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You Are Not Alone
60 Plays18 days ago
In this heartfelt episode of PRIME SPACE, Elias Scultori, MCC, explores one of the most overlooked realities of the coaching profession: isolation.
Behind the meaningful conversations, transformational moments, and professional growth, many coaches quietly navigate their practices in isolation. After the energy and connection of coach training programs fade, coaches often find themselves building businesses, holding complex client situations, and reflecting on ethical dilemmas alone.
This episode is a reminder that coaching was never meant to be a solitary path.
Elias reflects on the essential role of coaching communities, mentor coaching, supervision, peer reflection, and professional organizations in sustaining not only coaching excellence, but also emotional well-being, ethical clarity, and professional resilience.
From ICF communities and peer coaching spaces to mentor relationships and industry associations, this conversation is an invitation to reconnect — not only with other coaches, but with the shared humanity at the heart of the profession.
If you have ever questioned yourself as a coach, felt isolated in your work, or hesitated to ask for support, this episode is for you.
In this episode
- Why coaching can become an isolating profession
- The hidden emotional cost of working alone
- The importance of reflective practice and community
- Why “a coach needs a coach”
- Shame, vulnerability, and asking for support
- The role of mentor coaching and supervision
- Building sustainable professional relationships
- How coaching communities strengthen ethical practice
- Why volunteering and participation matter
- Finding your professional “home” as a coach
Memorable Quotes
“Humans are social creatures. We need each other — and as coaches, we need other coaches.”
“For a coach, having a coach is an ethical issue.”
“We cannot do this alone.”
“This is an opportunity for us to exercise our transparency, authenticity, vulnerability, and live the coaching mindset.”
Chapters
00:13 – The loneliness many coaches experience
01:49 – The power of coaching community
02:54 – Coaching through complex client situations
03:53 – Why coaches also need coaching
05:17 – Shame, vulnerability, and asking for help
06:34 – Reflective practice and the coaching mindset
07:50 – Finding community through professional organizations
09:07 – Volunteering, contribution, and authentic connection
10:23 – Closing reflections and season four finale preview
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Prime Space Podcast
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to Prime Space, Prime Coaching Academy podcast with your host, Elias Scultori Hello, coaches.
00:00:16
Speaker
Are you feeling lonely? Are you feeling a bit out of the loop?
00:00:24
Speaker
Coaching can be a very isolating profession. We go through the excitement of coach training. We love the interaction with the members of our cohorts.
00:00:39
Speaker
We learn so much from each other. And then we conclude the program. We get our certification. We start building our practices in silence.
00:00:55
Speaker
This is a very common situation coaches go through, even for coaches who are internal coaches or working in a pool of coaches. Especially if we are working online, we can spend a lot of time relating with our clients, connecting in that space.
Building a Coaching Community
00:01:21
Speaker
But when it comes to reflecting, thinking about our practices, our business development, or noticing how we are applying our skills, we oftentimes forget or minimize the importance of developing a community with other coaches.
00:01:48
Speaker
I could not do that myself. I've mentioned several times before that I credit a lot of my coaching career success to my community, to my community of coaches. I would not be here without all the coaches I met over the past decades and the lessons I learned from each one of them.
00:02:15
Speaker
I can picture quite a few of them in my head right now. And I am grateful for all of them. And I am particularly grateful for the ones that not only passed by and left a mark, but also those who continue to be a source of support and sanity for me today.
00:02:37
Speaker
Being isolated in any aspect of life is not healthy. Humans are social creatures. We need each other. And as coaches, we need other coaches.
Sharing and Support in Coaching
00:02:54
Speaker
In our last Prime Hour this past week, our topic was, we we named it, Coaching Through Complex and Toxic Client Situations.
00:03:06
Speaker
You know, these difficult scenarios that our clients may bring to us that perhaps require a bit more care little nuanced support to give them.
00:03:23
Speaker
You know, we've all been through this one, right? And one of the insights that the group of coaches brought up during that discussion was the crucial importance of sharing and bouncing these situations back with other coaches so we can gain more clarity and perhaps identify better ways to provide that support.
00:03:49
Speaker
This is such a crucial insight. How often do we just stay mulling over these cases, navel-gazing, and then forgetting to utilize exactly what we are trying to provide to our clients?
00:04:07
Speaker
Why do clients come to coaching? Because they want to think through their own challenges with another human being.
Ethics and Professional Growth
00:04:15
Speaker
They want that connection. It's there that they can find their insights.
00:04:21
Speaker
And we can do that too. Let's not forget that. We are ah also allowed to have a coach. You've heard this before. I firmly believe that for a coach, having a coach is an ethical issue.
00:04:39
Speaker
How can we so wholeheartedly advocate for the value of coaching if we don't prescribe that to ourselves? A coach needs a coach.
00:04:52
Speaker
And one of the reasons why coaches oftentimes shy away from sharing some of these situations with another coach or mentor coach or a coach supervisor is shame.
00:05:06
Speaker
If I share this difficult situation, if I share this potentially ethical issue, I may be judged. The other coach may think less of me.
00:05:21
Speaker
I'm not good enough.
00:05:24
Speaker
And I understand that. I've been there feeling like this other coach is thinking that I'm not competent enough or this other coach is using my uncertainty to feel better about themselves.
00:05:39
Speaker
That happens. We're humans. And that's why I say that building a community over time, finding coaches you can trust,
00:05:50
Speaker
Finding a mentor coach, coach supervisor, you can freely open your heart is foundational. And this takes time, but I encourage you to consider this foundational aspect of your practice. We cannot do this alone, and we need a robust support system to make this happen, to have a sustainable practice, to keep our skills sharpened, to see ourselves more clearly.
00:06:24
Speaker
This is what we talk about in competency number two in Bodies of Culture Mindset, the reflective practice.
Networking and Participation
00:06:34
Speaker
Just this past week, one of our students at Prime Coaching Academy used our internal chat system that we have with the students to ask their cohort what they thought the value of continuing their ICF membership was.
00:06:50
Speaker
And I saw a few comments from their colleagues. you you know You know the benefits of having an ICF membership. You can get a free website, discount when you apply for certification, discount on ICF partners, free webinars, business development tools, marketing templates, research portals, blah, blah, blah, blah. blah There are a bunch of good good perks.
00:07:17
Speaker
But what I value the most is the opportunity to connect with over 60,000 coaches around the world.
00:07:28
Speaker
This is a huge and perhaps the most important benefit for me. The discussions that we can have at ICF Engage platform or the peer coaching rounds, the community of practice. I think that nowadays they they call it the member resource groups.
00:07:49
Speaker
and And it's not just the ICF. There is the EMCC, the European Mentoring and Coaching Council, the IAC, the International Association of Coaching.
00:08:01
Speaker
I just came back from the Gay Coaches Alliance annual conference. I have learned so much from that group, personally and professionally. Perhaps there is another group for you that you can join and participate And what about parallel industries? I have a good friend, a professional coach, who is very much involved with the motivational interviewing community.
00:08:25
Speaker
There is SHRM, there is ATD, perhaps a community of an assessment that you are certified in. Do not be alone. That's the bottom line here, professionally speaking.
00:08:41
Speaker
And this is not just about being a member of a community or attending an ICF chapter event. This is about volunteering, getting your hands dirty, building a community so that when things go tough, you have your colleagues to support and also you can support them.
00:09:07
Speaker
And there is no need for shame. On the contrary, i believe that this is an opportunity for us to, again, exercise our transparency, our authenticity, our vulnerability, and live the coaching mindset.
Invitation to Engage and Season Finale
00:09:30
Speaker
And I hope that you know you can count on me.
00:09:35
Speaker
I'm not just a voice in this podcast that you can listen to every week. But I am someone who is very proud to be on your side walking this journey with you.
00:09:52
Speaker
I hope that you can count me as part of your coaching community.
00:09:58
Speaker
Happy International Coaching Week. I hope you're celebrating with your coaching community in some way. if you're listening to this early enough, I will be speaking at two events this week, one for ICF Global and another for ICF South Florida.
00:10:16
Speaker
And I'm sure that you can find links of these events online. I'd love to have you in the conversation. Remember to subscribe. Remember to share this episode. Why why not send a link to your coaching community right now of this episode?
00:10:32
Speaker
I would love that. I love you all. Next week will be the last episode of season four of Prime Space. So stay tuned. I'll talk with you then.