What is Coaching?
Brenda Steinberg, writing in Harvard Business Review, states "Executive coaching can help you achieve higher performance and greater personal satisfaction at work". Coaching is essentially working with the client to help them design their own future and goals. A coach is trained to be empathetic, non-judgemental, discerning and curious to ask the right questions that can challenge a client and help unlock their potential.
Professional coaching is not therapy, mentoring, training, consulting or advising. While all of those practices are good and have their place, coaching focuses on the future and well-defined outcomes taking a person from where they are to where they want to be. This is also a long-term professional relationship which normally lasts from 6 - 12 months. This is based on Self-Determination Theory which focuses on a person's intrinsic motivation.
Is everyone coachable?
According to Brenda, a coachable client has the following characteristics:
"Coaching is unlocking people’s potential to maximize their own performance" - Tim Gallwey
Professional coaching is not therapy, mentoring, training, consulting or advising. While all of those practices are good and have their place, coaching focuses on the future and well-defined outcomes taking a person from where they are to where they want to be. This is also a long-term professional relationship which normally lasts from 6 - 12 months. This is based on Self-Determination Theory which focuses on a person's intrinsic motivation.
Is everyone coachable?
According to Brenda, a coachable client has the following characteristics:
- Tolerance for discomfort
- Openness to experimentation
- Ability to look beyond the rational
- Willingness to take responsibility
- Capacity for forgiveness
- Self-discipline
- Ability to ask for support
"Coaching is unlocking people’s potential to maximize their own performance" - Tim Gallwey
What is Mentoring?
David Clutterbuck writes "In spite of the variety of definitions of mentoring … all the experts and communicators appear to agree that it has its origins in the concept of apprenticeship, when an older, more experienced individual passed down his knowledge of how the task was done and how to operate in the commercial world."
A mentor is someone who is experienced in their field and walk along with a person of lesser experience helping them in their journey. Domain expertise is important to be a mentor, unlike in the case of a coach who does not need to be a subject matter expert.
A mentor is someone who is experienced in their field and walk along with a person of lesser experience helping them in their journey. Domain expertise is important to be a mentor, unlike in the case of a coach who does not need to be a subject matter expert.
What about Training?
Training is the activity of imparting knowledge to teach a particular skill, type of behaviour or a philosophy that leads to some kind of behavioural change in alignment with certain goals. Traditionally, this involved long lectures and exams.
Modern training uses concepts like flipped classrooms, self-paced learning, interactions and facilitation skills which enable participants to absorb knowledge in smaller chunks. Training can also be experiential learning in nature.
Modern training uses concepts like flipped classrooms, self-paced learning, interactions and facilitation skills which enable participants to absorb knowledge in smaller chunks. Training can also be experiential learning in nature.
How does Coaching differ from Therapy?
Coaching focuses on helping individuals achieve specific personal or professional goals and improve performance, while therapy addresses mental health issues and emotional pain, often exploring past experiences.
Coaching focuses on personal development, performance improvement and being future-oriented, as the client seeks to enhance skills and achieve goals.
Therapy deals with past experiences, emotional healing, and symptom relief, as the client seeks to resolve psychological issues and improve mental health.
Coaching focuses on personal development, performance improvement and being future-oriented, as the client seeks to enhance skills and achieve goals.
Therapy deals with past experiences, emotional healing, and symptom relief, as the client seeks to resolve psychological issues and improve mental health.
