What’s coaching?
There has been written a lot about coaching, but in general terms it could be defined as:
A process that aims to improve performance and focuses on the ‘here and now’ rather than on the distant future.
In coaching, we are not considering the ‘coach as an expert’ but, instead, the coach as a facilitator of learning.
There is a huge difference between teaching someone and helping them to learn. In coaching, fundamentally, the coach is helping the client, also called “the Coachee” to improve its own performance:
in other words, helping him or her to learn.
A coach is:
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A Facilitator
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A Catalyzer
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Gives ALL the power to a client
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Believes in the client
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Generates Confidence & Trust
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Operates according to
the Code of Ethics as established by the ICF (Int. Coach federation).
A coach is not:
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A Psychologist
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A mentor / supervisor
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A Teacher
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A counselor
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A Friend / Someone to confess to
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The key player in the coaching process
We are often asked:
What is the difference between
Coaching, Mentoring and Counselling?
As you can see, they all have their own focus.
Professional coaches
Mentoring
Counselling
Professional Coaches
believe that the individual always has the answer to their own problems but understands that they may need help to find the answer. Therefore, the coach never gives his advice, unless it is a requested feedback, but supports the Coachee in finding the answer. The ICF (International Coach Federation) defines coaching as “Partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires the Coachee to maximise its personal and professional potential”.
Mentoring
is similar to coaching, where the mentor will guide the Coachee and will have a more active role in the process. Most of the time he/she is an expert in the area where the Coachee would like to improve. A mentoring relationship normally focuses on the future.
Counselling
is closer to a therapeutic intervention, with a focus on the past (things that happened in the client’s life). The focus would be to overcome/accept specific situations and issues, in order to move on. In my opinion this is a specialist’s job and as a coach I would “pass on” the client to a specific counsellor, like a psychologist.
The question:
How?
What?
Why?
The focus:
The present
The future
The past
The focus:
Improving skills
Developing
and committing
to learning goals
Overcoming
Psychological
barriers
Objective:
Raising
competence
Opening horizons
Building self-understanding
Source: “Clutterbuck and Schneider(1998)”
Source: “Clutterbuck and Schneider(1998)”
Do I need a coach?
Ideally, we should all have our own personal coach. Wouldn’t it be fantastic to have someone that listens carefully, also between the lines, someone you can trust and knowing that all information will be dealt as strictly private and confidential. Good coaches have a track record of successful coaching sessions with clients and dedicate their lives to supporting others, getting the people “back on track” or exploring their possibilities.
John Whitmore, in Coaching for Performance mentioned:
“Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximise their own performance. It’s helping them to learn rather than teaching them”.
In LIVT, our main goal and mission will be to help as many people as possible finding their path and unlocking any obstacles that could withhold them of being successful in their personal and professional life. We have the experience to join you on this experimental journey of self-learning.
Talk to our team of experts to open up your horizon!
We offer individual coaching and group/team coaching activities. We also organize combinations of Sports Activities + Coaching, like our program Top Dunas 4×4 in Morocco or motivational team sessions and workshops in Barcelona. For more info, visit “OUR PRODUCTS”.
Contact Paul by email: [email protected] for a personal interview and you will get your first session FREE! Then you could decide if coaching is useful for you.
