Professional coaching is a long-term professional relationship that assists people in achieving remarkable results in their lives, careers, businesses, or organizations. Through the coaching process, clients deepen their learning, enhance their performance, and improve their quality of life. The client chooses the topic of discussion at each meeting, while the coach listens and contributes observations and questions. This interaction clarifies the situation and motivates the client to take action. Coaching accelerates the client’s progress by increasing focus and awareness of options.
Coaching focuses on where our clients now and what they are willing to make to get to where they want to become in the near future, acknowledging that results are determined by the client’s intentions, choices, and actions, which are propped up by the coach’s endeavor and application of the coaching process. The International Coach Federation believes in a style of coaching that recognises the client as the one that is expert in their life and work and that every client is creative, resourceful, and whole. The coach’s responsibility, based on this foundation, is to:
- Determine, clarify, and align with the client’s goals.
- Promote client self-discovery
- Gather solutions and strategies from clients.
- Hold the client accountable and responsible
There are numerous routes to these objectives. Some coaching schools encourage coaches to take on a mentorship role with clients, acting as expert guides. Other schools teach coaches strategies to unleash clients’ genius based on the belief that clients are experts at solving their problems. Most coaches use a combination of these approaches. Internal pain and external stress are frequently the causes of people seeking therapy. They seek treatment because nothing else has worked. People desire to coach for a variety of reasons. The majority of clients begin coaching on their initiative. They are looking forward to it with bated breath. They’ve heard glowing reports about the benefits of coaching and want to give it a shot for themselves. Many have specific projects they wish to pursue (new career, promotion, retirement). Others may be looking for more balance in their lives or hungry for new opportunities.
Coaching clients change because they want a better life, not because they are in pain. Employees in corporations are sometimes assigned a coach to help them improve their job performance. Coaching clients come from all walks of life and backgrounds; they could be artists, social entrepreneurs working in nonprofits, managers, salespeople, CEOs, or employees recently laid off. Most want to improve their careers, but they may also want help with personal relationships with family, friends, and intimate partners.
The main difference between coaching and therapy clients is that coaching clients are generally mentally healthy. Whatever self-limiting beliefs, habits, and patterns they may have aren’t severe enough to impair a client’s ability to function effectively in the world. Accepting that the world is full of remarkable, mature, mentally healthy adults is essential to coaching.