WHAT IS COACHING?
At its simplest, Coaching is essentially a conversation with the intention of creating a change or transformation for the Client or "Coachee".
Per the International Coaching Federation, the practice of Coaching involves “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential”.
Coaching is distinguishable from other “conversations” in that:
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The conversation is focused on the present with the intention of moving the Coachee forward
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There is a structure or format to the coaching that keeps it focused on the Coachee and their goals
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Coaching sees the Coachee as whole, resourceful, and creative
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The Coach and Coachee act as partners in discovery vs the Coach “advising” the Coachee how to “fix” the challenge, problem, or situation.
Coaching conversations are centred around the intention of building new awareness or understanding that empowers an individual, or group of individuals, to see the options or choices that are available to them, and through executing on identified actions, can lead to creating meaningful change and achieving meaningful goals.
While the goals and outcomes for every coaching engagement are as unique as the people engaging in the coaching, there are some fundamental pillars that are consistent to the coaching process:
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Building a FOUNDATION upon which the coaching will take place
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Engaging in DISCOVERY around what is truly meaningful
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Creating AWARENESS to the options available
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Transforming this new awareness into ACTION
FOUNDATION
Setting a strong foundation for both the Coach and Coachee to build from is critical to the success of coaching.
No matter the type of coaching you are looking for, it is important for there to be a sense of compatibility, mutual respect and trust between both parties.
Another important element to setting the foundation is to establish an agreement between the Coach and Coachee. This agreement speaks to the formal elements of the coaching, such as duration, number of sessions, confidentiality, and format. The agreement also establishes overarching goals the Coachee would like to achieve and identifies how the Coach and Coachee will measure their progress and overall success of the coaching.
DISCOVERY
A key element that makes coaching unique from consulting is that in coaching, we focus on the whole person….your “who”, and not just “what” you want to achieve or “how” you achieve it.
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Part of the coaching process is to engage in “discovery” conversations where we look more deeply at what drives you, what challenges you, and what might be getting in your way.
Solutions that are driven from a clear understanding of who we are, our needs, our values, and our internal motivation are more fulfilling, more sustainable in the long-term, and have a greater probability of success.
AWARENESS
There is a very common yet impactful saying in coaching: “Awareness, leads to choice, leads to change”.
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It is a very empowering part of the coaching process that as we dig deeper on an issue, new awareness is gained.
My role as your Coach is to support you into taking the levels of awareness that emerge through coaching and challenge you on how you can incorporate them into your life, your outlook, and your actions.
As you incorporate this new awareness, you begin to see the options that were previously unknown or seemed unavailable.
These options are impactful as they provide us with “choice”, which ultimately lead to change as you take action towards your goals.
ACTION
“Knowing” is not “doing”.
Coaching helps convert the “knowing” that comes from discovery and awareness into something actionable and tangible.
The true power in Coaching comes from the fact that when you get to this stage – you can be confident that the actions you take are grounded in what it is you want for yourself.
The actions are reflective of you; your values, your needs, your goals, your timeframe, draw from your strengths, and lead you forward towards what it is you really want to achieve.
Would you like to get aligned and centered?
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Email or call, to set up a complimentary 30-minute session and let’s see what we can create together.
