coaching
life coaching, executive coaching, personal coaching - tips and techniques
Coaching is a widely-used term with various meanings, depending on the situation.
Coaching essentially is a method for helping others to improve, develop, learn new skills, find personal success, achieve aims and to manage life change and personal challenges. Coaching commonly addresses attitudes, behaviours, and knowledge, as well as skills, and can also focus on physical and spiritual development too.
This coaching article focuses on coaching and the coaching role for work, business and personal development - not coaching in sport, which although it overlaps work-related and personal coaching, is distinctly different, especially in the coaching of sports teams.
Coaching is a form of training or teaching, normally involving one-to-one support (a coach and a learner), aimed at helping a person improve, often in a very practical sense, differing from the training and teaching, typically for groups, focused on knowledge transfer and theoretical application.
Coaching ideally helps a person to find their own solutions, rather than prescribing a solution from the coach's viewpoint.
Coaching generally looks forward sigificantly more than it analyses the past.
Many types of personal development can involve coaching, so the term 'coaching' can be found virtually anywhere that people are trained, developed and/or helped towards improving performance, and achieving success and fulfilment.
The wide application of coaching has produced many different coaching terms to indicate the purpose of the coaching concerned, for example 'executive coaching' or 'career coaching'.
Types of coaching can be found in some intensely personal and trusting situations, for example 'doulas' - more commonly called 'birthing coaches' or 'labour coaches' - which is perhaps the most intimate form of coaching imaginable.
Coaching is a big industry. The size and growth of the coaching industry encourages new types of coaching and terminology to arise, much of which is very vague in meaning and requires clarification when encountered.
Examples of more recent coaching terminology and types include:
- confidence coaching
- life purpose coaching
- life change coaching
- parent coaching
features of coaching
Usually coaching contains some or all of these features:
- one-to-one - involving a coach (teacher, trainer, mentor, coach) and learner (student, trainee, sometimes called the 'coachee')
- on-going and regular - coaching is commonly a continuing arrangement
- personalised - by the coach for the individual learner
- enabling - rather than prescriptive or imposed
- adapted and adaptable - to the changing needs of the learner
- planned - the coach normally works to a plan or structure
- model-based - coaching tends to be based on a structured 'proven' tested concept or methodology
- focused on aims - coaching normally works towards achieving agreed measurable outcomes or targets
- measured and recorded - by the coach, and/or the learner
- time-based - coaching sessions, schedules, and outcomes normally are time-bound
Coaching contains many aspects of effective delegation, especially the concept of SMART aims, but coaching tends to be a lot more driven according to individual (learner) needs, rather than the needs of an organization that usually determine delegation.
Coaching is generally unregulated and not subject to formal qualification, although coaching is commonly practised by qualified specialists in various disciplines, for example, NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), Transactional Analysis, hypnotherapy, psychotherapy, and psychology, etc.
Coaching terminology varies and can refer to different types of coaching. There are some big overlaps in the interpretations of different types of coaching, for example:
| coaching type | description and common features |
| life coaching | private/personal often by telephone - coaches are generally self-employed - typically weekly sessions of about 30-60 minutes - focus is on self-fulfilment and life decisions, which generally features career and/or own business development aims - strongly facilitative, not imposed or prescriptive |
| personal coaching | very broad and vague term - can be same as life/career coaching, or refer to personal coaching within an organization by a coach or manager or mentor - the meaning needs clarifying where you encounter it |
| career coaching | similar to or the same as life coaching with emphasis on career development |
| executive coaching | often a service to the executive's employer and paid for by the organization - coaches are self-employed or work for larger providers, for example part of consultancy or training - strong emphasis on leadership, strategy, relationships, politics - executive coaches usually have considerable experience necessary for trust of their clients - fees are usually much higher than in life coaching |
| business coaching | business coaching can be a type of life coaching, or it could refer to the coaching of business skills within an organization - it's a very vague term and certainly requires clarification if the precise meaning is important to you |
| fitness coaching | fitness coaching focuses on physical fitness, but may encompass wider wellbeing issues such as diet, exercise, lifestyle, sprituality, etc. |
qualities required for good coaching
Coaching is unlike training, consultancy, advising, or providing a professional service in which work is completed on behalf of a client. The qualities required for good coaching are different to those found in these other other disciplines too:
listening
In coaching, listening is more important than talking. By listening, people can be helped to overcome their fears, be offered complete objectivity and given undivided attention and unparalleled support. This leads to the intuitive questioning that allows the client to explore what is going on for themselves.
communication skills
Coaching is a two-way process. While listening is crucial, so is being able to interpret and reflect back, in ways that remove barriers, pre-conceptions, bias, and negativity. Communicating well enables trust and meaningful understanding on both sides.
Coaches are able to communicate feeling and meaning, as well as content - there is a huge difference. Communicating with no personal agenda, and without judging or influencing, are essential aspects of the communicating process, especially when dealing with people's personal anxieties, hopes and dreams.
Good coaching uses communication not to give the client the answers, but to help the clients find their answers for themselves.
rapport-building
A coach's ability to build rapport with people is vital. Normally such an ability stems from a desire to help people, which all coaches tend to possess. Rapport-building is made far easier in coaching compared to other services because the coach's only focus is the client. When a coach supports a person in this way it quite naturally accelerates the rapport-building process.
motivating and inspiring
Coaches motivate and inspire people. This ability to do this lies within us all. It is borne of a desire to help and support. People who feel ready to help others are normally able to motivate and inspire. When someone receives attention and personal investment from a coach towards their well-being and development, such as happens in the coaching relationship, this is in itself very motivational and inspirational.
curiosity, flexibility and courage
Coaching patterns vary; people's needs are different, circumstances and timings are unpredictable, so coaching relationships do not follow a single set formula. Remembering that everyone is different and has different needs is an essential part of being a coach. Ultimately, everyone is human - so coaches take human emotions and feelings into account.
And coaching is client-led - which means that these emotions have to be tapped into from the very beginning of the coaching process. So, having the flexibility to react to people's differences, along with the curiosity and interest to understand fundamental issues in people's lives, are also crucial in coaching.
The coach's curiosity enables the client's journey to be full and far-reaching; both coach and client are often surprised at how expectations are exceeded, and how much people grow.
All this does take some courage - coaches generally have a strong belief in themselves, a strong determination to do the best they can for their clients, and a belief, or faith that inherently people are capable of reaching goals themselves.
coaching maxims and principles
Typically good coaches will use and follow these principles:
- Listening is more important than talking
- What motivates people must be understood
- Everyone is capable of achieving more
- A person's past is no indication of their future
- People's beliefs about what is possible for themselves are their only limits
- A coach must always provide full support
- Coaches don't provide the answers
- Coaching does not include criticizing people
- All coaching is completely confidential
- Some people's needs cannot be met by coaching , and coaches recognise clients with these needs
life coaches come from all backgrounds
Life coaches and personal coaches come from all kinds of backgrounds and professions. Not surprisingly, coaches tend to like people, and many coaches come from 'people' and 'caring' professions.
Coaches come from backgrounds as varied as these, and the list is certainly not exhaustive:
- Teaching
- Nursing
- Management
- Consulting
- Prison Service
- Therapy
- Counselling
- Training
- Complementary Therapies
- Human Resources
- Personal Trainers
- Voluntary workers
- Charity workers
- Armed forces
- Emergency services
- Service industries
And many people on business, institutions, management, and organisations of all sorts learn how to become coaches so as to enrich their existing roles with the very special skills, methodologies and philosophies that coaching entails.
becoming a coach fosters the coach's own personal growth
Becoming a professional personal coach is a significant way to develop experience, character, humanity, and to add a rewarding new perspective to one's own journey in life. Typically, seeking a new outlook on life, a willingness to learn, and a passion for helping other people are the first steps in the process towards becoming a coach.
Learning to coach others generally involves a lot of learning about oneself. Coaches almost always find that they have had to explore and resolve a number of new personal issues themselves, before they are ready to begin helping others to to do the same. Some of this experience can be surprising; it can also be a little scary, but it is usually ultimately rewarding.
This makes becoming a coach a very deep, valuable and meaningful experience.
Learning to be a coach is a serious step and a serious commitment. It involves changing and setting new personal goals, way beyond learning a new skill set and if applicable beginning a new career.
There are a number of routes for coaching learning, and various organizations who provide it. Accreditation and standardisation of coaching skills and qualifications are increasingly becoming formalised, all over the world, although because coaching is still in relative infancy, there is some way to go before these standards reach international harmonisation and uniformity.
If you are interested in learning more for yourself, or for your organization, a good place to start is UK-based The Coaching Academy, whose contribution of this coaching guide article is gratefully acknowledged. Founded by Jonathan Jay, The Coaching Academy specialises in the training of coaches throughout the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, and is the longest established company of this type in the UK. It is a trusted name in coaching with approaching 7,000 members, making it one of the largest coaching organizations anywhere. In the UK you can phone them on 0800 783 4823. Or email info@the-coaching-academy.com.
life coaching as part of an integrated approach to organizational development
Life coaching and personal coaching skills, methodologies and principles offer a radically new perspective to organizations looking for effective and innovative training and development solutions for their people, managers and executives.
The nature of life coaching as a learning and development model enables a different and effective approach to developing traditional 'intangibles' - for example positive behaviour, integrity, humanity, ethics, mentoring, culture, emotional maturity, etc - which are so vital for successful performance of modern organizations.
see also
- Clean Language - David Grove's powerful questioning methodology for therapy, coaching, counselling, etc.
- Life-balance - and work-life balance
- Goal planning and goal-planner tool
- Assertiveness and self-confidence
- Self-belief
- NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming)
- Transactional Analysis introduction
- Transactional Analysis modern theory
- Stephen Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
- Don Miguel Ruiz - The Four Agreements
- Susan Piver - The Hard Questions
- Cherie Carter-Scott - If Life Is A Game, These Are The Rules
- Motivation
- Inspirational Quotes
- Rudyard Kipling's Poem 'If'
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© technical content: the life coaching academy 2004; edit and contextual material alan chapman 2004-2009