Professional Coaching 101Are you looking to make positive changes in your life? Do you wish that you had
someone who would just take a few minutes and listen to you without judging you? Can
you imagine how great it would feel to have someone on your side to bounce ideas off,
give you new insights and believe in you, even more than you believe in yourself?
Perhaps you already have a trusted advisor in your family or a good friend, but does this
relationship come with emotional strings and guilt? Are you issues and dreams really
kept confidential when you confide in a family member?
What is Professional Coaching?
The easiest way to explain professional coaching is to think of a successful professional
sports person, such as a golfer. Let's create a fictitious championship winning golfer
called Leo Forest. Leo and everyone in the world know that Leo is a very good golfer.
However, Leo cannot see his own blind spots.
Leo is smart enough to realize that to continually improve his game he needs someone to
observe his game and advise him to make improvements. Leo also does not have enough
time to play golf, attend practice, keep an eye on the competition and constantly monitor
new developments and best practices in the field of professional golf. Leo needs a team
of coaches and advisors to support him and bounce ideas off if he wants to continue
leading the world of professional golfing.
Leo is wise when he looks for the following characteristics in a coach.
1. Someone that he feels comfortable with to discuss challenges, obstacles and celebrate
successes.
2. Someone who is completely on his side, without any hidden agenda.
3. Someone who believes in Leo even when the chips are down.
4. Someone who challenges Leo to live up to his full potential.
5. Someone who holds Leo accountable to attend his practice sessions and continue
working on the basic skills of his game, while also trying new techniques that can
give Leo an edge over the competition.
6. Someone with experience and training in the finer aspects of professional golf.
7. Someone who is passionate about golf.
A professional personal coach provides similar support to individuals for personal life
challenges and obstacles. We are all playing this great game called life. We benefit from
personal coaching just as professional sportsman and sportswomen benefit from
coaching.
Most people are hesitant to try something new. Most people are not willing to seek out a
coach, even though the potential benefits are so great. I was skeptical when I approached
my first coaching session. I did not know what to expect or how much personal
information was appropriate to discuss. Then, after a dozen coaching sessions, I was so
impressed with the benefits that I was getting that I decided to enroll in Coach University
to learn how to help other people through professional coaching.
Why should you take a chance and investigate hiring a personal coach? What are the
benefits that you can expect from hiring a coach? Here is a short, general list to get you
started.
1. Complete confidentiality.
2. Someone who believes in you, especially when you need someone to lean on.
3. No emotional attachment or feelings of guilt if you decide to ignore advice from your
client unlike a trusted family member who attaches strings to the advice given to
you.
4. Someone who gently holds you accountable to take the actions that you identify will
move you towards your goals.
Personal coaching is personal. My goals are not your goals. Just as a coach may help Leo
Forest to perfect his fairway drive swing, the same coach may help me to work on my
putting. The same coach helps different clients to reach different goals.
What coaching is not.
Professional coaching is not therapy. Just as a coach for Lea Forest is not on the team to
investigate Leo's childhood traumas, your personal coach is not a therapist. Your coach
will refer you to a therapist if necessary.
Coaching is not training. Your coach may or may not have skills that can help you in
your career, but the coaching relationship focuses on you reaching your goals, not on
learning how to do your job.
Coaching is not consulting. A consultant brings industry skills and experience to your
situation and recommends a course of action. A coach works with you to identify
potential courses of action that help you move towards your goals, and does not impose
any agenda or choose any path.
Coaching is not an informal social relationship without structure or purpose. Coaching
relationships are professional and structured to help client reach goals through the
synergy created in a comfortable coaching relationship.
The only way for you to fully appreciate the value of personal coaching is to ask a
professional coach for at least one complimentary coaching session. You should invest a
few hours and interview potential coaches until you find the coach who seems to be the
best fit for you at this time in your life. Your coaching needs change as you reach new
goals, overcome obstacles and grow into a different person.
What should you look for as you interview potential coaches?
1. The coach should offer complimentary session so that you can determine if you are a
good fit.
2. The coach should have trained at an ICF Accredited school, such as Coach
University.
3. The coach should offer 5 to 10 minute phone calls and email support for quick
questions and celebrate your successes outside of your scheduled coaching sessions.
4. The coach should help you to determine your goals and support your agenda. Run for
the hills if you realize that the coach is more interested in telling you what to do than
in asking effective questions that help you to discover your own agenda.
5. The coach should ask a variety of effective, situational and relevant questions that
move you forward. Don't stay with a coach whose only question appears to be the
simplistic, overused and ineffective "How does that make you feel".
What can you expect from your professional coach?
1. Regularly scheduled meetings. Typically you will meet with your coach two or three
times a month for 30 to 60 minutes.
2. Expect your coach to be fully on your side. Your coach is there to encourage you,
bounce your ideas around and identify actions that you can take to work towards your
goals.
3. Complete confidentiality. Everything that you discuss in your coaching sessions are
confidential, and between you and your coach.
4. Nonjudgmental attitude. Your coach is on your side and does not judge you, your
values or your ideas. You coach's goal is to help you succeed and you coach does
nothing that will hold you back.
5. Candid feedback on your ideas and progress towards your goals. We can all use
candid feedback when life gets in the way of our goals and we get distracted.
If you are ready to invest an hour of your time, and possibly make a change to reach a
new goal or overcome an obstacle in your life, then go ahead and schedule a
complimentary introduction session with a professional coach today. You have nothing
to lose by speaking with a coach, and possibly a lot to gain as you realize the value of
having your own personal coach on your side.
Don't delay on this the fact that you found this article is not a coincidence. Go ahead
and start talking to your coach today.
|
