Coaching has received massive national exposure in the past few years on
TV - Oprah and Oxygen, and in magazines and newspapers such as USA TODAY, NEWSWEEK,
INC, WALL STREET JOURNAL and U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT, just to name a few.
Coaching is similar to consulting-- only in coaching, the client and coach
work together as a team, toward the client's long term goals. The client utilizes
the coach as a sounding-board, creative partner, tutor, and mentor toward his/her
goals. They meet three to four times per month by phone, as well as e-mail contact.
A coach serves as an unbiased professional. Someone with whom the client can trust
to give honest, direct and constructive feedback. - in addition to the specialty
the coach is hired for.
Here are answers to some popular questions about coaching
How is coaching different from consulting? Therapy? Sports coaching? A best friend?
What is the basic philosophy of coaching?
What happens when you hire a coach?
Does the coach work on personal goals or business/professional goals?
Where does the coach focus with an average client?
Why is coaching becoming so popular?
Please, give me some context about coaching...
What about people who are already doing great in their lives. Why would they need a coach?
Can a dependency be created between coach and client?
Can I hire a coach just for a short-term, special project?
How long must I commit if I start working with a coach?
What does it cost to hire a coach?
Coaching is a relatively new profession.
Coaches:
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How
is coaching different from consulting? Therapy? Sports coaching? A best friend?
Consulting. Coaching is a form of consulting. But the coach stays with
the client to help implement the new skills, changes and goals to make sure they
really happen.
Therapy. Coaching is not therapy. We don't work on "issues" or get into the past or deal much with understanding human behavior. We leave that up to the client to know and figure out while we help them move forward and set personal and professional goals that will give them the life they really want.
Sports. Coaching includes several principles from sports coaching, like teamwork, going for the goal, being your best. But unlike sports coaching, most professional coaching is not competition or win/lose based. We strengthen the client's skills vs help them beat the other team. It's win/win.
Best
friend. A best friend is wonderful to have. But is your best friend a professional
who you will trust to advise you on the most important aspects of your life and/or
business? Have a best friend and a coach.
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What
is the basic philosophy of coaching?
Simply put, that we humans are
great, that we're all discovering what we really want and that we get can get
what we want faster and easier by having a coach who's been there and who can
help us.
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Who
hires a coach and why?
People hire a coach because:
They want
more.
They want to grow.
They want it easier.
It's
as simple as that. Coaches help a client get all three. Quickly.
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What
happens when you hire a coach?
Many things, but the most important
are:
You take yourself more seriously.
You take more effective and focused
actions immediately.
You stop putting up with what is dragging you down.
You create momentum so it's easier to get results.
You set better goals that
you might not have without the coach.
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Does
the coach work on personal goals or business/professional goals?
Both, actually. And, with the line between personal and business life blurring
in the 90s, the coach is the only professional trained to work with all aspects
of you.
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Where
does the coach focus with an average client?
We focus where the client
needs us most. And, we tend to weave in the following discussions: · Getting
the client's Personal Foundation strengthened. · Helping the client beef
up their Reserve. · Helping the client set goals based on their Personal
Values. By including these with what the client wants from us, we help the client
have fewer problems and focus on what's going to make them the most successful.
We've found that clients really enjoy the approach.
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Why
does coaching work?
Coaching works for several reasons:
Synergy
between the coach and client creates momentum.
Better goals are set -- ones
that naturally pull the client toward the goal rather than goals that require
the client to push themselves to the goal.
The client develops new skills,
and these skills translate into more success.
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Why
is coaching becoming so popular?
Coaching is becoming popular for
several reasons:
Many people are tired of doing what they "should"
do and are ready to do something special and meaningful for the rest of their
lives. Problem is, many can't see it, or if they can, they can't see a way to
reorient their life around it. A coach can help them do both.
People are realizing how simple it can be to accomplish something that several years ago might have felt out of reach or like a pipe dream. A coach is not a miracle worker (well, they are, sometimes) but a coach does have a large tool kit to help the Big Idea become a Reality. Fortunately, people now have time and resources to invest in themselves in this kind of growth.
Spirituality.
If you've tracked the phenomenal success of James Redfield's Celestine Prophecy
on the NY Times best-seller list during 1994, you get a sense of just how many
people are willing to look at, and consider, the notion of spirituality. Wow.
Many coaches are spiritually based -- even the ones who coach IBM and AT&T.
America is getting spiritual quickly. (Our working definition of spirituality?
How connected you are with yourself and others.") The coach helps the clients
to tune in better to themselves and others.
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Please,
give me some context about coaching...
A personal coach does just
what an athletic coach or music teacher does, only in a more complete and bigger
way. A coach challenges you and takes the time to find out what winning in life
means to you. A coach is your partner in living the life you know you can accomplish,
personally and professionally. A coach is someone to hold you accountable for
your life, to make sure you really do live up to your potential.
No matter where you are in life, there is always a desire for more. More success, more money, closer relationships, a deeper feeling of meaning in life, etc. It is the nature of people to want to attain more, become more, be more, and we all struggle with how to get what we're looking for.
Most people believe that "hard work and doing it on your own" are the keys to finding the life, success, money, or happiness that they seek. They believe that a price must be paid to attain what they want, and often that price is poor health, not having enough time to enjoy life, strained family relationships or lessened productivity. The saddest part is that, even though this effort may result in more of something, it is often not the something you had in mind, and you are back where you started, or worse, further from your real intentions.
Athletes
and performers know about this trap. They know they need someone else, a trained
someone else to help them set goals, discover real needs, and work effectively
toward ultimate goals of excellence. So, they are willing to hire a coach or a
teacher. No serious athlete or musician would expect to progress very far without
one.
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What
about people who are already doing great in their lives. Why would they need a
coach?
They might not need a coach. But it is helpful to find out:
Are they doing what they most enjoy? Are they tolerating anything? Is life easy?
Are they going to be financially independent within the next 15 years? Do they
have what they most want? We've discovered that, often, people need to expect
more out of their lives. A coach can help in this process.
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Can a dependency be
created between coach and client?
Not really. The client may "need"
the coach in order to maximize an opportunity or accelerate their growth, yet
not be "dependent" on the coach. Anyone who's up to something "needs"
structure, advice, support and a place to brag, so in that sense, the coach is
necessary. But an emotional, psychological dependency is not created. The coach
works with people who are just fine and strong enough on their own. Remember,
we're not resolving issues here. The coach is helping the client to create a better
future: More success, more money, and a higher quality of life.
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Can coaching hurt
someone?
No. How? We aren't doing psychological work. We're not trying
to control the client's thinking. We're not cattle prods; we're partners.
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Can
I hire a coach just for a short-term, special project?
Yes. Some
clients hire a coach to help them accomplish specific goals or projects. Usually,
however, the client keeps working with the coach after that because there are
even more interesting things to accomplish.
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How
long must I commit if I start working with a coach?
Most coaches
ask for a three to six month commitment but usually let you stop immediately if
coaching is not working for you right now. Very, very few coaches ask for a written
agreement or contract. For the corporate client, however, a signed agreement is
simply good business.
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What
does it cost to hire a coach?
Most coaches working with individuals
charge about $200 to $500 per month for one half-hour call per week. Executive
coaches charge more and some clients work with a coach for an hour or two a week.
It all works about to about $100 to $150 per hour. Obviously, corporate coaching
or programs is more, often running $1,000 to $10,000 per month.
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