WHAT IS COACHING?
Coaching is process through which clients identify their strengths and values, clarify their personal or professional goals and overcome any obstacles. Coaching is a partnership co-created by the coach and the client to fit the client’s needs, so no coaching relationship is the same. Through this partnership, a coach helps clients stay on track and focused, keeps clients accountable to their commitments, and uncovers and mobilizes clients’ inner strengths in order to achieve their goals and enhance their quality of life.
The International Coaching Federation defines coaching as “an ongoing professional relationship that helps people produce extraordinary results in their lives, careers, businesses or organizations. Through the process of coaching, clients deepen their learning, improve their performance, and enhance their quality of life… This [coaching] interaction creates clarity and moves the client into action. Coaching accelerates the client’s progress by providing greater focus and awareness of choice. Coaching concentrates on where clients are now and what they are willing to do to get where they want to be in the future, recognizing that results are a matter of the client’s intentions, choices and actions, supported by the coach’s efforts and application of the coaching process.” How does the process work? As your coach, we help you develop and implement action plans to assist you in attaining your desired vision and goals. Our process uses inquiry, assessment, reflection, dialogue, and specifi
Coaching is an art, not a science. Coaching is a strategic alignment being used by many professionals today, helping to narrow the gap between intentions and actions. Coaches are concerned with moving their clients forward towards specific goal orientated outcomes. This type of coaching assumes that everyone is capable of change and of intrinsically knowing the correct steps to make the desired change come about. The coach’s main role in this partnership is to act as a guide to keep the interaction, communication and sharing on track, moving the client forward towards their stated goals. Mastery in coaching comes from “being present,” from learning to read the flow of the session.
The International Coaching Federation definition: Coaching is partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. Professional coaches provide an ongoing partnership designed to help clients produce fulfilling results in their personal and professional lives. Coaches help people improve their performance 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.
