Coaching Ideas That Can Help My Coaching

Coaching

Ideas that can help my Coaching Model

I did a lot of online research to try to scan for ideas that could help me be a more effective coach. One of the ideas that came up from several sources is that the coaching relationship is dynamic. That is that the relationship is something that is fluid and can take many directions. To operate as an effective coach, its seems evident that you must be able to account for change and think on your feet. It has been said that the best coaches always do more listening than they do talking. You must soak in as much information as you can and then formulate a plan to help the client.

The plan does not need to be comprehensive. In fact, the idea is to help led the client to ultimately develop their own plan. The role of a coach is to help them sort through possible options and prioritize their objectives. Thus the idea that resonates with me the most is that I must be patient and empathetic and practices these skills vigorously. The temptation in many cases will be to offer a solution and make a plan for the client. However, the goal is really to be more of the guidance professional that map out any specific strategy. This is the idea that I would like to keep central to my coaching skill set. One source I found summarized a coaching position that I liked very much (Business Balls, N.d.):

Coaching is about getting the very best out of someone and enabling them to make decisions that will improve their life. Coaches are hired for very many different and diverse reasons, for example: to climb the career ladder faster; to feel more fulfilled at work; to improve relationships with family and partners; to learn parenting skills that benefit both the child and parent; to gain a spiritual meaning to life, or a desire to 'get sorted'. The profession is growing and coaching is becoming widely acknowledged also because people realise just how effective coaching is. Coaching is a relatively new and different profession - different to psychology, counselling or therapy. The big difference between coaching and these professions is that coaching doesn't claim to have the answers. A coach's job is not to go over old ground, be past-orientated or to force-feed information, but to work with clients to help them find the answers themselves.

I think this passage effectively summarizes the idea that I would like to keep in my working memory; that the goal is not to provide any of the answers. Rather it is to help empower the client to make better choices and be more effective leaders through their own mental processes. Empathy and listening are critical success factors in making this happen which also require patience and interpersonal skills. Clients are taught strategies and skills aimed at helping them to identify, pursue, and fulfill their most cherished needs, goals, and wishes in sixteen valued areas of life said to comprise human well-being and happiness through appropriate intervention strategies (Frisch, 2013).