What Is Coaching?
Leadership & Life Coaching refers to the process of working with a professional to clarify your dreams and goals. As a client, you will work with your experiences and intuitions, develop your self-awareness, and take action to achieve your goals.
The coaching methodology draws from both consulting & therapy, but differs in its approach. Co-Active Coaches work from a viewpoint that you, as the client, are fully capable and resourceful. Coaches do not ‘fix’ clients, instead they help you achieve your goals and act as a partner that holds you accountable as you grow.
If you are a visual learner like me, the following diagram, which I updated slightly from a 2009 Harvard Business Review article on coaching, does a nice job of breaking down how coaching differs from consulting or therapy:
Ultimately, a coach is a trained expert who works to discover what is deeply meaningful to the client, and then helps them create a more satisfying, if ever changing, life balance – by making choices that resonate better with their own values.
A Brief History:
In its present form, executive or leadership coaching started in the 1970s. While historically coaches were primarily hired to support under-performing individuals, in the last few decades coaching’s focus has shifted more towards developing individuals, teams, and leaders.
Research studies suggest that leadership coaching has quantifiable positive impact on workplace performance. This is one of the reasons why today many Fortune 500 companies and entrepreneurs alike invest in coaches for themselves and employees at all stages of their careers.
Who gets the best results from coaching?
Clients who get the most out of coaching have a fierce desire to learn and grow. Receiving coaching can be like training a new muscle: it will be challenging at times, but the results are compelling. The coaching relationship is a foundation for transforming the areas of life where we feel unsatisfied—where we want something more. Individuals seeking to develop their self-awareness, change their patterns or habits, or to achieve new levels of success benefit most from coaching.