What is Coaching?
Frequently Asked Questions About
Coaching
Developed by: Branding and Marketing
Subcommittee of the International Coach Federation (Jan Austin, MCC, Val Williams, MCC, Nora
Klaver, MCC and Ariane Cherbuliez, PCC)
1. What Is Coaching?
2. What are the benefits of
coaching?
3. How can you determine if
coaching is right for you?
4. What are some typical
reasons someone might work with a coach?
5. What has caused the
tremendous growth in the coaching industry?
6. How
is coaching delivered? What does the process look like?
7. What
should someone look for when selecting a coach?
8. How long does a coach work with
an individual?
9. How do you ensure a
compatible partnership?
10. Within the partnership, what
does the coach do? The individual?
11.
How can the success of the coaching process be measured?
12.
What are the factors that should be considered when looking at the
financial investment in coaching?
13. How is coaching distinct
from other service professions?
14. What is the International Coach
Federation (ICF)?
1. What Is Coaching?
Professional Coaching is a professional partnership between a qualified
coach and an individual or team that supports the achievement of
extraordinary results, based on goals set by the individual or team.
Through the process of coaching, individuals focus on the skills and
actions needed to successfully produce their personally relevant
results.
The individual or team chooses the focus of conversation, while the
coach listens and contributes observations and questions as well as
concepts and principles which can assist in generating possibilities
and identifying actions. Through the coaching process the clarity that
is needed to support the most effective actions is achieved. Coaching
accelerates the individual's or team's progress by providing greater
focus and awareness of possibilities leading to more effective choices.
Coaching concentrates on where individuals are now and what they are
willing to do to get where they want to be in the future. ICF member
coaches recognize that results are a matter of the individual's or
team's intentions, choices and actions, supported by the coach's
efforts and application of coaching skills, approaches and methods.
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2. What are the benefits of coaching?
Individuals who engage in a coaching relationship can expect to
experience fresh perspectives on personal challenges and opportunities,
enhanced thinking and decision making skills, enhanced interpersonal
effectiveness, and increased confidence in carrying out their chosen
work and life roles. Consistent with a commitment to enhancing their
personal effectiveness, they can also expect to see appreciable results
in the areas of productivity, personal satisfaction with life and work,
and the achievement of personally relevant goals.
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3. How can you determine if coaching is right
for you?
To determine if you could benefit from coaching, start by summarizing
what you would expect to accomplish in coaching. When someone has a
fairly clear idea of the desired outcome, a coaching partnership can be
a useful tool for developing a strategy for how to achieve that outcome
with greater ease.
Since coaching
is a partnership, also ask yourself if you find it valuable to
collaborate, to have another viewpoint and to be asked to consider new
perspectives. Also, ask yourself if you are ready to devote the time
and the energy to making real changes in your work or life. If the
answer to these questions is yes, then coaching may be a beneficial way
for you to grow and develop.
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4. What are some typical reasons someone might
work with a coach?
There are many reasons that an individual or team might choose to work
with a coach, including but not limited to the following:
- There is
something at stake (a challenge, stretch goal or opportunity), and it
is urgent, compelling or exciting or all of the above
- There is a
gap in knowledge, skills, confidence, or resources
- A big
stretch is being asked or required, and it is time sensitive
- There is a
desire to accelerate results
- There is a
need for a course correction in work or life due to a setback
- An
individual has a style of relating that is ineffective or is not
supporting the achievement of one's personally relevant goals
- There is a
lack of clarity, and there are choices to be made
- The
individual is extremely successful, and success has started to become
problematic
- Work and
life are out of balance, and this is creating unwanted consequences
- One has
not identified his or her core strengths and how best to leverage them
- The
individual desires work and life to be simpler, less complicated
- There is a
need and a desire to be better organized and more self-managing
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5. What has caused the tremendous growth in the
coaching industry?
Coaching has grown significantly for many reasons. Generally the world
has changed a lot, and coaching is a useful tool to deal with many of
those changes. For example, coaching is a great tool for today's
challenging job market. There is more job transition, more
self-employment and more small business. Some of the real life factors
include:
- Rapid
changes in the external business environment
- Downsizing,
restructuring, mergers and other organizational changes
have radically altered what has been termed the traditional employment
contract. Companies can no longer achieve results using traditional
management approaches.
- There is a
growing shortage of talented employees in certain industries. To
attract and retain top talent, companies must commit to investing in
individuals' development.
- There is a
widening disparity between what managers were trained to do and what
their jobs now require them to do in order to meet increasing demands
for competitive results.
- There is
unrest on the part of many employees and leaders in many companies.
People are wrestling with fears around job insecurity and increased
workplace pressures to perform at higher levels than ever before.
- Companies
must develop inclusive, collaborative work environments, in order to
achieve strategic business goals, and to maintain high levels of
customer satisfaction.
In addition,
individuals who have experienced the excellent results of coaching are
talking to more people about coaching. In short, coaching helps people
focus on what matters most to them in life: business and personal.
People today are more open to the idea of being in charge of their own
lives. Coaching helps people do just that; so the industry continues to
grow.
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6. How is coaching delivered? What does the
process look like?
The
Coaching Process Coaching typically begins
with a personal interview (either face-to-face or by teleconference
call) to assess the individual's current opportunities and challenges,
define the scope of the relationship, identify priorities for action,
and establish specific desired outcomes. Subsequent coaching sessions
may be conducted in person or over the telephone, with each session
lasting a previously established length of time. Between scheduled
coaching sessions, the individual may be asked to complete specific
actions that support the achievement of one's personally prioritized
goals. The coach may provide additional resources in the form of
relevant articles, checklists, assessments, or models, to support the
individual's thinking and actions. The duration of the coaching
relationship varies depending on the individual's personal needs and
preferences.
Assessments A variety of
assessments are available to support the coaching process, depending
upon the needs and circumstances of the individual. Assessments provide
objective information which can enhance the individual's self-awareness
as well as awareness of others and their circumstances, provide a
benchmark for creating coaching goals and actionable strategies, and
offer a method for evaluating progress.
Concepts, models and principles
A variety of concepts, models and principles drawn from the behavioral
sciences, management literature, spiritual traditions and/or the arts
and humanities, may be incorporated into the coaching conversation in
order to increase the individual's self-awareness and awareness of
others, foster shifts in perspective, promote fresh insights, provide
new frameworks for looking at opportunities and challenges, and
energize and inspire the individual's forward actions.
Appreciative approach Coaching incorporates an
appreciative approach. The appreciative approach is grounded in what's
right, what's working, what's wanted, and what's needed to get there.
Using an appreciative approach, the coach models constructive
communication skills and methods the individual or team can utilize to
enhance personal communication effectiveness. The appreciative approach
incorporates discovery-based inquiry, proactive (as opposed to
reactive) ways of managing personal opportunities and challenges,
constructive framing of observations and feedback in order to elicit
the most positive responses from others, and envisioning success as
contrasted with focusing on problems. The appreciative approach is
simple to understand and employ, but its effects in harnessing
possibility thinking and goal-oriented action can be profound.
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7. What should someone look for when selecting a
coach?
The most important thing to look for in selecting a coach is someone
with whom you feel you can easily relate and create the most powerful
partnership. Here are some questions you may want to ask prospective
coaches:
- What is
your coaching experience? (number of individuals coached, years of
experience, types of situations)
- What is
your coach specific training? Do you hold an ICF Credential, or are you
enrolled in an ICF Accredited Training Program?
- What is
your coaching specialty or client areas you most often work in?
- What
specialized skills or experience do you bring to your coaching?
- What is
your philosophy about coaching?
- What is
your specific process for coaching? (how sessions are conducted,
frequency, etc.)
- What are
some coaching success stories? (specific examples of individuals who
have done well and examples of how you have added value)
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8. How long does a coach work with an individual?
The length of a coaching partnership varies depending on the
individual's or team's needs and preferences. For certain types of
focused coaching, 3 to 6 months of working with a coach may work. For
other types of coaching, people may find it beneficial to work with a
coach for a longer period. Factors that may impact the length of time
include: the types of goals, the ways individuals or teams like to
work, the frequency of coaching meetings, and financial resources
available to support coaching.
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9. How do you ensure a compatible partnership?
Overall, be prepared to design the coaching partnership with the coach.
For example, think of a strong partnership that you currently have in
your work or life. Look at how you built that relationship and what is
important to you about partnership. You will want to build those same
things into a coaching relationship. Here are a few other tips:
- Have a
personal interview with one or more coaches to determine "what feels
right" in terms of the chemistry. Coaches are accustomed to being
interviewed, and there is generally no charge for an introductory
conversation of this type
- Look for
stylistic similarities and differences between the coach and you and
how these might support your growth as an individual or the growth of
your team
- Discuss
your goals for coaching within the context of the coach's specialty or
the coach's preferred way of working with a individual or team
- Talk with
the coach about what to do if you ever feel things are not going well;
make some agreements up front on how to handle questions or problems
- Remember
that coaching is a partnership, so be assertive about talking with the
coach about anything that is of concern at any time
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10. Within the partnership,
what does the coach do? The individual?
The
role of the coach is to provide objective
assessment and observations that foster the individual's or team
members' enhanced self-awareness and awareness of others, practice
astute listening in order to garner a full understanding of the
individual's or team's circumstances, be a sounding board in support of
possibility thinking and thoughtful planning and decision making,
champion opportunities and potential, encourage stretch and challenge
commensurate with personal strengths and aspirations, foster the shifts
in thinking that reveal fresh perspectives, challenge blind spots in
order to illuminate new possibilities, and support the creation of
alternative scenarios. Finally, the coach maintains professional
boundaries in the coaching relationship, including confidentiality, and
adheres to the coaching profession's code of ethics.
The role of the individual or
team is to create the coaching agenda based on personally meaningful
coaching goals, utilize assessment and observations to enhance
self-awareness and awareness of others, envision personal and/or
organizational success, assume full responsibility for personal
decisions and actions, utilize the coaching process to promote
possibility thinking and fresh perspectives, take courageous action in
alignment with personal goals and aspirations, engage big picture
thinking and problem solving skills, and utilize the tools, concepts,
models and principles provided by the coach to engage effective forward
actions.
What
does coaching ask of an individual?
To be successful, coaching asks certain things of the individual, all
of which begin with intention:
- Focus on one's self, the tough
questions, the hard truths--and one's success
- Observation of the behaviors
and communications of others
- Listening to one's intuition,
assumptions, judgments, and to the way one sounds when one speaks
- Self discipline to challenge
existing attitudes, beliefs and behaviors and to develop new ones which
serve one's goals in a superior way
- Style leveraging personal
strengths and overcoming limitations in order to develop a winning style
- Decisive actions however
uncomfortable, and in spite of personal insecurities, in order to reach
for the extraordinary
- Compassion for one's self as he or she
experiments with new behaviors, experiences setbacks and for others as
they do the same
- Humor committing to not take
one's self so seriously, using humor to lighten and brighten any
situation
- Personal control maintaining
composure in the face of disappointment and unmet expectations,
avoiding emotional reactivity
- Courage to reach for more than
before, to shift out of being fear based in to being in abundance as a
core strategy for success, to engage in continual self examination, to
overcome internal and external obstacles
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11. How can the success of the coaching process
be measured?
Measurement may be thought of in two distinct ways. First, there are
the external
indicators of performance: measures which
can be seen and measured in the individual's or team's environment.
Second, there are internal
indicators of success: measures which are
inherent within the individual or team members being coached and can be
measured by the individual or team being coached with the support of
the coach. Ideally, both external and internal metrics are incorporated.
Examples
of external measures include achievement of
coaching goals established at the outset of the coaching relationship,
increased income/revenue, obtaining a promotion, performance feedback
which is obtained from a sample of the individual's constituents (e.g.,
direct reports, colleagues, customers, boss, the manager him/herself),
personal and/or business performance data (e.g., productivity,
efficiency measures). The external measures selected should ideally be
things the individual is already measuring and are things the
individual has some ability to directly influence.
Examples
of internal measures include
self-scoring/self-validating assessments that can be administered
initially and at regular intervals in the coaching process, changes in
the individual's self-awareness and awareness of others, shifts in
thinking which inform more effective actions, and shifts in one's
emotional state which inspire confidence.
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12. What are the factors that should be
considered when looking at the financial investment in coaching?
Working with a coach requires both a personal commitment of time and
energy as well as a financial commitment. Fees charged vary by
specialty and by the level of experience of the coach. Individuals
should consider both the desired benefits as well as the anticipated
length of time to be spent in coaching. Since the coaching relationship
is predicated on clear communication, any financial concerns or
questions should be voiced in initial conversations before the
agreement is made. The ICF Coach Referral Service allows you to search
for a coach based on a number of qualifications including fee range.
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13. How is coaching distinct from other service
professions?
Professional coaching is a distinct service which focuses on an
individual's life as it relates to goal setting, outcome creation and
personal change management. In an effort to understand what a coach is,
it can be helpful to distinguish coaching from other professions that
provide personal or organizational support.
- Therapy. Coaching can be
distinguished from therapy in a number of ways. First, coaching is a
profession that supports personal and professional growth and
development based on individual-initiated change in pursuit of specific
actionable outcomes. These outcomes are linked to personal or
professional success. Coaching is forward moving and future focused.
Therapy, on the other hand, deals with healing pain, dysfunction and
conflict within an individual or a relationship between two or more
individuals. The focus is often on resolving difficulties arising from
the past which hamper an individual's emotional functioning in the
present, improving overall psychological functioning, and dealing with
present life and work circumstances in more emotionally healthy ways.
Therapy outcomes often include improved emotional/feeling states. While
positive feelings/emotions may be a natural outcome of coaching, the
primary focus is on creating actionable strategies for achieving
specific goals in one's work or personal life. The emphasis in a
coaching relationship is on action, accountability and follow through.
- Consulting.
Consultants may be retained by individuals or organizations for the
purpose of accessing specialized expertise. While consulting approaches
vary widely, there is often an assumption that the consultant diagnoses
problems and prescribes and sometimes implements solutions. In general,
the assumption with coaching is that individuals or teams are capable
of generating their own solutions, with the coach supplying supportive,
discovery-based approaches and frameworks.
- Mentoring. Mentoring, which can
be thought of as guiding from one's own experience or sharing of
experience in a specific area of industry or career development, is
sometimes confused with coaching. Although some coaches provide
mentoring as part of their coaching, such as in mentor coaching new
coaches, coaches are not typically mentors to those they coach.
- Training. Training programs are
based on the acquisition of certain learning objectives as set out by
the trainer or instructor. Though objectives are clarified in the
coaching process, they are set by the individual or team being coached
with guidance provided by the coach. Training also assumes a linear
learning path which coincides with an established curriculum. Coaching
is less linear, without a set curriculum plan.
- Athletic Development. Though
sports metaphors are often used, professional coaching is different
from the traditional sports coach. The athletic coach is often seen as
an expert who guides and directs the behavior of individuals or teams
based on his or her greater experience and knowledge. Professional
coaches possess these qualities, but it is the experience and knowledge
of the individual or team that determines the direction. Additionally,
professional coaching, unlike athletic development, does not focus on
behaviors that are being executed poorly or incorrectly. Instead, the
focus is on identifying opportunity for development based on individual
strengths and capabilities.
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14. What is the International Coach Federation (ICF)?
The International Coach Federation (ICF) is the world's largest
nonprofit professional association of coaches, with more than 7,500
members in more than 29 countries. Its purpose is to build, support and
preserve the integrity of the coaching profession around the globe and
ensure public confidence in the profession. For more information about
ICF members’ and credentialed coaches’ commitment to internationally
recognized standards of excellence, professionalism and
self-governance, click here.
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