"We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility of our future."
~George Bernard Shaw

The word “Coach” dates back to the 13th century and comes from the town of Koc, Hungary (pronounced “coach”).  The people in this town built carriages called “coaches”.  A coach is a vehicle that moves people from where they are to where they want to be.

Most people think of a professional coach in a similar way - as someone who helps them get to another level.  There are three ways of viewing life – helping, fixing, and serving.  When you help people, you are seeing them as weak.  When you fix people, you are seeing them as broken.  Both helping and fixing approach people from their deficits.  However, when you serve, you are seeing them as whole and complete; service is essentially the work of the soul.  Service is approaching people from their assets – a more powerful framework on which to build towards one’s goals and the foundation of coaching.

Professional coaching involves a paradigm shift away from helping people into one of serving people in a way that allows them to bring forward their best self.  It is a co-created conversation that moves people forward to what is most important to them. 

In a study conducted by the Gallup Organization of over 1,000 companies, it was found that building on people’s strengths rather than focusing on their weaknesses was the most efficient way to get top performance.  This is precisely what effective coaching does; and by taking an assets approach, it allows change to become sustainable over time.

Coaching Versus other Developmental Strategies

Coaching is different from giving advice, mentoring, teaching, or consulting.  Although often confused with therapy or counseling, coaching is different.; rather than looking introspectively at the past, a coach is concerned with the future, taking action, and with how things can happen rather than why they did.  Therefore, coaching emphasizes the present and the future, regardless of past experience.  It is also different than mentoring.  Mentors are considered to be experts in a particular field and often advise and provide specific guidance.  Coaches may happen to have expertise in a specific area in which they are coaching, but coaches approach situations differently.  Essentially, coaches are committed “thought partners” that empower others.  They are skilled in questioning, listening, and challenging their clients in a non-judgmental way to help them reach conclusions that will best work for them.

Since anyone can call themselves a coach, it is important to distinguish between coach-like practices and coaching as a distinct profession and methodology that produces the results people seek.  According to Christina Marshall, founder of Totally Coached, Inc., “coaching is conversation that elicits best thinking and decision making so people can create results that are important to them”.  Coaching produces results because coaches rarely give advice; coaches share their expertise sparingly and in ways that allow people to make it their own.

Robert Hargroove, author of Masterful Coaching, distinguishes between coaching and “Masterful Coaching” which he argues is a new paradigm for coaching. 

A Masterful Coach is a “listening” for people’s greatness, for bringing out the best in people, rather than being a listening for peoples’ pettiness.  A Masterful Coach is grounded in expanding people’s capacity to achieve what they need to achieve, not therapy.  A Masterful Coach’s legacy is not only breakthrough results, but also breakthroughs for people (p. 3).

Essentially, coaching takes an asset approach to enhance human performance rather than a deficit approach that takes the approach of “fixing” the shortcomings in people.   Taking an asset approach assumes that people are fully capable and competent and leads to conversations focused on goals and desired outcomes.  People are asked to discover and clarify what is most important to them, what motivates them, and goals to which they feel personally committed.

Types of Coaching

Coaching is a growing field that is gaining popularity among businesses and individuals who want to produce greater results.  Rather than focusing on the past or sharing expertise, coaches use their skills in questioning, listening, and challenging their clients in a non-judgmental way to help them reach conclusions that will best work for them.

Regardless of the type of coaching being done, similar skills of listening and inquiry are used.  Whether a coach is promoting life coaching, business coaching, wellness coaching, career coaching, executive coaching, or another emphasis, the coaching conversations are essentially similar.  Therefore, significant overlap exists from one style of coaching to another.  Since it can be difficult for consumers to grasp the concept of coaching to the point they are unsure which type of coach to hire, the titles given to the type of coaching really help consumers focus their selection. 

• Life Coaching - Life coaching is about helping people to live life being their true authentic self.  It is about moving beyond problems, crises, and chaos to help people “reawaken an awareness of their own identity and discover a personal/professional vision and purpose” (Williams & Thomas, 2005, p. 3).  In other words, life coaches work with people on all areas of life to help them live a life that is in alignment of what is most important to them by purposefully designing it.  Life coaching has become the missing ingredient to help people create lifestyle changes that are sustainable over time.  This is done by challenging the beliefs people have - particularly those that may not be rational and asking powerful questions to help people create a new paradigm for themselves.
• Business/Executive Coaching – This type of coaching is done within organizations.  Executive coaches focus on working with leaders of organizations to help them be more effective and move the organization forward towards strategic goals.  However, coaches can also be brought in to coach employees at all levels or groups who want to think differently and be more effective in moving towards organizational goals and objectives.
• Intrinsic Coaching™ - Carl Jung once said, “Who looks outside dreams; who looks inside awakens.”  This describes Intrinsic Coaching™.   This coaching methodology is a unique approach that has shown replicable results for people in all types of careers and in all stages of life.  It aims to tap into the intrinsic domain of thinking where people truly think better about their choices.  It is used with executives, individuals, and organizations to move people forward towards what is most important to them.  Click here for more details about Intrinsic Coaching™.

Sources:

1. Beam, L. (2001).  Would you like your own coach?  Nursing Homes, 50(3), 58-60.
2. Brause, J. (2004, May).  True or false?  11 myths about coaching.  Training Journal, 36-38.
3. Eggers, J. H. & Clark, D. (2000).  Executive coaching that wins.  Organizational Development, 65(1), 66-70.
4. Hargroove, R. (2003).  Masterful coaching.  San Francisco:  Jossey-Bass.
5. Marshall, C. (2002).  The coach approach.  Absolute Advantage, 1(10), 10-13.
6. Marshall, C. (2002).  Goodbye talking heads.  Absolute Advantage, 1(10), 4-9.
7. Marshall, C. (2002).  The results are in – coaching works!  Absolute Advantage, 1(10), 16-19.
8. Williams, P. (2004).  The evolving profession of coaching and its intersection with the wellness industry.  Wellness Management, 20.  Retrieved November 1, 2004, from http://nationalwellness.org.
9. Williams, P. & Thomas, L. J. (2005).  Total life coaching.  New York:  W.W. Norton.