What is coaching? And how do you know you need it if you haven't had it before?
Let's start at the beginning - why are there SO many coaches these days?
Frustratingly, for both you and me, the coaching profession has a low barrier to entry.
It's entirely unregulated which means anyone can change their job title and call themselves a coach.
Experiencing coaching with a trained and experienced professional can be truly life-changing.
But have a session with a self-certified freebie course graduate who doesn't have the experience to back it up, and the results might be entirely different.
The International Coaching Federation (ICF) has created the world's largest community of professionally trained coaches. It's self-regulation at its best, and all members (myself included) abide by its high standards and code of ethics.
What is coaching?
Coaching is a useful tool to help an individual identify where they are right now (life/career/problem/situation) versus where they want to be.
The ICF says that coaching is:
“Partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential, which is particularly important in today's uncertain and complex environment.”
How to tell if you need coaching or another type of support
Regardless of personality type or job title, we will always be on a journey of self-discovery and a deeper understanding of ourselves, and coaching supports that progress.
Coaching is non-directive meaning the focus is impartial and to help the individual learn rather than be taught or receive advice.
But I'm going to be honest with you: no one needs coaching. And throwing money alone at a coaching session will never solve a problem.
What individuals want is the transformation that coaching brings. In my experience, this is often in areas such as:
productivity and time management
identifying burnout and burnout prevention
emotional intelligence and the impact it has on others
leading and managing change
improving work/life balance
delegating and trusting team members with projects/tasks
self-confidence and imposter syndrome
managing conflict
visionary thinking and strategic planning
With coaching, its focus is on the present day and may touch on elements of the past to bring context to a conversation, but it doesn't stay in the past.
Mentoring is offering advice and ideas based on first-hand experience.
Consultancy is telling - giving advice on what needs to happen next.
There are coaches who mentor. Consultants who coach.
The conversations are all future-focussed.
And all sorts of options in between depending on what you want.
Therapy or counselling - on the other hand - is about dealing with the past and trauma is always for trained professionals in that area, not coaches, mentors or consultants.
Ready to explore coaching?
If you’re curious about what coaching could help you achieve, why not book a discovery chat with me to see if it’s right for you? No pressure, commitment or obligation. Just a conversation about where you are versus where you want to be and how we can bridge that gap.