What Did I Learn During My Internship in Business Coaching?

2009 Throwback – 15 years ago. (I'm writing this in 2024.)

I was excited to start working in a small coaching business. I was eager to learn more about coaching – what does it take to coach? How do you get a person from A to B? Are there any special techniques, methods, or frameworks? I was eager to peek behind the curtain, but... no luck.

My fellow psychology students interested in clinical psychology, however, were luckier. It seemed to be far more common for psychological psychotherapists to have an observer join their therapy sessions.

With corporate clients? That’s tricky.

Due to confidentiality and corporate guidelines, you usually won’t get to be a fly on the wall during 1:1 coaching sessions.

Being a top-level executive, middle manager, or team lead, exploring your thoughts, behaviors, and emotions, while having a curious psychology student in the room… well, I get it.

So, no, I didn’t get to learn the typical coaching skills like active listening, powerful questioning or effective communication in action. But that’s far from the end of the story.

What I did learn was the behind-the-scenes work that keeps a coaching practice running smoothly: admin tasks, team work, and further development – often overlooked!

I also connected with other full-time coaches and learned more about the business coaching scene. For example, in a German-speaking country, reading Christopher Rauen’s coaching newsletter was a must!

What concrete skills did I learn?

I had the amazing opportunity to assist and co-facilitate large corporate leadership events and workshops, which gave me a whole new perspective on what a professional coach can bring to the table. It piqued my interest in group formats, such as workshop facilitation and team coaching.

For me, it was a reality check. An insight into the bigger picture of what being a business coach really involves.

And how did I learn the typical 1:1 coaching skills? That’s for another post!