This short summary and guide is what I believe coaching should be and do. It is not like a comprehensive book on all the aspects of coaching. Different coaches have different approaches and emphasis, as their specialty and clients’ needs may dictate. Others may or may not agree with all or part of this content but I believe it to be the essence of my coaching and that of many other coaches whom I have come to respect and have learned from myself. I have attempted to keep the content brief, concise, informative and to the point. I believe it to be useful and accurate on the fundamentals. Its intent is to provide a good understanding and practical scope, quickly.
If you are looking for help in whatever it is you have set yourself to do, be or accomplish and you have not yet experienced the power of coaching before, then I encourage you to consider it. However, before you do, I also recommend doing some investigating first, see what others are saying and doing, what their experiences have been and critically did they get the help and results they needed. Lastly, try to keep an open mind but also trusting yourself and your intuition. Whatever future you may be working towards, I wish you every success. Keep moving forward and thank you for stopping by.
Some background information
The definition of what is coaching can depend on who you talk to and I have to admit mine has changed and matured over time. Simply put, coaching is a powerful way for a person to get the help they need to accomplish, be, or have what they desire.
Arguably, modern professional coaching has its roots from the sports world. A sports team’s coach standing on the sidelines of a field or pitch during a school, college, or professional game is probably not an unfamiliar sight to most. Whether it’s football, basketball, rugby, baseball, ice hockey, you name it, the coach’s presence on the sidelines is a real-life demonstration of someone being there through thick and thin. There is also the coach for the individual athlete like the tennis player or golfer, though their presence can be relatively less apparent. Regardless of any outwardly appearances, these coaches “behind-the-scenes” influence and impact is very real and it can be critical to the individual athlete and teams’ progress, performance and success.
In professional sports, coaching is a serious business. Each player and team’s commitment is 100% and they know they need to get the very best out of themselves if they are to succeed
in such a highly competitive and challenging arena. In this context, the role of the coach is key and their worth can be measured by the degree to which they are able to improve the performance and success of the athletes. If the player or team is successful, so too is the coach. It’s simply a results-based, collaborative business.
Coaching today
Today, the scope of professional coaching has expanded well beyond sports. Businesses, business schools, universities, institutions, corporations, the professions, entrepreneurs, the performing arts and the entertainment world are capitalising on the significant value professional coaching can offer and this list is by no means complete. Individuals who want to improve pretty well any area of their lives are using professional coaching now to fast track their results, success and get the transformation they desire for their life.
What is a coach?
A coach is simply someone who helps another succeed in what they want to get, become, achieve or change in their life.
What does a coach do?
The job or goal of the coach is to help you succeed more efficiently and effectively than you would otherwise be able to on your own. A qualified coach helps you get from where you are
to where you want to be faster, more easily and without excessive stress or overwhelm.
How does it work? Part 1:
Creating Safe Space
Creating a “Safe space” environment is the first, most important fundamental prerequisite for all coaching. In one word it means, trust. A safe space environment means your coaching environment is 100% professional and absolutely confidential. It is a comfortable and secure place for you to think, do, be, feel and express anything, without judgement. Safe space literally underpins everything within the coaching experience.
How does it work? Part 2:
9 Coaching Pillars
A qualified coach can be and do a number of things to help you achieve the outcome
you desire. Here are my 9 top job descriptors or qualities that I call the 9 coaching pillars.
- a deep listener: Someone who is consciously listening, taking notes, committed to knowing and understanding you, your circumstances and what you need.
- a guide: for when there is a lack of clarity, to help you find it and expand on it.
- a motivator: when you are struggling, feeling the resistance and have had enough, they support, lift you up and get you moving forward again, holding your vision in front of you
- a supporter: (emotionally and psychologically) they can truly empathise because they have walked the walk, not just talked the talk.
- a believer: in you, your dream, goal or desired future, you have convinced them so they know you can do this
- a “space holder”: they value you, your ideas, thoughts, feelings, goals and desires and they give you the space and permission for these to be heard, considered, discussed, tried and implemented
- an accountability partner: that holds you to your dream, desired new life and goals. They work for the future you, coaching the now you, to keep going till you catch up.
- a strategist and tactician: offers you options, other ways of thinking, different perspectives and possibilities for you to consider, expand upon and try, test or implement
- a collaborator: the coach is working with you and for you for your success.
Customisation:
As we know, no two people or two circumstances are identical. When someone embarks on a goal or transformation that they want in their life, they are not going to experience or respond to things in exactly the same way as someone else, even if the desired outcome is identical. Qualified coaches recognise the primary importance of understanding the individual, their circumstances, their needs, fears and concerns, along with their goals and aspirations.
In addition to this, we all function within the different components or parts that make up our lives. (Ex. health, relationships, environments, action management, priorities, ethics etc.) By becoming more aware of how well we are functioning within these life components combined with a greater understanding of ourselves and our current circumstances, we can improve on these and get better leverage on ourselves, our circumstances and our different life components. When we start getting these things working well and with each other, we become unstoppable.
Customising is also about getting specific. The devil is in the detail. It’s about getting into the areas that may have served us well in the past but which are no longer helping us now, as you are doing something new and different. It requires finding out what you need and what works for you in your life right now, so you can move forward, faster and more easily.
One common thread
Without a doubt, customisation is paramount when it comes to successful results, however there is one key perspective or commonality that a qualified coach understands implicitly and it has two parts to it. First, anyone who commits to significantly changing or improving any part of their life will go through a transition period. Second, any worthwhile endeavour requiring significant change will have a notable probability of demanding more from us than we may initially anticipate.
What a Coach does not do
A qualified coach doesn’t pretend to be all knowing or super human. Yes, they will know about helping you succeed, but that is usually because they also know about failure and mistakes, risk, hard work, long hours, difficult situations and difficult people, making a poor decision and adversity. They know about learning through the difficulty and coming out wiser, better, more capable and valuable than before. So yes, the best will usually have seen both sides. How else can you coach another through it and really be there for them if you’ve never been there yourself?
Why coaching?
When someone invests in coaching, they are committing to investing in themselves.
Modern life can be demanding, fast, complex, challenging and difficult. It is also filled with significant potential, opportunity, growth and fulfillment. Going it alone on important goals or significant changes in life (which may be the way for some) for most of us has a disconcertingly low, checkered success rate. Contrarily, coaching is leveraged help which has a notable success rate. Reputable sources such as Forbes, Harvard Business Review and Psychology Today (are just a very few examples) have all recognised and reported on the value coaching provides in helping people to improve, progress and succeed. In addition, respected educational institutions like Harvard business school are providing certified coaching courses
When you set out to change your life for the better and the lives of those you care for, having a qualified coach by your side, in your corner, not only speeds your progress substantially but it takes the pressure off, you feel you having backing, someone in there fighting the big fight with you. You have that support that you can lean on. It’s just easier. Those who invest in professional coaching know they have a substantial advantage when they have the right person, providing the right support, who’s working with and for them to help make the transformation they desire a reality.
What makes a coach qualified
This can be answered simply in one word, results. Your results. It’s the results that you want.
What makes the coach qualified is their ability to get from you what is needed for you to go from where you are to where you can be, do, or have what you desire. This means you decide if the coach is qualified. Just like the athletes assess their coach, it’s based on results.
What a coach is not
- A coach is not a consultant. You have to do the work. The coach will help you to find the right solutions for you, or help you decide what the best course of action is, like hiring a consultant. The coach may make an exception if they have consulted on the very thing you need consultancy on.
- The coach is not a teacher or instructor. They will help you realise if there is a skill or knowledge gap, and that you may need to take the required steps to catch up or hire someone to cover a skill or job. However, if a coach has the specific knowledge or expertise concerning something that you need, they may make a point of teaching you that specific skill or provide the specific information you require.
- The coach is not a mentor imparting expertise or advising you specifically what you should or should not do. However, if your coach does have specified experience, skill, and knowledge they may interject and impart something for you to consider. Remember the role of the coach is helping you to do your work and to improve your skills, knowledge, talents and capabilities, just as a tennis player’s coach does not go out on the court and play the game for them.
Does everyone “need” a coach (sounds like a scam)?
The short answer is no. This is a personal / professional choice.
However, if top rate schools like Harvard have it as part of their curriculum, if top CEOs are leveraging this, if high achieving athletes have been using them for decades, if high performance entrepreneurs think they’re indispensable and those in the performing arts are leveraging coaching for higher level performance and artistry, then it might be worth seriously considering. Still, it may not be for you. You could consider a free discovery call where you can test drive coaching and usually for significantly discounted rates. Again, it is a personal choice.
Aren’t all Coaches just doing the same thing, (really sounds like a scam)?
No, coaches are not all the same and it is very important that they are not.
You and your circumstances are unique. Someone else’s is also unique. A coach is a person with their own gifts, perspectives, strengths and experience who have the ability to help certain people. Coaches are usually specified in their area but you also have for example life coaches which can be more general.
We do not want a cardboard cutout coach or one generic methodology attempting to be all things to everyone, it simply won’t work. Coaching is a serious business about genuinely serving people and helping them get real world results. This is why professional one on one coaching requires a good fit. A coach may decline working with a client and may recommend a colleague better suited or, may advise the client to check back some time in the future. Similarly, a person looking for a coach may also decide it’s not a right fit and try another coach. Remember, the coach is there to help and support you, it needs to be a win for both parties in order for it to really succeed.
How do I know if coaching is for me?
Coaching may well not be for everyone and there are times where we just need to get on and do what we need to do and live our lives. Qualified coaches understand and respect this. However, let’s say you give yourself the opportunity to have an initial introductory or discovery call with a coach. You can then ask yourself some questions afterwards. For example, did the person put me at ease? Was there any friction? Did they give me anything of real value? Do you believe there is more to be gained by working with this person and probably a lot more to lose by not? Have I taken any action towards my goal since that call? Am I keen to have a second session or a brief follow up of some kind? Is there another coach I should check out before making any kind of decision, either for or against?
Thank you for reading through the page. I hope this was helpful for you.
One last thought. It’s your choice, your life and your hard-earned money and it’s also your time and your effort, so you want to pick the right coach for you. The right coach is not going to be a “comfy chair” pal. You want to have someone who is going to get you and keep you on course and moving forward. I’m not suggesting some task master but someone who really has your best interest at heart.
Wishing you every success!
Louis