Workshop Synopsis

This interactive workshop is designed to equip career coaches with deeper insight and practical strategies for engaging youths meaningfully. It emphasizes understanding the socio-economic and cultural contexts of young people, while providing tools to build trust, foster authentic connection, and create a supportive environment for growth.

Workshop Description

Career coaches play a critical role in shaping how youths view themselves, their opportunities, and their future paths. However, differences in worldview, background, and expectations can sometimes create distance or unspoken tensions. This workshop creates space for reflection, learning, and dialogue to strengthen coaches’ ability to connect with students more effectively.

Key Areas of Learning:

1. Worldview Alignment

   • Explore how career coaches are perceived by youths from diverse socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.

   • Identify potential misalignments of agenda or interest and recognize areas of comfort or discomfort for both coaches and students.

2. Key Connecting Principles

   • Learn to identify “points of interest and alignment.”

   • Apply the principle of connection before correction when engaging youths.

   • Understand and respond to the core needs of youth groups.

3. Connection Strategies with Youths

   • Acquire practical engagement tools such as humour, storytelling, and other creative approaches.

   • Develop strategies that foster openness, trust, and sustained relationships.

Format & Approach:
The session is conducted in a group conversation and sharing format, drawing on the trainer’s extensive experience in secondary schools, tertiary institutions, and with at-risk youths. Participants will be encouraged to share their own experiences and challenges, reflect on their coaching approaches, and co-create solutions through open dialogue.

By the end of the workshop, participants will walk away with sharpened self-awareness, actionable strategies for youth engagement, and a renewed perspective on the vital role of career coaching in young people’s lives.