Coaching is a powerful tool that is shaping many lives in the corporate world, making organizations more efficient. It is also impacting personal lives, making individuals happier and more fulfilled in their daily lives. For these reasons and more, there’s a huge buzz about coaching, but because of that buzz, coaching has a blurry and unclear definition today. So, I need you to take a step back, and forget what you know already know about coaching, because I’m about to share with you what coaching really is.
What Coaching Is Not
You will have a clearer idea about what coaching really is when you know what coaching is not. Coaching is not therapy; coaches don’t deal with issues and deep psychological problems from the past. Coaching is also not mentoring; coaches don’t act as experts, in fact it’s the other way around. Coaches will consider you as the expert and will believe in your capabilities. Finally, coaching is not a friendly Starbuck’s conversation, a coach is not your friend, a coach will hold you accountable to each action and plan you come up with.
Now that we drew the line about what coaching is not, let’s dive in the real definition of what coaching is.
Coaching is More Than Just a Conversation
The International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”.
Coaching is a unique conversation, and that’s just the surface of what coaching is. Coaching is a journey that you take with your coach towards your defined destination. In short, coaching is for people who are willing to go on a journey to take charge of their personal or professional lives.
Awareness with proprietary tool
Coaching is about creating awareness in the minds and hearts of individuals. Awareness about your thoughts and beliefs that might be standing in your way. Awareness about some situations and the way you are behaving in them.
How does a coach create awareness? By asking you questions and using certain proprietary tools. It seems simple and easy on the outside. In reality, it’s harder than you think. A coach asks really powerful questions that create the awareness that you need to change and grow.
Clarity
Coaching gives you the clarity you need to take action. Most people don’t take action because it’s unclear for them what they want to accomplish first. Or they don’t even know what is exactly standing in their way. Coaching eliminates unclarity and builds a huge capacity to take action to create results. A coach will help you create a crystal-clear vision for your life and what you want to achieve and overcome.
Action and Accountability
Your coach will make sure you have enough awareness and clarity to drive change. But coaching is also about action. Coaching conversations will help you brainstorm and come up with new ideas to create a clear and defined action plans.
Finally, as I mentioned before, the coach is not your friend. You can expect your coach to hold you accountable for your ideas, decisions and the action plans that your coach will help you build. With that said, coaching is about accountability for your results, which is a main driver for success in your life.
In Short This is Coaching
Coaching is this process that creates awareness about yourself, your beliefs, thoughts and perceptions. It’s a partnership that will help you clarify your goals, identify your challenges and come up with new ideas. And finally, coaching is about creating a roadmap towards your vision and goals. In short, a coach is your catalyst for success.
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