THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
The Elephant in the Room: The Truth About What Separates Coaches and How You Should Choose the Best One for You.
At a time when literally every other person is a coach, how should the average person in need of a coach choose one? And, what Separates one coach from another?
This is a question that I’ve asked myself repeatedly, why, because I am a coach! I’ve been a coach for a while and at every opportunity, I invest in myself and my skill as a coach. Whether it’s reading, attending a seminar, conference or getting coached myself, I want to continue to up-level my coaching knowledge and skill. It’s important to me to meet the needs of my coaching clients.
I’m sure that other coaches are as actively involved in honing their craft as well. So, what actually sets us apart?
For one thing, a lot of people who refer to themselves as coaches aren’t actually using coaching. They are using training, mentoring, consulting or counseling.
Since coaching is the “fastest growing” profession right now, everyone calls themselves a “coach.” The problem is that coaching, training, mentoring and consulting require totally different skill sets and disciplines! While some people may have more than one of these skills they should never be confused.
How can you know the difference? If your coach is “telling you what to do,” they are not coaching, if your coach is “showing you how to do it,” they are not coaching. If your coach is helping you to write business plans or giving your business an analysis or critique, they are not coaching. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with any of these skills and they may be exactly what you need, but it is not coaching.
So, what is coaching and what does a coach actually do? Based on the definition taken from Gary R. Collins, book, Christian Coaching: Helping Others Turn Potential into Reality “Coaching is a positive, future-oriented form of psychology which focuses on finding fulfillment, enhanced performance, team building, vision casting, career growth, and reaching one’s goals and dreams. Coaching enables people to set and reach goals while focusing on the present and the future, possibilities, getting unstuck and turning dreams into realities. In coaching sessions, the coach and the client are coequals who work together to bring about change. The best coaching is typically done with people who have training in coaching skills, such as listening, asking powerful questions, and encouraging.”
So there it is! A Coach is trained in listening, asking powerful questions, and encouraging. Coaches listen without judgment, out of all of these disciplines Coaching may be the most intimate.
The coach is there only to facilitate and to draw out of the client what is already inside of them. That requires active listening, asking powerful thought-provoking questions and helping the client to “keep the main thing the main thing” by not allowing them to get off focus or go down “rabbit trails.” In coaching, there are no big I’s or little U’s the client is equal with the coach and the coach is not above the client.
A coach is always interested in where you want to go, they are there to assist you to go from where you are to where you want to be. A coach will not dig up your past or help you to heal your past problems, that is the work of a counselor and requires an entirely different skill set as well as special credentials.
What separates coaches are training, experience, skills, and who they are, what is their story? Regardless of what someone calls themselves, what do they really do and what is the expected outcome? In today’s world where it seems that everyone is a coach, it’s best to ask beforehand so that you get the right skill set and outcome.
So, the elephant in the room is that not everyone that calls themselves a coach is, in fact, a coach as defined, but they still may have what you need. You have to do your due diligence to get what you’re paying for. Also, most coaching clients actually may want a combination of approaches to their needs. The main thing is that all parties know what is expected of the other.
Set up a free 30 minutes Clarity call! http://bit.ly/2zHZqg6
[simple-author-box]
