As Leo Varadkar said on St. Patrick’s Day, “never will so many ask so much of so few”. It was this statement that got Ailbhe Harrington and Karen Hayes mulling over how they could give to those so much is being asked of Ailbhe, a Master Certified Coach and Coach Trainer, called her colleague Karen Hayes, Associate Certified Coach and they brainstormed over the course of a couple of hours around how they could answer the ‘Be on Call for Ireland’ initiative.
“We didn’t fit the criteria of skills being sought, yet we knew we had a lot to offer” said Hayes when asked where the vision came from. Over the course of the next seven days they put the call out to their network of qualified coaches, and so Connect a Coach was born.
Connect a Coach was founded to offer coaching to ALL frontline and emergency services staff. It is a free service for nurses, doctors, first responders, health care assistants, radiographers, porters, Gardai, anyone on the frontline dealing with the impact of COVID 19. Harrington says “Our frontline staff are working in very changed conditions, on many levels, in remote testing centres, with new colleagues, dealing with an illness we haven’t known much about until now. Our frontline staff are human, and, dealing with all of this can be challenging. Now more than ever, they need to be fully resourced. That’s where coaching can help”.
Hayes is at pains to point out that coaching is not counselling. “It’s really important that we differentiate between the two” she says. “Coaching is a relationship where the total focus is on you. Where you can reflect on what will help you to resource and connect with yourself. A coaching session is a space that helps you to focus on the learning you can gain from your experiences and from that move forwards. Coaching accepts that the past has already occurred and is more interested in the path and direction that can be set for the future”. Both assure us that where it is evident that counselling is the required intervention, or an alternative therapy, clients will be referred on.
So how does it all work? It appears to be a very simple process with no paperwork requirement, no approvals process and no long waiting times. To avail of the service you simply visit connectacoach.org where you will find a directory of all volunteer coaches. From there, you select a coach, and are then brought into their online calendar where you can book a 45-minute slot. The coach will confirm the slot with you within 2 hours and send you details to access a virtual meeting room for your session. There are X coaches working with Connect a Coach allowing them to guarantee coaching availability between 7am and 9pm. There are up to 4 session available, entirely free. If you wish to continue coaching beyond the fourth session, you can engage with your coach separately.
Both Ailbhe and Karen spoke to us about the rigour that has been applied in selecting the panel of coaches. “They needed to all fulfil certain eligibility criteria so that Connect a Coach could guarantee quality of service and a strict adherence to the ethics and guidelines around professional coaching” says Hayes.
Having spoken at length with Ailbhe and Karen, it’s very clear that this is a slick operation that has been mobilised at breakneck speed, because that’s the requirement now. There’s a considerable degree of professionalism behind it, but the piece that stands out here is empathy. There’s huge acknowledgment of the mammoth task being taken by our frontline workers right now, Connect a Coach are waiting in the wings to help pick you up when you might fall, to help keep you resourced, or to just listen, when you most need to be heard. We wish Ailbhe, Karen and the wider team at Connect a Coach the very best of luck with this initiative!