What’s coaching?
The International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines coaching as “a partnership between coach and client in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires the client to maximize their personal and professional potential. The process of coaching often unlocks previously untapped sources of imagination, productivity, and leadership.”
Clients decide what’s on the agenda.
Coaches help you take action on the agenda, and make sure you don’t get stuck.
Coaching is a helping modality, similar to consulting, mentoring, and therapy or counseling. It differs from those helping modalities in several important ways however; a coach does not give advice or tell the client what to do, as a consultant or mentor would. A coach is not attached to any specific outcome, but instead brings a question-focused methodology and fun tools to help a client uncover the answers that lie within. I know what you’re thinking; this sounds like therapy. It’s different than therapy in that a coach is not trained or licensed to provide mental healthcare, and the coach will not spend as much time and focus with a client on their past. The coach may help the client use their knowledge and understanding of the past to move in the direction they desire and take action to make changes. Most importantly, the coach provides a safe, non-judging space where the client can feel free to explore, discover, and feel like they are making progress.
Coaching is a series of confidential conversations and 1:1 workshops. In each session, the coach helps the client ground themselves in their goals and why those goals are important for them. The coach then takes the client through a process to understand what they want to do to in order to achieve those goals, and raising both their self-awareness, as well as awareness of any real or perceived roadblocks. A good coach will never talk at you; they will listen intently to understand, and support you in finding your own solutions and taking action on them. In the coach-client relationship, the client is the expert, so if you’re wondering if you’re ready to begin coaching, know that you already have everything you need.
