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

---

At an individual level, in a sense, the leader often uses me as a “confidential thinking partner.” For instance, the areas that individuals have sought my coaching for have included:

• developing a more effective leadership style or manner
• engage in succession planning & management
• improve interpersonal or communication skills
• speed up personal development
• develop “superstar” workers
• find that elusive work / life balance
• expedite priority setting and time management
• enhance presentation and networking skills
• engage in career development & planning
• deal with conflict and learn conflict-management skills
• learn how to manage upwards
• recognise and implement effective staff development
• strengthen self-confidence, assertiveness and well-being

---

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, increased self-awareness and 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.

---

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.

---

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, on average 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:
www.coachfederation.org

---