Why do people work with a coach?
“Why do people work with a coach?”is a question that I am often asked by people, mainly those outside of large businesses where coaching is more common, and often by my family who are a little perplexed about what I actually do. People from any role and life stage can benefit from coaching, enabling them to get unstuck and to live and work to their full potential.
“Coaching is a conversation that uncovers learning and leads to action”
People look for a coach for many different reasons, but they all have one thing in common, they are looking for an aspect of change – more or less of something, to reach a different place in their life or work. As a coach, it is my job to create the space for my clients to solve their issues and move forward, creating clarity about the future they really want, and looking at present behaviours to discover what could affect their future fulfilment and success.
Isn’t coaching the same as mentoring, counselling or training?
Many of these disciplines get confused and fuzzy in people’s minds, but they are very different disciplines, and valuable for different reasons. Mentoring is focused on giving advise and offering solutions and most mentors have experience, or expertise, in the sector or role of the person that they are working with. Counselling is focused on the past and ends in the present; and training is based on telling and demonstrating to teach a skill.
Coaches don’t typically provide advise, they don’t spend a long time focusing on the past or on creating a one-way flow of telling and instructing.
Coaching is a conversation that:
starts in the present
uses listening and powerful questioning techniques to understand where a client is now & where they want to go – so that they can determine how to get there
assumes that the client already has the answers, but lacks the confidence or insight to back their own judgement and take action
People from all walks of life can benefit from coaching, not just leaders and people with big aspirations – retirees benefit from creating a sense of renewed purpose and plans for the future; students make clearer choices for study or career paths; small business owners clarify their vision and develop their leadership capability; new leaders develop confidence and authenticity; entrepreneurs make effective choices and turn their dreams into reality, and career break returners can gain the confidence they need to return to a fulfilling career.
Coaching can also enable people to create greater balance in their lives, often resulting in increased resilience, confidence and fulfilment. This can have the added benefit of reducing fluctuations in mood and performance.
Central to my approach to coaching, is the belief that the client already has the resources they need to find the solutions to the problems, or choices that they are facing. It is my role to give them the confidence to access those resources for themselves. I use a range of tools and techniques to enable my clients to create a clear vision for their future, and to identify their core values, and any limiting beliefs that may prevent them from reaching their goals. Coaching sessions can sometimes take detours as a result of day to day events, it is my role, as the coach, to hold the longer term agenda for the client, enabling them to focus on the actions they need to take in the present, and still reach the vision they have set out to achieve.
I mentioned above about the difference between coaching and counselling, and it’s important that coaches retain the distinction between the two and are wary of straying into that territory. However, one of the areas where I have seen coaching have a massive impact is in clients who have resolved past issues through counselling, but who still lack the focus, or the confidence, to move forward with their lives. As a coach I am able to support these clients to explore what they really want from their lives and careers, often in the context of a shifting outlook on their lives. Focusing on what is really important, the client’s core values, and achieving some early progress is key to building their confidence in the future. This process is important for all clients, but especially for those who may have been derailed in their career or life. Coaching can be incredibly powerful and change people’s lives.
At the heart of why I work as a coach is a core belief that people can become the best version of themselves, whatever that means to them. It is an absolute pleasure to see people face their challenges and create real, sustainable changes in their lives.
If you are interested in exploring how coaching could help you in your work or life, please click on the contact button below. I offer a complimentary Discovery session with no obligation.
““A great coach is someone who allows you to see hope in yourself” ”