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What Is Coaching?
Coaching is a unique field with its own approach and methods.
There are related fields (therapy, consulting,
mentoring, training and athletic development) and they are
similar, but they are not coaching. Coaching is a unique and
powerful specialty.
The International Coach Federation describes coaching well:
"Professional coaches provide an ongoing partnership designed to
help clients produce fulfilling results in their personal and
professional lives. Coaches help people improve their
performances and enhance the quality of their lives.
Coaches are trained to listen, to observe and to customize their
approach to individual client needs. They seek to elicit
solutions and strategies from the client; they believe the
client is naturally creative and resourceful. The coach's job is
to provide support to enhance the skills, resources, and
creativity that the client already has."
What Isn't Coaching?
Coaching, however, is not the related fields mentioned above. Highlights of the differences are:
Therapy
Therapy is about the past and how it is impacting the present day. Therapy focuses on
the development of
coping skills, current issues and challenges and healing.
(Coaching assumes and develops wholeness and present-moment
orientation.)
Consulting
A consultant is a subject-matter expert hired to achieve a
specific goal. A key distinction is that a consultant is
expected to have answers and assumes
responsibility for providing solutions. (Coaching focuses on
what the client knows and helping the client access the wisdom
and solutions within.)
Mentoring
A mentor is a senior, experienced practitioner who takes on
responsibility for the development of a junior individual. The
knowledge and skills to be imparted are generally of a specific
nature and the key source of learning is the mentor’s
experience. (Coaching believes that each person has their own
path and seeks to assist clients in walking that path — faster
and more effectively.)
Training
A trainer sets out specific learning objectives and guides
students towards those objectives. The learning process is
usually limited to course objectives and the process is limited
in time and scope. (Coaching uses exercises and action plans to
help clients and to encourage a-ha moments, but there’s no
lesson plan as with training.)
Athletic Development (/Coach)
Generally, when someone says “coach” they mean the
authoritative/arian leader of an athletic team. There are indeed
similarities between athletic coaching and the coaching that a
personal or business coach does, but the differences are stark.
An athletic coach brings prior experience and internal wisdom to
get the most out of his/her players by — usually — minimizing
mistakes and maximizing execution of the “game plan.” For an
athletic coach, developing the talents of individuals is
important, but indeed secondary to the game plan and winning.
(Coaching certainly celebrates victories and helps move clients
to the winner’s circle, but responsibility for choosing
direction and execution lies with the client.)
Blurred Lines
Of course, at times, lines do get blurred. Good coaches may, if
asked, or with permission,
take on — temporarily — aspects of consulting, mentoring or
training. But such should be clearly delineated and short-lived.
Coaches should never attempt to act as therapists, nor I think,
as athletic trainers. There are however, and will be, therapists
and athletic trainers who have coaching training. I would hope
these individuals are clear with their clients about the
differences with their clients.
Referrals
If I sense that a client could benefit from therapy, or that our
coaching is being affected by issues best dealt with through
therapy, I will discuss this with the client and make what
recommendations I can. It is as important to be ready for
coaching as it is to work with the right coach.
For more information, or to schedule an
initial consultation,
please call 860.656.6742.
Or, click here to send e-mail.
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