Coaching – what it is, what it isn’t
Coaching is a method used to empower another individual to achieve their goals. The coaching mindset is based upon the belief that you (as the coachee) are creative, resourceful and whole. The coach’s role is to be curious, challenge, help bring order to the million different priorities, goals and thoughts through active listening, powerful questions and appropriate tools. To help you to develop your actions plans, discover intrinsic motivations and how best to hold yourself accountable to the actions you have decided to take.
A coach is not an expert offering advice on what direction or actions you should take. A coach does not share their experiences on how they may have tackled a particular problem because this may influence your decisions making. The only person that knows the best action to take is you, a coach will help you uncover this. Advice and experience sharing is more akin to mentoring, which is usually done by someone else in a position you wish to aspire to. The coach may not be an expert in the area that is in focus.
A coach does also not spend a great deal of time delving into your past looking at why things may have happened, or why you may have certain habits. This is the role of a counsellor. The coach will spend time with you in the present and the future. Where you want to be, what value do you have on this goal, what is preventing you from getting there right now…
So the question is, what do you want?