Yes, I wrote ‘don’t use coaching’, and I am a professional coach.
In these times of crisis, social media are overflowing of messages and information about how to overcome the point of transformation that we all reached collectively.
We are full of resources, but as usual when we have a wide spectrum of choices, there is also a lot of noise and we might struggle to find our focus.
How do we know what we mostly need now?
We need to listen to our Selves, but how can we take a distance from the noise around us?
In order to get clarity on what mostly benefits you, it is essential to distinguish between coaching and other helping professions that provide personal support.
ICF (International Coaching Federation) defines coaching as ‘partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential’.
So in order to effectively use coaching you need to be ready to ‘partner’ with your coach.
Why is this so important?
Because we all have what we need to thrive, we have talents and resources that are sometimes hiding, and are waiting to be seen and used. We easily forget about it. That is why ICF professional coaching is all about allowing clients to recognize and use these precious resources.
ICF believes that coaching is an integral part of a thriving society.
Coaching is based on the fact that you are much more likely to engage with solutions that you have come up with yourself, rather than those that are given you by others.
That is why if you are searching for advice, coaching is not for you.
Coaching does not deliver solutions, coaching increases your own ability to access to critical thinking and consistently developing your own solutions.
Coaching is forward moving and future focused, that is why partnering with a professional coach is a way to evoke awareness and moving to the future you desire.
Coaches do not need to have any experience in a given area to be able to coach you.
The assumption with coaching is that you or your team is fully capable of generating your own solutions, and therefore the coach is there to partner with you to by offering a supportive, discovery-based approach so that you can generate your own results.
While both coaching and counseling are focused on “asking questions”, the kind questions in counseling are mostly offered in order to “analyze problems”, while in coaching we work with powerful questioning to “evoke solutions” and to allow clients to move to the future, towards the desired results.
And what about training? Both coaching and training are meant to “generate solutions”, coaching operates by “asking questions”, while training rather by “giving advice” and by offering expertise and knowledge.
It is very often that clients come to coaching while searching for a mentor.
Coaching and mentoring can be very close to each other, although mentoring is more about guiding or sharing from one’s own experience in a specific area of business or career development.
That is why we can also say that mentoring practice relies more often on “giving advice”.
Working with a professional coach also helps you to focus on an action plan for the achievement of your results that works for you and you alone, no advice, no suggestions that come from someone else’s experience, purely because you are unique and you own a deep wisdom that is accessible at any time.
What coaching and therapy have in common?
Like therapy, also coaching allows you to improve your emotional state, because emotions are related to your thinking process and working with a professional coach promote more awareness on what are your thoughts, your beliefs, your values so that you can life a more congruent life.
One of the primary benefits of enrolling in a coaching program is a renewed sense of centeredness because coaching is forward moving and future focused, making you aware of how the past shapes the present, and helping you to move to the future you desire.
Is it professional coaching that you are looking for?
If yes, contact me to explore how you can be in charge of shaping your life and create you future now.
