What is Coaching?

"Coaching helps me define where I want to go and it gets me there faster and more easily than if I worked on my own."

Coaching is about “the now and the future”. A coach gives people the confidence and ability to move forward in a positive manner in the areas of their life where they crave change. Coaching is about breaking down barriers that prevent this change from happening and creating the ideal environment for positive action to take place. It is a totally holistic approach that looks at the present and sets goals for a totally successful future.

Coaching begins with an awareness that every human is born with the ability to be, do or have, whatever they want in life. By the time we become adults, many of us have lost this ability. But, eventually, we experience the feeling that our lives are drifting off course and that “there must be something better than this”.

Coaching is a professional and personal relationship between two people, the coach and the client. It is a completely practical skill, underpinned by a good knowledge and understanding of the theories and applications of personal development.

How is coaching delivered?

Face-to-face the coach will work one-on-one with the client in an environment conducive to the confidential nature of coaching. Usually the client visits the coach, however, in the corporate sector the coach will visit the workplace. The client and coach must feel at ease and comfortable. The coach will have the facility to take notes and will have any necessary documentation to hand.

Over the phone the coach will arrange for the client to ring at a pre-arranged time. The coach is prepared to take the call, with any paperwork and notes to hand and be situated where they will not be disturbed. Similarly, the client must also be situated comfortably where they can give their undivided attention to the coaching session. These calls are generally at weekly or fortnightly intervals and each one typically lasts at least half an hour and will not be longer than one hour.

Who can it help?

It can be used with private individuals or within a business environment. Coaches can specialise in particular areas or offer a general service.

How many sessions are needed?

It is unlikely that the client will achieve significant results in fewer than three sessions (although the benefits begin after the very first session). 

It is unusual for a coaching process to last longer than three months without a break.

The role of the coach

The role of the coach is to help the client. The role of the client is to agree to a total commitment and honesty in dealing with the issues that concern them.

The coaching process

Coaching is an interactive process where the coach guides and facilitates the client’s progress towards defined goals. These may concern relationships, career, self-confidence, financial matters, or – and this is common – an uneasy feeling that “life has drifted off course” or “there must be something better than this”.

The coach is a listener who is totally non-critical and non-judgmental. As each goal or desired outcome is defined, the coach will ask challenging and insightful questions which enable the client to create specific actions that will move them ever closer to the results that they seek. Whilst these actions are important, it is the outcome from those actions that achieve success.

Each session closes with agreement on the actions to be taken before the next call. The subsequent session will review those actions, their results and the client's feelings about them. It is this immediacy and need to report back which make life coaching so effective.

What Coaching is not

Coaching is not about the past. It does not dwell on what has happened or why it has happened. It is not the medium through which serious abuse or addictions can be treated. Coaching is not therapy or counselling: it is not designed to support individuals in times of deep crisis or serious emotional trauma, nor is it appropriate to help individuals overcome feelings of intense grief, deep depression or other psychological conditions. It may be that if issues surface that require a different skill the coach may refer the client to an appropriately qualified professional.

Coaching is not mentoring: coaching does not teach, show or demonstrate how to approach new situations, nor does it give people the answers or solutions to their problems. Coaching is about helping clients to explore their own solutions; the agenda always belongs to the client.