How do I know if coaching is for me or if I need it?

No one "needs" coaching. Individuals choose to work with coaches when they are usually at a point in their life, be it personal or professional, where they start to question what is important for them to move forward? What is needed to get more out of what they once enjoyed? How to deal with transition, change, or loss? Consider some of the following...

• There is something at stake (a challenge, stretch goal or opportunity), and it is urgent, compelling or exciting or all of the above
  
• There is a gap in knowledge, skills, confidence, or resources
  
• A big stretch is being asked or required, and it is time sensitive
  
• There is a desire to accelerate results
  
• There is a need for a course correction in work or life due to a setback
  
• An individual has a style of relating that is ineffective or is not supporting the achievement of one's personally relevant goals
  
• There is a lack of clarity, and there are choices to be made
  
• The individual is extremely successful, and success has started to become problematic
  
• Work and life are out of balance, and this is creating unwanted consequences
  
• One has not identified his or her core strengths and how best to leverage them
  
• The individual desires work and life to be simpler, less complicated
  
• There is a need and a desire to be better organized and more self-managing
  

What are the benefits of coaching?

Individuals who engage in a coaching relationship can expect to experience fresh perspectives on personal challenges and opportunities, enhanced thinking and decision making skills, enhanced interpersonal effectiveness, and increased confidence in carrying out their chosen work and life roles. Consistent with a commitment to enhancing their personal effectiveness, they can also expect to see appreciable results in the areas of productivity, personal satisfaction with life and work, and the achievement of personally relevant goals.

3 Myths of Leadership Coaching

Myth: Coaching is for washouts, not winners
Reality: Leaders with the profile of champions seek coaching

Myth: Coaching starts with identifying and filling gaps
Reality: Coaching starts by declaring a powerful future.... what's possible, not predictable

Myth: Coaching is an isolated event that happens at an annual review
Reality: All Day, everyday, Coaching is about developing leaders at all levels who can achieve greatness

What are the different types of coaching?

Coaching can and does vary depending on the individual coach, the area of specialty or niche, corporate versus personal, etc. The following table shows some of the key differences. As there are just too many to all be listed here, it is recommended that you speak with several coaches to find the right fit for you.

How is coaching distinct from other service professions?

Professional coaching is a distinct service which focuses on an individual's life as it relates to goal setting, outcome creation, and personal change management. In an effort to understand what a coach is, it can be helpful to distinguish coaching from other professions that provide personal or organizational support.

Therapy
Coaching can be distinguished from therapy in a number of ways. First, coaching is a profession that supports personal and professional growth and development based on individual-initiated change in pursuit of specific actionable outcomes. These outcomes are linked to personal or professional success. Coaching is forward moving and future focused. Therapy, on the other hand, deals with healing pain, dysfunction, and conflict within an individual or a relationship between two or more individuals. The focus is often on resolving difficulties arising from the past which hamper an individual's emotional functioning in the present, improving overall psychological functioning, and dealing with present life and work circumstances in more emotionally healthy ways. Therapy outcomes often include improved emotional/feeling states. While positive feelings/emotions may be a natural outcome of coaching, the primary focus is on creating actionable strategies for achieving specific goals in one's work or personal life. The emphasis in a coaching relationship is on action, accountability and follow through.

Consulting
Consultants may be retained by individuals or organizations for the purpose of accessing specialized expertise. While consulting approaches vary widely, there is often an assumption that the consultant diagnoses problems and prescribes and sometimes implements solutions. In general, the assumption with coaching is that individuals or teams are capable of generating their own solutions, with the coach supplying supportive, discovery-based approaches and frameworks.

Mentoring
Mentoring, which can be thought of as guiding from one's own experience or sharing of experience in a specific area of industry or career development, is sometimes confused with coaching. Although some coaches provide mentoring as part of their coaching, such as in mentor coaching new coaches, coaches are not typically mentors to those they coach.

Training
Training programs are based on the acquisition of certain learning objectives as set out by the trainer or instructor. Though objectives are clarified in the coaching process, they are set by the individual or team being coached with guidance provided by the coach. Training also assumes a linear learning path which coincides with an established curriculum. Coaching is less linear without a set curriculum plan.

Athletic Development
Though sports metaphors are often used, professional coaching is different from the traditional sports coach. The athletic coach is often seen as an expert who guides and directs the behavior of individuals or teams based on his or her greater experience and knowledge. Professional coaches possess these qualities, but it is the experience and knowledge of the individual or team that determines the direction. Additionally, professional coaching, unlike athletic development, does not focus on behaviors that are being executed poorly or incorrectly. Instead, the focus is on identifying opportunity for development based on individual strengths and capabilities.

How long does a coach work with an individual?

The length of a coaching partnership varies depending on the needs and preferences of the individual or team. For certain types of focused coaching, 4 to 6 months of working with a coach may work. For other types of coaching, people may find it beneficial to work with a coach for a longer period. Factors that may impact the length of time include: the types of goals, the ways individuals or teams like to work, the frequency of coaching meetings, and financial resources available to support coaching

Many of these, and other questions, are located on the ICF website at:
http://www.coachfederation.org