INSIDE CSMFO
How to Use Coaching for Successful Talent Development Written By Amy Chang and Don Maruska
Amy Chang, Administrative Officer, City of Ontario
Don Maruska, Director, CSMFO Coaching Program
While there are many techniques to coaching, the most important thing about being a coach is the spirit you bring to it. Don Maruska, Director of CSMFO’s Coaching Program, interviewed Amy Chang, Administrative Officer in Ontario, CA, about her experience with coaching. Learn from her insights how you can make coaching a powerful experience to boost performance and fulfillment in your finance team.
I reflected on all the “things” that I was doing, I realized that finding the tips and tools to help people succeed was that “thing”. That is my energy source.
What attracted you to coaching?
What do you see as the opportunity for coaching to help local government professionals succeed?
About six years ago my Finance Director asked me what my passion and purpose in life were in order to help me align my life with our newly established MAD (Making A Difference) Culture, which focuses on people first, work second. At that time I was working in the Budget Unit and believed that exceeding deadlines and making a good impression on my boss were my job and goals. After what seemed like about a year of weekly nagging from the Finance Director about finding my purpose on earth, I decided to spend some time on that to get him off my back. Lo and behold, the process of finding my purpose actually was life changing. The turning point was when he asked me to think about what is the “thing” that I do that keeps me up at night, the “thing” that I am willing to forgo basic human needs of eating and sleeping to pursue. As
There is no app for emotional intelligence and analytical thinking. We are talking about people’s lives, and it is personal. My own purpose discovery journey helped me realize that opportunities are around us everyday. Similar to the saying that every day is an interview, every day is a coaching day. I see coaching as simply people helping other people get back on their feet or broaden their horizon and potential. This is something that I see people do all the time. We all have it in us to be a coach. The question is are you are willing to make people your priority and walk alongside them to help them succeed?
Over the past 20 years of my financial career, I have focused on improving myself to prepare for the next career opportunity. It turned out that the one thing I focused on for myself is what I felt most compelled to contribute back to the world. All of a sudden, it was clear that coaching is my passion and purpose. This discovery was comparable to the feeling I got when I reconciled a complex excel spreadsheet at the 24th hour.
One main purpose of working in local government is to help our community by making it better. In order to help our community, we have to start by helping our coworkers and ourselves be better. We are in a crucial time period where the “silver tsunami” is closing in and the next financial crisis is about to surface with rising costs and even more limited resources. My personal opinion is that we need to bring awareness to the urgency of preparing our younger workforce to rise up and assume responsibility. In addition, we need to strengthen them so that they will stand strong when facing any upcoming challenges.
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