Dr Rakish Rana, the clear coach
With a doctorate in toxicology, Dr Rakish Rana is now a clear coach. Today, Graham and Kevin quiz Rakish on what clear coaching means, and his story.




How does one go from toxicology to being 'the clear coach'?
With a strong science background, by the time Rakish had finished 7 years at University, quite frankly he was getting a bit sick of science! So, he made a switch and jumped into IT and became an IT professional for investment banks. That is what prompted his move to London.

The real twist that made Rakish think more about life coaching is what happened during his time as an IT professional.
...So, what did happen?
Rakish has always been a high achiever - very much an academic. He followed a path that was laid out for him really, which was get straight A's and get into a profession. What came about is that Rakish just took the opportunities that presented themselves to him; he got a good degree and a funded Phd and then got into a business that was looking for non-IT Phd graduates.

After working for a while, the thought process of "there must be more to life" was a pretty strong one. Up until then, Rakish had been doing things that formed his progression but now he was doing something with very little structure. Life got in the way - he got married, had kids, the pay was good, he was developing. However, he was never happy...he didn't feel fulfilled.

It was about 6 years ago when Rakish met a man who did coaching, and Rakish asked this man to coach him. It was through this coaching that Rakish understood his own value system better. Primarily, he enjoyed caring about people.

What he saw was that he always helped people, as the oldest sibling, as a Phd student, as an IT professional and developing other staff. It came down to the development of other people. And here was the lightbulb moment; he wanted to be a coach.

 
What influenced the decision to be the clear coach?
The immediate thins is clarity. However, there is a deeper meaning to this. 'Clear' is actually an acronym for both a framework for Rakish's coaching sessions and for relationship-building.

This acronym came about from Rakish's coaching training.
C - Connection. For Rakish, it is very important to build a rapport with people and build that trust and likability.
L - Language. Keep it simple.
E - Energy and enthusiasm.
A - Awareness. Coaching processes are about building up awareness, whether it's about yourself or the person you're with.
R - Results. It's about being in a relationship for an end - what are you trying to get out of this?
How does NLP fit into clear coaching?
NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) is all about rapport building. When you make an impression, 70% is all about visual cues - making sure your mannerisms are appropriate for the situation and person you are with, for the best establishment of a quick relationship.

Various NLP processes - looking at the pace you talk, the pace you breath, eye contact (for example) - can help form relationships quicker.
Keeping it simple
Now, Rakish is definitely one of life's high achievers. He has the capability to use the long words and to show off his intelligence, but he chooses to communicate with simple words.

A lot of people ask Rakish, "what is the most important trait with anybody?" - he always says communication. No matter what area of life you're in, you need to be able to communicate well.

To expand upon this a bit more, it's not just about communication. Rather, it's making sure you're understood. If you're using big words, you are going to lose a lot of people. Keep it simple.

"If you need to have a dictionary by you when reading or listening to somebody, something's going wrong!"

Progression routes to an unwanted destination
 

Being on a train track to a career is, perhaps, a universal culture in the sense that most people do the A Levels, go to uni and work hard as a pathway into a career.

Ver todos los episodios