Submitted by Nidhi Arora, PCC, Back To Source
Coaching provided to organization leaders (e.g., supervisors, managers) of the Akanksha Foundation

Akanaksha is a foundation that we have been very fond of at a personal level, given that they work with the age group that is the future of our country. Their commitment to ensuring that children from not-so-privileged backgrounds experience the joy of learning and pursue at least a basic education.

We were deeply honored when we were approached by the head of schools to support them in building an Akanksha model of coaching in order to bring the coaching mindset and philosophy to their engagement with each other, and that the benefits trickle down to the last child at Akanaksha.

We began engaging with a small team of four who would be the torch bearers of this initiative. Each one of them has served through various roles at Akanaksha, from being a volunteer to a teacher to a school leader, and understood the context and culture of Akanksha, both in the manner in which it is intended and the manner in which it is experienced. Bridging the gap between intention and action is where their current role lies as Akanaksha coaches.

We have been working with them twice a month. We introduce an aspect of coaching through a facilitator-led discussion that supports contextualization, and the Akanaksha coaches then take it to the ground and experiment with it in their conversations with the school leaders, principals, teachers and staff both on a one-on-one basis and in team meetings.

We walk closely with them through the process, through group coaching focused on celebrating their wins in integrating the coaching mindset, the skills they are learning with us and the rich learning within the peer group as each shares their success stories building momentum and trust.

There is no specific end goal that we are working toward; we want to see spiritual partnering foster the discovery of those goals, with all of us being 100% committed to the path.