Coaching FAQ
Information provided by The International Federation of Coaches
www.coachfederation.org
1. What Is Coaching?
Professional Coaching is a partnership between a qualified coach and a client that supports the achievement of results, based on goals set by the individual or team.
The focus is on the skills and actions needed to successfully produce their personally relevant results. The client chooses the focus of conversation. The coach listens and contributes observations and questions as well as ideas that can assist in generating possibilities and identifying actions. The coaching process brings forth clarity for finding the most effective actions to take. It accelerates the client’s progress by providing greater focus and awareness of possibilities leading to more effective choices.
2. 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 work and life roles.
3. How can you determine if coaching is right for you?
To determine if you could benefit from coaching, summarize what you would expect to accomplish in coaching. If you have a fairly clear idea of the desired outcome, a coaching partnership can be a useful tool for developing a strategy for achieving that outcome with greater ease.
Also, ask yourself if you are ready to devote the time and the energy to making real changes in your work or life. If the answer to these questions is yes, then coaching may be a beneficial way for you to grow and develop.
4. What are some typical reasons someone might work with a coach?
There are many reasons that an individual might choose to work with a coach, including but not limited to 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 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 choices need 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 The individual wants to learn how to best leverage his or her core strengths There is a need and a desire to better organized and more self-managing
5. How is coaching delivered? What does the process look like?
The Coaching Process— It typically begins with a personal interview (either face-to-face or by a phone call) to assess the individual’s current opportunities and challenges, define the scope of the relationship, identify priorities for action, and establish specific desired outcomes.
Subsequent coaching sessions are conducted over the telephone, with each session lasting
a half hour to forty-five minutes. Between scheduled coaching sessions, the individual is
asked to complete specific actions that support the achievement of prioritized goals. There
may be additional resources in the form of relevant articles, checklists, assessments to
support the individual’s thinking and actions. The duration of the coaching relationship varies
depending on the individual’s personal needs and preferences.
Appreciative approach Coaching incorporates an appreciative approach. The appreciative approach is grounded in what’s right, what’s working, what’s wanted, and what’s needed to get there. The appreciative approach is a discovery-based inquiry, proactive (as opposed to reactive) ways of managing personal opportunities and challenges, constructive framing of observations and feedback in order to elicit the most positive responses from others, and envisioning success as contrasted with focusing on problems. The appreciative approach is simple to understand and employ, but its effects in harnessing possibility thinking and goal-oriented action can be profound.
6. How long does a coach work with an individual?
The length of a coaching partnership varies depending on the individual's needs and preferences. For certain types of focused coaching, 3 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 impact the length of time include: the types of goals, the ways individuals like to work, the frequency of coaching meetings, and financial resources available to support coaching.
7. What does coaching ask of an individual?
To be successful, coaching asks certain things of the individual, all of which begin with intention….
Focus—on one’s self, the tough questions, the hard truths--and one’s success Observation—the behaviors and communications of others Listening—to one’s intuition, assumptions, judgments, and to the way one sounds when one speaks Self discipline—to challenge existing attitudes, beliefs and behaviors and to develop new ones which serve one’s goals in a superior way Style—leveraging personal strengths and overcoming limitations in order to develop a winning style Decisive actions—however uncomfortable, and in spite of personal insecurities, in order to reach for the extraordinary Compassion—for one’s self as he or she experiments with new behaviors, experiences setbacks—and for others as they do the same Humor—committing to not take one’s self so seriously, using humor to lighten and brighten any situation Courage—to reach for more than before, to shift out of being fear based in to being in abundance as a core strategy for success, to engage in continual self examination, to overcome internal and external obstacles
8. 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. Therapy deals with healing emotional pain, dysfunction and conflict within an individual. Coaching is forward moving and future focused. When there is the need for therapy, the client is referred to a mental health specialist for appropriate treatment. Cognitive behavior therapy would come closest to the field of coaching as it deals with behavior change and accountability. 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.
