More about What Coaching Is
Coaching is a process, through one conversation or several, to help you get from point A to point B. The key is really wanting to get to point B, even if point B is a little unclear.
The journey could be to navigate a personal or professional transition, to finally turn a hobby into a business, to cultivate a dormant dream, change direction or finally conquer that one goal.
Together you and your Coach build a strong, trusting partnership. You have clear, direct, open communication. You are both focused and flexible.
While you are partners in the work, you are the clear leader. You set the agenda and the pace while your Coach skillfully uses listening and inquiry so you can unearth stuck-points and uncover insights. While you gain clarity, your confidence and energy start to pull you into new directions. You experiment with what’s possible and get bolder in creating your path forward.
Coaching can help you find the freedom to live a life that you design from the inside out. It’s a personal journey that is fun, yet not for the faint of heart. It’s not always easy, and it is always worth it.
More about What Coaching Is Not
Coaching in it’s purest sense, is not consulting. Coaches don’t tell you what to do or how to do it, even if you plead with them. They know that for actions to stick and be right-sized, they have to come from you.
Coaching is not therapy. Nor is it a substitute for therapy. Coaches don’t diagnose or treat health conditions. Coaching may glance back at past behaviors or situations in order to set context, but coaching is all about moving forward.
Coaching is not mentoring. Coaches work alongside you and believe that you are the expert on the best path for your life even if you are stuck, feel lost or uncertain.
Coaching is not advising. While you might need to find experts to teach, counsel and provide information, that’s not the role of a Coach. In coaching, we draw on your strengths to expand your possibilities.
Consultants, therapists, mentors and advisers are beyond helpful, and they may even coach, but they are not Coaches all the time.
Trust the Process
sometimes you have to slow down to go fast
A lot of the time we are moving forward toward a goal or expectation that someone else set for us. We might not even realize that we’ve been less than intentional on our path.
Coaching is an opportunity to take charge and ask ourselves deep questions about where we are and where we’re going.
Maybe you’ve been beating your own drum you’re whole life and handily achieved every goal you’ve set, but you’re still feeling unfulfilled.
Coaching can allow you to consider new possibilities without the scrutiny of colleagues, family members or the limiting beliefs of other well-meaning voices around you.
A unique aspect of the coaching relationship is that, unlike a lot of other relationships, there shouldn’t be a hierarchy or power dynamic in play. Your coach should feel like your advocate and may sometimes challenge you to stretch yourself, but always does this from the side, allowing you to be in charge.
Okay, About that Process
What exactly does the coach do and how long does it take?
Coaches usually have an initial conversation to determine what you want to work on and if they feel they can be helpful.
If you both want to work together, you’ll sort out logistics. You’ll agree together on the number and frequency of sessions, how you’ll connect, where and when. Usually this is fodder for your formal coaching agreement.
Coaches offer different tools based on what you’re bringing to the table, but they always rely on listening and inquiry to help you find your own way forward.
Since everyone’s coaching needs and wants are unique, there is no set time-frame for coaching. A rewarding coaching conversation can help someone solve their own problem in as little as 10 minutes. Coaching support for transformational growth could take several months. Since you set the agenda, you’ll also set the pace. A good coach takes their cues from you and regularly asks for and implements your feedback.