Each year, International Coaching Week invites us to pause, reflect, and shine a light on the powerful impact of professional coaching.
This year’s celebration took place from 12-18 May. The theme was ‘Empower. Inspire. Celebrate.’, capturing the essence of what great coaching is all about: empowering people to step into their potential, inspiring growth through meaningful conversations, and celebrating the wins-big and small-that come from committed personal and professional development.
At its heart, professional coaching is a relationship grounded in trust, curiosity, and a deep belief in what’s possible. It creates space for clarity, courage, and change. For those who coach and those who are coached, it’s often a journey that goes beyond skills and goals. It’s about discovering what truly matters.
To mark International Coaching Week 2025, we invited two Mindbeat coaches to share their own stories of how their practices have evolved and what Empower. Inspire. Celebrate means to them.
Alex Carabi
My coaching practice has evolved in many ways, but the most important change has been this: I used to see my role as ‘me’ doing the coaching to help the client ‘over there’ to change.
This meant I invested considerable mental and emotional effort into effecting change. I was placing pressure on myself to meet specific metrics of success, and I relied on the client’s feedback and/or their results to bolster my self-esteem.
Today, I have a radically different stance. Now I see my presence, curiosity, compassion, and intuition as more than enough – they are the whole enchilada. By bringing those qualities to the coaching session, without force, effort, or trying to get anywhere or achieve anything, that’s when the magic happens.
It’s not ‘me’ doing anything; I am simply a channel and a vehicle for life’s intelligence to move through. I trust that whatever doors are ready to be opened will be opened. Sometimes that will look like an insight or breakthrough; other times it might appear as more stuckness and “difficult” emotions. But I trust that whatever occurs is the process the client needs to undergo at that time. What the “right” path is for anyone is well beyond my pay grade. All I can do is align myself with the client’s process and take it one step at a time, letting that unfolding process lead us where it needs to go. That is a beautiful thing.
Anita Sauvage
As a coach, the words ‘empower’, ‘inspire’, and ‘celebrate’ hold considerable meaning to me: they are the backbone of any meaningful coaching relationship, where people feel valued and supported, and collaboration can flow.
Empowering the people I coach starts with believing in them and helping them to realise their true potential. As a coach, your role is to offer clients the tools and the encouragement to face challenges with resilience, positive attitude and courage, to discover their unique talents, to learn – without judgment – from setbacks and successes, and to achieve their goals.
Inspiring my clients is about holding a mirror in front of them and building a relationship built on authenticity and trust. It’s a collaboration. When you show genuine curiosity and interest about their aspirations, and connect on a human level, it brings a sense of possibilities. Ultimately, it will make them realise that their journey is one of growth.
Celebrating is about creating moments of recognition that acknowledge the value of each client’s journey. As a coach, I believe in celebrating achievements, not just as outcomes but as reflections of determination, effort and willingness to be challenged. Even a simple heartfelt ‘thank-you’ can go a long way and remind them (and me) that growth is a true gift.
So yes, I firmly believe that when you “empower, inspire, and celebrate”, you create a safe space, ideal for self-motivation and commitment. If you apply these values, your clients are more likely to transform challenges into opportunities, questions into breakthroughs, and aspirations into successes. What can be more rewarding for a coach?