Some Clarity Around Coaching

Coaching is designed to help you get better at something. The right type of coach can help you swing a bat and hit homeruns for example. Or in this case, help to elevate your communications skills and navigate any kind of conversation with ease.

It is a future focused, goal oriented working partnership.

An Important Distinction – Therapy, Consulting, Coaching

Just say for the sake of discussion, you want to develop your bike riding skill.

If you go to a Therapist, the Therapist might say, “Approach the bike. How does it feel? Do you have any previous experience with bikes?”

If you go to a Consultant, he or she will learn how to ride a bike if they don’t already know, and give you detailed notes.

If you go to a Coach, the Coach will say, ”Get on the bike and start riding and I’ll walk along beside you until you can do it yourself”.

Therapy focuses on insight to resolve past issues. Consulting is an exchange is information based on expertise. Coaching works with focused goal(s) until the goal(s) are achieved.

Why work with a Coach?

When you’re ready to do things differently, going it alone can be daunting and time consuming. It’s easy to stay stuck in the same ways of thinking. A study showed that 98.5% of coaching clients said “…their investment was well worth the money.”*

A Coach is trained to provide:

• expertise in the subject
• assistance is clarifying your goals
• a completely confidential partnership
• dedicated and diplomatic support
• brainstorming new ideas and approaches
• setting goals and action plans
• accountability
• the opportunity to focus are your success in a positive and constructive environment

*ICF study, 2009