Coaching
Coaching is a structured collaboration aimed at achieving a specific goal, acquiring skills, or forming habits. It can occur as a one-time event or as a process. The methodology and techniques are based on the mindset that the individual themselves perceives what is necessary to overcome obstacles in their life and work. Often, the solutions are obvious, but the individual may lack the skill to recognize them. Coaching is suitable for anyone who wishes to consciously work on themselves and implement changes within and around themselves.
When can coaching help?
The goals of coaching are to:
- overcome obstacles and move towards a goal
- achieve desired results
- teach individuals to use their resources in the most effective and optimal way
- manage changes in a healthy manner
- inspire, create inner strength, and balance
As a result of coaching, a person:
- performs their work more effectively
- uses their skills more consciously and efficiently
- works and lives their life effectively and sustainably
There are many different coaching services available, such as business, leadership, career, success, stress, family, health, and wellness coaching.
The role of a coach is to help the client notice solutions from an outsider’s perspective using various techniques and inspire them to take action. Neutral and developmental coaching helps analyze existing behaviors and experiences, giving meaning to both successes and mistakes. During the coaching process, individuals are encouraged to find their own solutions based on their situations and to take greater responsibility for their personal habits.
Ultimately, a coach helps the client/partner see and embrace their inner potential, as the individual makes decisions about their future actions. A coach can encourage clients on their journey of self-discovery, ensure responsibility for the coaching process, professionally use coaching techniques, and recognize the ethical boundaries of this work.
The video below provides a good overview of what coaching entails.
Differences between coaching and other methods
Sometimes it helps to understand coaching by distinguishing it from other methods.
Therapy deals with resolving emotional and physical pain, dysfunction, and various conflicts. The focus is often on resolving past issues and improving overall psychological functioning.
Difference: Coaching supports personal and professional development to achieve practical results. Coaching focuses on the future. While positive feelings can also accompany coaching, the primary focus is on creating practical strategies to achieve specific goals. The emphasis is on responsibility and action.
Consulting: Individuals or organizations hire consultants for expert evaluations. Although consulting methods vary widely, the expectation is that the consultant diagnoses problems and helps find and sometimes implement solutions.
Difference: Coaching assumes that individuals or teams are capable of creating solutions in collaboration with the coach.
Mentoring: A mentor is an expert in their field who guides and advises based on their own experiences. Mentoring can include counseling and coaching.
Difference: The coaching process does not include counseling but focuses on helping the coachee find their own answers during the process.
Training: Training programs are based on specific goals set by the trainer or instructor.
Difference: While goals are also set in the coaching process, they are established by the individual or team with the help of the coach. Training assumes a linear learning path that aligns with a predetermined curriculum. Coaching occurs without a set curriculum.
Leadership is about achieving goals through other people. A leader directs employees’ activities to motivate them to achieve the company’s objectives. Through clear task setting, organizing work, and inspiring by example, a leader is responsible for the company’s results. Goals are set by the organization, which may involve employees.
Difference: In the coaching process, the goals are set by the coachee or team, not the leader. Coaching goals can also help achieve company objectives, but they are not predetermined; they develop during the process.
Supervision: In the context of coaching, supervision means the professional development of the coach with the help of a more experienced colleague. The term mentor-coach is also used.
Somatic, or body-based coaching
Somatic coaching is based on the premise that to achieve significant and long-lasting change, one should feel observations and planned changes through the body.
From this premise, the body becomes a resource rather than just a carrier of thoughts. During a session, a somatic coach may use techniques such as constellation, locating and sensing emotions in the body, breathwork, physical movement in space, and recreating the current situation with physical objects and directions.
Somatic coaching looks beyond thoughts and relates to what our body remembers and goes beyond the story. We are connected to systems and experiences at different moments in life, and on a subconscious level, we have a connection to the experience gained from them, which we do not consciously perceive.
History of coaching
Coaching was initiated by the American financial planner Thomas Leonard. He is often considered the first to define it as a profession in the 1980s, and the concept and history of lifestyle coaching originate from that time. Leonard was known for his Coach 100 approach, which helped coaches attract new clients.
Thomas is known as the father of coaching because he was truly dedicated to coaching in various public fields. He founded Coach U, the International Coach Federation, and the International Association of Coaching.
At that time, people believed that a skilled coach could help them with (almost) any problem. However, for some, coaching was not helpful, and a great example of this is the British tennis player Andy Murray.
The word “coaching” was first used by Oxford University in the 1830s in connection with the concepts of “trainer” or “instructor.” It became university slang for a mentor/instructor who “carried” their mentee through a skill, exam, or activity. This also marked the beginning of the history of coaching work in Great Britain. Since then, coaching has been defined as a developmental process that takes people from where they currently are to where they want to be. Gradually, this word became popular in sports, education, skill development, and other fields.
