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What is coaching?
Coaching is about helping people achieve
their full potential in their careers. A
lot of people assume that coaching is a
form of therapy or counselling which focuses
on a person’s inadequacies or deficiencies.
Consequently they feel threatened and run
a mile, and who could blame them?
But coaching is not about that. It is a
positive process whose aim is to help good
professionals become even better. It allows
individuals to achieve sustainable change
and effectiveness in their careers. People
come to me for coaching for lots of different
reasons, including wanting to:
- achieve a certain
career goal within a certain time
- improve/change a
relationship with a colleague
- be a better leader/team
builder/chair of meetings
- resolve irksome issues
that block their self-improvement
- deliver effective
presentations or pitches
- grow their practice
with confidence
- plan their next career
move
- deal with issues
surrounding redundancy
So how does coaching
work?
In its purest form the coach does not give
advice. The person being coached sets the
agenda. The coach helps the client build
on their own resourcefulness and desire
to change by asking pertinent questions
and allowing them to find solutions and
make their own decisions based on what will
work for them.
Before any engagement begins I ensure that
both the client and I have a clear understanding
of what is needed, what the client expects
and what I am able to deliver. I encourage
regular feedback and open communication
throughout the course of any project.
Each coaching session is usually one and
a half to two hours long, and the average
coaching programme is 6 sessions spread
over 4-6 months.
Coaching can be a relatively speedy process,
but it is not a quick fix. The duration
of the coaching contract can vary depending
on what issues are being addressed. There
are times, for example, when it may be appropriate
for the coach to offer suggestions and to
provide more general support over a longer
period of time where the client needs it.
This often happens, in relation to career
development issues where, after the initial
sessions, the client and coach may meet
once every three months or so for a review.
In such a case coaching becomes more akin
to mentoring, or as one coaching guru puts
it, acting as a “career friend.”
My approach to
coaching
Coaching is predicated on the assumption
that the person being coached wants to change
and has the resourcefulness within them
to affect that change. I help my clients
to unlock that resourcefulness by working
with them in a challenging but supportive
and non-threatening way. I also believe
that the process should be rigorous, with
frequent opportunities for feedback, so
as to manage expectations and measure the
progress and effectiveness of the coaching.
Above all, the coaching is done in complete
confidence so as to provide the person being
coached with a safe place to air ideas,
concerns and thoughts. |
