What is Life Coaching?
The International Coach Federation (ICF) offers this definition:
"Professional Coaching is a professional partnership between a qualified
coach and an individual or team that supports the achievement of extraordinary results, based on goals set by the individual
or team. Through the process of coaching, individuals focus on the skills and actions needed to successfully produce their
personally relevant results.”
A coach is committed to working with you to clearly identify your goals, your
long term vision or your short term objective, your values, your strengths, and the barriers to achieving your goal. The coach
will work with you to understand WHO you are at your core, and how you could achieve your life’s purpose and dreams.
What
are the skills of a masterful coach?
Below is a summary of the skills of a masterful coach are, according to the ICF:
- Meeting Ethical Guidelines and Professional Standards. Following the ICF’s Ethical Standards, and fully adopting
its professional behavior standard.
- Establishing the Coaching Agreement. Partnering with the client to create a coaching agreement,
that specifies the coaching agenda, the objectives of the coaching, and the measure to evaluate the success of the coaching
relationship.
- Trust and Intimacy. Establishing a deep connection and a trustful relationship with the client.
- Coaching Presence. Being completely present and “in the moment” throughout the coaching session.
- Active Listening. Focusing completely on, and deeply understanding what the client is saying, and is not saying. Listening
to the client at both substantive and emotional levels.
- Powerful Questioning.
Asking powerful questions that will
help identify the core issues, evoke exploration, gaining insight and clarity, and move forward with purposeful action.
- Direct Communication. Communicating in a clear, concise, direct, and effective manner during the coaching session.
- Creating Awareness. Creating awareness of different viewpoint, various sources of information, and the opportunities in
front of the client.
- Designing Actions. Designing actions that will move the client to achieve their desired objectives.
These actions could include thinking, exploring, learning, as well as well as “doing” actions.
- Planning and Goal Setting. Helping the client to create a plan that is specific, attainable, measureable, and has target
dates.
- Managing Progress and Accountability. Partnering with the client to create methods to manage and
track progress against the plan. Encouraging the client to adopt the self-discipline and self-accountability necessary to
ensure a successful attainment of their goals.
How is coaching different from consulting or therapy?
The consultant offers direct advice, develops and often implement solutions for the client. The coach does
not develop or implement the solution for the client. Rather, the coach acts as a catalyst, helping the client to conceive
the solution him/herself.
The therapist deals with a clinical condition and often delves
into the client’s past to understand what has lead to the client’s current behavior(s). Coaching is clearly forward-looking.
The coach partners with the client to assess the current situation, define his/her future vision, and develop a plan to achieve
the client’s goal. If the coach senses that the client might be facing a clinical condition, the coach must alert the
client the he/she is not qualified to help with therapy, and ask if the client would like to consider therapy.
How long is a typical coaching relationship?
The
recommended minimum coaching relationship is three months. This is to allow sufficient time and space to
understand the core issues, to develop new perspectives and new ways to think about things, and to develop an effective plan
to move forward. Most coaching relationships last six to nine months, while some extent to a year or even longer. Typically
coaching sessions are held three or four times per month, and take 45 to 60 minutes each.
