Stakeholders, participants commend African Coaching Week, share learning

By Felicia Nwosu

As the 5th edition of African Coaching Week 2023 organized by the Life Coaches Association of Nigeria, (LCAN) in Lagos came to a remarkable end, some of the stakeholders and participants at the event have lauded the organisers for bringing various renowned coaches, top career professionals, and business leaders from across the globe for an engaging and insightful conference while sharing their learning, lessons and experiences.

Nkechi Ogbonnah, Founder, Keeco Consulting, said it was an amazing and impactful experience of garnering valuable insights from diverse perspectives shared by the speakers.

“It’s been a very beautiful experience and I think that the theme is in line with what we are trying to achieve as Africans setting the trend and becoming pacesetters in our industry and the world at large. It has been really well organized, well attended and was also a very impactful session. I am taking away a lot of things to help me with my future in the area of coaching.”

Ekuase Egbe, the Chief Executive Officer at Eripsni Limited who highlighted the significant gains she has garnered at the conference said the theme of the conference has deepened her knowledge and enthusiasm for life coaching. She said the event has unraveled the best in her in exploring every form of self-expression.

“It was an eye-opener for me, realizing that you have different expressions of you and encouraging you to be you, be authentic, collaborate and don’t let you stop you. Be confident in your skin. Focus on your focus and show up as great. I will say proudly that GLG is doing excellently well. We need to protect ourselves and also need to be available more.”

A relationship coach, Adesuwa Ewoigbokhan, Assistant Earl of Membership, Life Coaching Association of Nigeria, acknowledged that the conference has been able to make huge strides by tackling lots of challenging issues bothering on several human angles and urged participants to consolidate on the gains.

“You know why I like the event? It’s very practical, because we sometimes get carried away by embracing foreign values which are not solutions to the challenges confronting us. It is high time that we used our own style to handle our own cases.

Abiola Salami, an Official Member,Forbes Coaches Council, applauded LCAN for putting out such a landmark event that featured a rich variety of insight laden and engaging activities.

“LCAN just keeps getting better in terms of the number of delegates, better in terms of the quality of the conversation, of course better in terms of the aesthetics as well. It was just really great because for you to deliver excellence you have to be an excellent person yourself. So what the African Coaching Week is orienting coaches on is the place of becoming excellent so that we can provide cutting edge service for our content. The sum total of coaching is to transform Africa in terms of leadership, thinking, confidence building and the overall performance of the continent.”

Ejiroghene Udu, Chief Executive Officer, Premium Power Solutions Ltd, said having listened to the success stories of the panelists, she had been inspired to become more resilient and consistent in achieving her dreams.

“I was able to gain a lot from the fireside chat, where I learnt the power of consistency, being consistent in what you are doing and having depth to whatever you do. Sometimes, we start very rewarding projects, but along the way, we push it aside, but with events like this, one would be encouraged to hold on to life dreams irrespective of what may rear its head. I honestly think that it was a properly put together event, the organisers did really well, the caliber of people in the room, it was a room filled with people that you want to network with, and I met a couple of people who I am glad that I did also.”

Christine Daniel, an Integrative Life Coach/Teens Confidant Coach, shared that the insightful discussions will go a long way in equipping her as a professional coach especially with the understanding that every individual comes with his own peculiar challenge

“One of the things that stood out for me, basically, was when one of the speakers said coaching is a tool and when he talked about perspective. All you need to do is whatever business you’re doing, bring it to the level of the people. Though coaching may be an imported topic, we need to customize it and understand the people that we are dealing with our own peculiar problems. Now, I understand why some people go for therapy and they don’t get results because they can’t relate their foundation. But we are in it, so we understand it, now I stand a better chance to be a better coach to an African, to a Nigerian, because that’s where I am from. So the event has just been phenomenal for me.”