Coaching

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This article refers to the act of coaching people. For other uses of the word, see coach (disambiguation)

Coaching is a method of directing, instructing and training a person or group of people, with the aim to achieve some goal or develop specific skills. There are many ways to coach, types of coaching and methods to coaching. Sessions are typically one-on-one either in-person or over the telephone. Direction may include motivational speaking. Training may include seminars, workshops, and supervised practice.

Contents 1 Origins 2 Types 2.1 Life coaching 2.2 Business coaching 2.3 Personal coaching 2.4 Health coaching 2.5 Sports coaching 2.6 Dating coaching 2.7 Conflict coaching 2.8 Transformational coaching 2.9 ADHD coaching 3 Coaching ethics and standards 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

Origins

Today coaching refers to a method of personal development or human resource development (HRD). The field of coaching is becoming a distinct area of practice for individuals and in organizations. Although the role of coach has changed over time, some examples of research papers on business coaching show that between the late 1930s and the late 1960s, some forms of internal coaching in organizations were already present; i.e. managers (or supervisors) also acted as coaches to their staff (cf. Zeus & Skiffington, 2002; Grant, 2003a; 2006). Gorby (1937) specified how older employees were trained to coach new employees regarding methods of waste reduction.

The evolution of this formal discipline has been influenced by and enhanced through the incorporation of pertinent maxims from other fields of study including personal development philosophies, adult education practices, elements of psychology (sports, clinical, developmental, organizational, social and industrial) and other organizational or leadership principles. Since the mid 1970's, coaching has developed into a more independent discipline and has a set of training standards (Davidson & Gasiorowski, 2006).

Today, coaching is a recognized discipline used by many professionals engaged in human development. However, as a distinct profession, it is relatively new and self-regulating. No independent supervisory board evaluates these programs and they are all privately owned. These bodies all accredit various coaching schools as well as individual coaches, except the IAC and ECI which only certify individuals. According to coach credentialing expert, Dr. Rey Carr, in North America the term accreditation only applies to organizations, and certification applies to individuals; whereas in European countries "accreditation" can mean either organizations or individuals.

In recent years, the International Coach Federation ([2]) has emerged as the de facto umbrella institution setting and enforcing the standards for the coaching profession--for both individual coaches and coach training organizations. "Founded in 1995, the International Coach Federation (ICF) is the leading global organization dedicated to advancing the coaching profession by setting high standards, providing independent certification, and building a worldwide network of credentialed coaches. With more than 16,000 professional personal and business coaches representing over 90 countries, the ICF is the voice of the global coaching profession."Coach4miracles 16:29, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

According to Davidson & Gasiorowski (2006) ICF has been "key in identifying training criteria and ethical standards in this rapidly evolving field" (p. 189).

Professional coaching skills are transferable across the variety of areas in which a coach may be employed. Whitworth, et al. (1998) stated, "The coach's experience is confined to the coaching process. The coach's job is to help clients articulate their dreams, desires and aspirations, help them clarify their mission, purpose and goals, and help them achieve that outcome" (p. 5) in any area of life.

Types

Instructing, coaching and mentoring differ. Instructors disseminate knowledge. Coaches build skills. Mentors shape mentee attitudes. Alternately, instructors train to immediate tasks, coaches teach to mid-range goals, and mentors provide whole-life shaping.

There are many definitions of coaching, mentoring and various styles of line management and training. The position is complicated by the overlapping between many of these activities. A more succinct definition positions coaching as follows:
Managing is making sure people do what they know how to do.
Training is teaching people to do what they don’t know how to do.
Mentoring is showing people how the people who are really good at doing something do it.
Coaching none of these – it is identifying the skills and capabilities that are within the person, and enabling them to use them to the best of their ability – and by that increasing the independence within the individual, and reducing reliance”.^[1]

Life coaching

Life coaching is a future-focused practice with the aim of helping clients determine and achieve personal goals. Life coaches select from among several methods to help clients set and reach goals. Coaches are not therapists nor consultants; psychological intervention and business analysis are outside the scope of their tasking.

Life coaching has its roots in executive coaching, which itself drew on techniques developed in management consulting and leadership training.^{[citation needed]} Life coaching also draws inspiration from disciplines including sociology, psychology, positive adult development, career counseling, mentoring and other types of counseling. Contemporary life coaching can also be traced to the teachings of Benjamin Karter, a college football coach turned motivational speaker of the late seventies and early eighties.^[2] The coach may apply mentoring, values assessment, behavior modification, behavior modeling, goal-setting and other techniques in helping their clients.^{[citation needed]}

Government bodies have not found it necessary to provide a regulatory standard for life coaching, nor does any state body govern the education or training standard for the life coaching industry; the title of "coach" can be used by any service provider. Multiple coaching schools and training programs are available, allowing for many options (and sometimes causing confusion) when an individual decides to gain "certification" or a "credential" as they apply to the coaching industry. Multiple certificates and credential designations are available within the industry.^[3]

Some assert that life coaching is akin to psychotherapy without restrictions, oversight or regulation. The State legislature of Colorado, after holding a hearing on such concerns, disagreed,^[4] asserting that coaching is unlike therapy because it does not focus on examining nor diagnosing the past. Instead coaching focuses on effecting change in a client's current and future behavior. Additionally, life coaching does not delve into diagnosing mental illness or dysfunction.

According to a survey of coaching clients, "sounding board" and "motivator" were the top roles selected for a coach. Clients are looking for a coach "to really listen to them and give honest feedback." The top three issues in which clients seek help are time management, career and business.^[5]

Business coaching

Business coaching is the practice of providing positive support and positive feedback while offering occasional advice to an individual or group in order to help them recognize ways in which they can improve the effectiveness of their business. Coaching is an excellent way to attain a certain work behavior that will improve leadership, employee accountability, teamwork, sales, communication, goal setting, strategic planning and more. It can be provided in a number of ways, including one-on-one, group coaching sessions and large scale [seminars]. Many corporations are instilling the practice of 360 degree coaching, which permits employees to utilize their own life or professional experiences in a positive way to create team participation attitudes even with superiors. Professional Business Coaches are often called in when a business is perceived to be performing badly, however many businesses recognize the benefits of business coaching even when the organization is successful. Business coaches often specialize in different practice areas such as executive coaching, corporate coaching and leadership coaching.

At least two organizations, the International Coaching Council (ICC) and the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches (WABC) provide a membership-based association for professionals involved in business coaching. The ICC and WABC also provide an accrediting system for business coach training programs. The ICC currently has over 1,500 members from over 50 countries. WABC has created the only international accreditation programs for business coach training providers and international certification programs for business coaches that are designed exclusively for business coach trainers and coaches, built around business coaching competencies and conferred by a business coach association.

Business coaching is not the same as mentoring. Mentoring involves a developmental relationship between a more experienced "mentor" and a less experienced partner, and typically involves sharing of advice. A business coach can act as a mentor given that he or she has adequate expertise and experience. However, mentoring is not a form of business coaching. A good business coach need not have specific business expertise and experience in the same field as the person receiving the coaching in order to provide quality business coaching services. Business coaching needs to be more structured and formal than mentoring.^{[citation needed]}

Business coaches often help businesses grow by creating and following a structured, strategic plan to achieve agreed upon goals. Multiple organizations train professionals to offer business coaching to business owners who may not be able to afford large coaching firm prices.^[6]

Coaching is not a practice restricted to external experts. Many organizations expect their senior leaders and middle managers to coach their team members toward higher levels of performance, increased job satisfaction, personal growth, and career development. Those that do back up their expectations with training in coaching skills, access to feedback tools, and/or specific coaching behaviors described in their leadership competency models. Few link coaching activities to compensation, however, resulting in less coaching by managers.^[7]

Personal coaching

Personal coaching is a relationship which is designed and defined in a relationship agreement between a client and a coach. It is based on the client's expressed interests, goals and objectives.

A professional coach may use inquiry, reflection, requests and discussion to help clients identify personal and/or business and/or relationship goals, develop strategies, relationships and action plans intended to achieve those goals. A coach provides a place for clients to be held accountable to themselves by monitoring the clients' progress towards implementation of their action plans. Together they evolve and modify the plan to best suit the client's needs and environmental relationships. Coaches often act as human mirrors for clients by sharing outside and unbiased perspectives. Coaches may teach specific insights and skills to empower the client toward their goals.^{[citation needed]}

Clients are responsible for their own achievements and success.^{[citation needed]} The client takes action, and the coach may assist, but never leads or does more than the client. Therefore, a coach cannot and does not promise that a client will take any specific action or attain specific goals.^{[citation needed]}

Professional coaching is not counseling, therapy or consulting.^{[citation needed]} These different skill sets and approaches to change may be adjunct skills and professions.

Health coaching

In the world of health and wellness, a health coach is an emerging new role. Health coaching is becoming recognized as a new way to help individuals "manage" their illnesses and conditions, especially those of a chronic nature. In both sports and health, a "coach" is a person who observes, gives objective feedback, teaches, helps to develop a plan of action and holds another responsible for their actions and commitments. The coach will use special techniques, personal experience, expertise and encouragement to assist the coachee in bringing his/her behavioral changes about.

Sports coaching

In sports, a coach or manager is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople. This type of coach gets involved in all the aspects of the sport, including physical and mental player development. Sports coaches train, develop and mentor their athletes to become better at the physical components of the game. The coach is assumed to know more about the sport, and have more previous experience and knowledge. The coach’s job is to transfer as much of this knowledge and experience to the players to develop the most skilled athletes.^[8] Combining these aspects of the sport, the coach is accountable for the overall performance and results of the team or player.

Dating coaching

Dating coaches are coaches whose job is to direct and train people to improve their success in dating and relationships.A dating coach directs and trains his/her clients on various aspects of meeting and attracting long-term partners and meeting more compatible prospects. The focus of most programs is on confident and congruent communication. Dating coaches may focus on topics important to the art of dating: interpersonal skills, flirting, psychology, sociology, compatibility, fashion and recreational activities. Neil Strauss in The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists also focuses on neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), theories of persuasion, history and evolutionary biology, body language, humor and street smarts. Dating coaches typically charge rates similar to that of other professional counselors (e.g. $75–125/hour).^[9] Seminars involving multiple audience members typically charge less than one-on-one meetings, however.

Conflict coaching

Conflict coaching may be used in an organizational context, for matrimonial and other relationship matters and is one of many conflict management tools for helping people improve their conflict management skills and abilities. Like many other techniques of this nature, it is premised on the view that conflict provides an opportunity to improve relationships, to create mutually satisfactory solutions and attain other positive outcomes when differences arise between and among people.

Transformational coaching

A transformational life coach incorporates many modalities available in meeting the needs of the client, from business best practices to personal growth to even spiritual matters. This help may increase awareness and success in transforming one's life. The new millennium has brought massive economic shifts for many people, creating a need for redefining their lives. People in transition often want to address deeper convictions about what they want out of life; they want more self-awareness and self-improvement. A transformational coach aims to bring together and highlight all the possibilities that will help mold and shape the visioneering process for clients as they create a plan and execute the daily, weekly, monthly and yearly details.

ADHD coaching

ADHD coaching is a specialized type of life coaching that uses specific techniques geared toward working with the unique brain wiring of individuals with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Professional coaching is not a substitute for traditional, multimodal treatment for ADHD such as medication, diet, exercise, and other therapy.^{[citation needed]} Coaches work with clients to help them better manage time, organize, set goals and complete projects. In addition to helping clients understand the impact ADHD has had on their lives, coaches can help clients develop "work-arounds" strategies to deal with specific challenges, and determine and use individual strengths. Coaches also help clients get a better grasp of what reasonable expectations are for them as individuals, since people with ADHD "brain wiring" often seem to need external mirrors for accurate self-awareness about their potential despite their impairment.^{[citation needed]}

Coaching ethics and standards

One of the challenges in the field of coaching is upholding levels of professionalism, standards and ethics. To this end, many of the coaching bodies and organisations have codes of ethics and member standards and criteria according to which they hold their members accountable in order to protect coaching clients' interests. Examples of codes of ethics, include:

From the International Coach Federation [3] (ICF):

"ICF Code of Ethics

Part One: Definition of Coaching

Section 1: Definitions •Coaching: Coaching is partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. •A professional coaching relationship: A professional coaching relationship exists when coaching includes a business agreement or contract that defines the responsibilities of each party. •An ICF Professional Coach: An ICF Professional Coach also agrees to practice the ICF Professional Core Competencies and pledges accountability to the ICF Code of Ethics. In order to clarify roles in the coaching relationship, it is often necessary to distinguish between the client and the sponsor. In most cases, the client and sponsor are the same person and therefore jointly referred to as the client. For purposes of identification, however, the International Coach Federation defines these roles as follows:

•Client: The "client" is the person(s) being coached. •Sponsor: The "sponsor" is the entity (including its representatives) paying for and/or arranging for coaching services to be provided. In all cases, coaching engagement contracts or agreements should clearly establish the rights, roles, and responsibilities for both the client and sponsor if they are not the same persons.

Part Two: The ICF Standards of Ethical Conduct Preamble: ICF Professional Coaches aspire to conduct themselves in a manner that reflects positively upon the coaching profession; are respectful of different approaches to coaching; and recognize that they are also bound by applicable laws and regulations.

Section 1: Professional Conduct At Large As a coach:

1) I will not knowingly make any public statement that is untrue or misleading about what I offer as a coach, or make false claims in any written documents relating to the coaching profession or my credentials or the ICF.

2) I will accurately identify my coaching qualifications, expertise, experience, certifications and ICF Credentials.

3) I will recognize and honor the efforts and contributions of others and not misrepresent them as my own. I understand that violating this standard may leave me subject to legal remedy by a third party.

4) I will, at all times, strive to recognize personal issues that may impair, conflict, or interfere with my coaching performance or my professional coaching relationships. Whenever the facts and circumstances necessitate, I will promptly seek professional assistance and determine the action to be taken, including whether it is appropriate to suspend or terminate my coaching relationship(s).

5) I will conduct myself in accordance with the ICF Code of Ethics in all coach training, coach mentoring, and coach supervisory activities.

6) I will conduct and report research with competence, honesty, and within recognized scientific standards and applicable subject guidelines. My research will be carried out with the necessary consent and approval of those involved, and with an approach that will protect participants from any potential harm. All research efforts will be performed in a manner that complies with all the applicable laws of the country in which the research is conducted.

7) I will maintain, store, and dispose of any records created during my coaching business in a manner that promotes confidentiality, security, and privacy, and complies with any applicable laws and agreements

8) I will use ICF member contact information (e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, etc.) only in the manner and to the extent authorized by the ICF.

Section 2: Conflicts of Interest As a coach:

9) I will seek to avoid conflicts of interest and potential conflicts of interest and openly disclose any such conflicts. I will offer to remove myself when such a conflict arises.

10) I will disclose to my client and his or her sponsor all anticipated compensation from third parties that I may pay or receive for referrals of that client.

11) I will only barter for services, goods or other non-monetary remuneration when it will not impair the coaching relationship.

12) I will not knowingly take any personal, professional, or monetary advantage or benefit of the coach-client relationship, except by a form of compensation as agreed in the agreement or contract.

Section 3: Professional Conduct with Clients As a coach:

13) I will not knowingly mislead or make false claims about what my client or sponsor will receive from the coaching process or from me as the coach.

14) I will not give my prospective clients or sponsors information or advice I know or believe to be misleading or false.

15) I will have clear agreements or contracts with my clients and sponsor(s). I will honor all agreements or contracts made in the context of professional coaching relationships.

16) I will carefully explain and strive to ensure that, prior to or at the initial meeting, my coaching client and sponsor(s) understand the nature of coaching, the nature and limits of confidentiality, financial arrangements, and any other terms of the coaching agreement or contract.

17) I will be responsible for setting clear, appropriate, and culturally sensitive boundaries that govern any physical contact I may have with my clients or sponsors.

18) I will not become sexually intimate with any of my current clients or sponsors.

19) I will respect the client's right to terminate the coaching relationship at any point during the process, subject to the provisions of the agreement or contract. I will be alert to indications that the client is no longer benefiting from our coaching relationship.

20) I will encourage the client or sponsor to make a change if I believe the client or sponsor would be better served by another coach or by another resource. 21) I will suggest my client seek the services of other professionals when deemed necessary or appropriate.

Section 4: Confidentiality/Privacy As a coach:

22) I will maintain the strictest levels of confidentiality with all client and sponsor information. I will have a clear agreement or contract before releasing information to another person, unless required by law.

23) I will have a clear agreement upon how coaching information will be exchanged among coach, client, and sponsor.

24) When acting as a trainer of student coaches, I will clarify confidentiality policies with the students.

25) I will have associated coaches and other persons whom I manage in service of my clients and their sponsors in a paid or volunteer capacity make clear agreements or contracts to adhere to the ICF Code of Ethics Part 2, Section 4: Confidentiality/Privacy standards and the entire ICF Code of Ethics to the extent applicable.

Part Three: The ICF Pledge of Ethics As an ICF Professional Coach, I acknowledge and agree to honor my ethical and legal obligations to my coaching clients and sponsors, colleagues, and to the public at large. I pledge to comply with the ICF Code of Ethics, and to practice these standards with those whom I coach.

If I breach this Pledge of Ethics or any part of the ICF Code of Ethics, I agree that the ICF in its sole discretion may hold me accountable for so doing. I further agree that my accountability to the ICF for any breach may include sanctions, such as loss of my ICF membership and/or my ICF Credentials.

Approved by the Ethics and Standards Committee on October 30, 2008. Approved by the ICF Board of Directors on December 18, 2008."Coach4miracles (talk) 16:43, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

See also

• Dating coach
• Co-coaching
• Leadership
• Mentorship
• Procrastination
• Self-help

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Coaching

• CoachingValley
• International Coaching Council (ICC)
• International Coach Federation (ICF)
• International Association of Coaching (IAC)
• Worldwide Association of Business Coaches (WABC)
• Coaching Isle of Man