An Interview With Transformational Life And Leadership Coach Patrick Williams
- Nov 15, 2021
- 4 min read
As a coach for 4 decades, Pat is a founding member of the ICF and is an inaugural member of its Circle of Distinction, a Master Certified Coach, a Board-Certified Coach, and member of Forbes Coaching Council.
As an educator, he was a founding member of Harvard University’s Institute of Coaching, has taught graduate students at several notable institutions and served as a curriculum consultant for the Coaching Certificate program at Fielding International University, and was named Educator of the Year by the New England Educational Institute (2008).
Dr. Williams is also Past President of ACTO (Association of Coach Training Organizations), ICF board member, and Honorary VP of the International Society for Coaching Psychology.
Who is Patrick Wiliams?
I am a long-time seeker of living beyond mediocrity and assisting others to do the same….to live one’s life as full and free and unique as possible. I functioned as a psychologist for 15 years and then shifted full time to being a Life and Leadership Coach since 1990. I also train and mentor coaches who are aspiring to professional competency and certification.
I am a father of two grown daughters and a grandfather of four (ages 13,10,3 and 2). I live with a ’new’ life partner who is also a Master Certified Coach whom I've known of for 25 years in a collegial capacity. My life has been living in many locations but most of my life has been in Colorado, where I've spent most of my life.
Through coaching and mentoring, I focus on new or recently trained coaches looking to improve their mastery of coaching skillsets and mastery. I also have a very deep and enriching online course for coaches/therapists/helping professionals who see the connection between personal development and professional development.
My love of teaching and training coaching skills shows up in other settings for leadership development and more of being a Human Being….not just a Human Doing
Who should hire/work with you?
Aspiring coaches and therapists who want to improve how they show up…. how they model and live a life well lived.
What is your big goal? Where do you see yourself in 10 years from now?
My big goal is to continue to leave a legacy while I am still on this earth and then to have an ongoing impact after my energy has shifted to the next manifestation, what we call “death”.
my purpose and vision statement is
I AM a passionate and compassionate curious EXPLORER and a joyful CONTRIBUTOR to conscious living.
MY PURPOSE is to LIVE passionately, LOVE fully, LEARN continuously, LAUGH often,
and leave a living and lasting LEGACY.
Do you have any Tips for those wanting to be effective coaches, moving toward mastery?
At this stage of my career, I am mostly a Coach for coaches…. I don’t focus only on leadership coaching anymore but mentoring of aspiring coaches. Their biggest challenge is stepping up professionally…how to get known and visible and grow their business.
What are your 3 best tips for enhancing and growing your coaching business?
1. Keep improving and practising both competence and confidence…
2 get comfortable with your unique gifts and
3. know you are in a position to be a coach to others in many different specialities to live their best life in Health, Wealth, Love or Happiness.
What is your tip to live your best life, purposefully, exploring and learning?
The title of my new book Getting Naked comes from my experience of times in my life when emotional nakedness had good results … eventually. This is what I want for everyone who reads this book, to either remember or to create positive outcomes from careful self-disclosure now in your life. These experiences might be memories of bumps and bruises along your journey, but they no longer need to be painful.
Much of the human experience entails being scarred or scared. Painful life events at various stages can indeed wound us.
Just as scars are visible reminders of an injury or wound we once had, hopefully, the pain that accompanied them is gone. But scars are also metaphorical and psychological reminders for those memories, experiences, and challenges that have stretched us to fully experience life as it happens, good or bad, positive or negative, or challenging or inspiring.
And remember, scars are a sign of healing…the wound is no longer open, but a memory attached to it may still need healing.
Our life gives experiences to us. What we make of them is the key, and we don’t have to do it alone. Take what life gives you, learn from it, and move forward with the help of a committed confidante or two.
Someone once said, “Life is like a camera. Focus on what’s important. Capture the good times. And if things don’t work out, just take another shot.”
One of my major beliefs for much of my life has been that personal and spiritual development is a process. You can either just let happen and be an observer, or you can be more purposeful in your personal exploration and be a participant in the unfolding or emergence of your being.
Emotional Nakedness as an Energy Charging System
Emotions are just feelings, and a form of energy in our experience. One could see e-motion as energy in motion. Some feelings like anger, or sadness do not feel good for long, but they are just an alert to the energy that needs to shift. Have you ever experienced a moment of naked truth where you shared an intense emotion with a trusted listener? How did you feel after the disclosure? Did your energy shift?
If we stuff our emotions, they can short circuit our energy and drain us of the power to move toward a different experience and the learning opportunities that eventually come from all life challenges. Even bad experiences have positive lessons ……eventually.
Much is written and taught today about how vulnerability is the center of all emotions and feelings. To feel your emotions, you must be vulnerable. The key is to know where, when, and with whom is it safe to do so.
I suggest to my clients that e-motion means energy in motion. Don’t ignore what you’re feeling. Acknowledge it, embrace it, express it, and move the energy. The love you live is equal to the love you give, both for yourself and others.
