying the rules, as previously demonstrated, e.g., an engineer can't be successful only capitalizing on theoretical framework without getting out to realistic frameworks in a myriad of contexts. To avoid slipping into that, the coach must keep assessing his methodologies by getting client feedback, including personal conversations, which enhances the success of the coaching path.

The bottom line is that coaching is an effective way to resolve many issues when it's proficiently structured and directed, as well as diversifying it attracts the target group's attention, bringing them out of the frustrating circles. By this token, intercultural competency in the coaching thread presents new conceptions and meanings to different living conditions, and more importantly, it enhances socio-professional ties among all groups from various socio-cultural and religious groups in the diverse hosting society of Germany. It's been a worthwhile experience that will be archived for the upcoming New Year 2023 so that I can develop new methods.

Happy New Year