What is Coaching?

An Ongoing Conversation

Coaching is an ongoing conversation that helps a person or group reach their full potential, both at work and in their personal lives. The goal of coaching is to help people tune into their own thoughts, discover new things about themselves, and make changes in their lives based on what they learn.

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Coaching Produces Insights

The coaching relationship produces insights, greater personal awareness, changed behaviors, actions, and ultimately results that satisfy the client. Expectations of you as a client: to evaluate, reason, imagine, decide, and implement.

Coaching is all about you

not just your work or personal life. We all know that changing old habits and thought patterns are difficult. As your coach I am trained to recognize patterns and will support you as you change and grow.

Coaching is about action

your action. Each session you will determine 1-3 actions steps you will take before the next session. You may be surprised how quickly you progress toward your goals.

What Coaching Isn’t

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It’s not therapy.

Although many of the communication techniques are the same, like active listening, reflecting, use of questions, limited advice giving, etc., therapy focuses on the past to bring healing and unblock a person to move ahead. Coaching is future and action-oriented.

It’s not mentoring.

Mentors are experts in a particular field who seek to pass on their expertise to a person. Mentors provide knowledge, advice, guidance, correction, and encouragement to people who are newer and junior—by experience if not by position or age. They may use some coaching techniques, but mentors usually play the roles of advisor and teacher to guide and impart knowledge and wisdom.

It’s not training.

In training, the trainer sets the agenda. Change comes from outside the participant, via the trainer. In coaching, you set the agenda. Coaches use adult learning principles of self-discovery to motivate change from within you.

It’s not authoritarian.

Did you have a tough sports coach who used to yell at you and make you do a million push-ups if you made a mistake? That’s not coaching. Your coach will push you beyond what you might think you can do, but will always be supportive. You are in control. The responsibility to decide and act is yours.

Why Coaching Works

Coaching works because it brings out your best! Coaches believe you can create your own best answers and are trained to support you in that process.

Specifically, this is what I, as your coach, will do during coaching sessions:

Listen. Your story is central. Coaches fully engage in what you are saying.
Ask questions. Coaches use questions to stimulate your thinking and creativity. Questions are about possibilities and the future.
Encourage. Everyone needs encouragements, and usually we don’t get enough. Your coach will hold up your vision, your progress, and your efforts.
Facilitate while letting you lead. Coaches facilitate your learning and problem solving. Yet, they are never fully leading – you are, with your agenda and your approach.

Why Use a Coach?

The reasons people want coaching are endless, and as unique as the person. Here are a few examples that motivate people to use a coach.

To make significant changes
To better deal with uncertainty
To make better decisions
To set better goals
To reach goals faster
To grow spiritually
To become financially more stable
To get ahead personally
To have a collaborative partner
To improve their relationships
To make a bigger impact on the world
To be a better leader
To simplify their lives
To reduce stress
To keep up with the speed of life
To address transitions in location and employment

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