When I meet someone for the first time at a party, a networking event, a reception, at church, when I’m volunteering, or attending one of my apartment building’s social gatherings, I’m eventually asked the inevitable question, “what do you do?” I respond, “I’m an executive and professional coach.” The other person will usually respond with something along the lines of “that’s cool” followed by several questions about what makes coaching different from other relationships such as consulting, training, mentoring, and therapy. Depending on who you’re asking, you can receive a variety of definitions since anyone can call themself a coach. When a client comes to me for coaching, it’s usually because they want to make a change in their life, typically work-related, and they are seeking support to make that change. As a certified International Coaching Federation (ICF) coach who holds a graduate certificate in executive and professional coaching, the term means something very specific to me and my fellow ICF coaches and graduates. Before I dive into what coaching means to me and how it informs my work with clients, let’s take a look at the variety of ways that the term “coaching” is used to describe different types of interactions that influence change.
The spectrum of change-conversations
The International Coaching Federation (ICF), a leading global non-profit coaching accreditation entity, “defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. The process of coaching often unlocks previously untapped sources of imagination, productivity and leadership.”1 The coach-client relationship is a partnership of equals. “Coaches honor the client as the expert in his or her life and work and believe every client is creative, resourceful and whole.”2 Let’s explore the spectrum of change-conversations from left to right and see how they differ from coaching in more detail.
Helping conversations
The self-efficacy of the receiver decreases as the role of the agent moves further to the left side of the spectrum in a change-conversation. On the far left is consulting. In a consulting conversation, the receiver has a question and the consultant gives them an answer to a question based on deep domain expertise on a subject matter. In contrast, a coach challenges you to see and explore new possibilities and doesn’t tell you what the answer should be. The next change-conversation is mentoring. A mentor imparts knowledge from life experience. On the flip side, a coach considers YOU the expert in your work and life. Moving closer to the center is training. An instructor teaches you a skill whereas a coach partners to determine what support you need to be successful.
All of this isn’t to say that a coach never utilizes consulting, mentoring, or training in an engagement. The key, however, is how these forms of support are offered to a client. When a coach uses these mediums of support, they do so without attachment and maintain an equal coach-client partnership. This means that the client maintains complete self-efficacy and self-determination. My clients will often ask for my advice or what I think about something. Before I offer it, I often ask what my perspective will do for them. Sometimes, I offer working knowledge or experience and then ask what they think about it. What works for me or someone else may not work for my clients. I ask these follow-up questions so that my clients can self-reflect, tap into their own inner wisdom, and decide autonomously how to move forward for themselves.
Management conversations
Shifting to the right from the spectrum’s center, the receiver loses self-determination in change-conversations. First is directing. A manager provides directions on tasks to be performed or actions to be taken. In a coaching relationship, you determine your own course of action. Next is developing. A manager provides you feedback on skills or behaviors that you must develop in order to do your job successfully. In contrast, a coach provides support for you to identify what skills you need or behaviors are best in a given scenario. The final type of conversation is intervening. In these interactions, a manager takes controlling or disciplinary action. Conversely, a coach does not judge your actions and will explore them with you so that you can learn from them and then determine how to take those lessons forward.
One scenario occasionally arises where intervening and coaching conversations can overlap and requires further distinction. While coaching is entirely distinct from intervening, sometimes coaching may be part of an intervention. In the coaching world, we call this “sent to coaching.” When this happens, a superior sends an employee to coaching by imposing their authority and then a coach partners with the employee. The coach will maintain the client’s self-efficacy and self-determination throughout the coaching engagement. The outcome between the employee and superior are external to the engagement.
Coaching is not therapy
One final distinction needs to be made about coaching. I’m frequently asked if coaching is like therapy. Notice that therapy is not on the spectrum. While a trained coach’s expertise is in challenging cognitive and behavioral change, it is neither therapy nor a replacement for it. Therapy looks backwards and heals the past. Coaching takes place in the present and looks towards the future using many of the same self-discovery and change tools. In coaching, you don’t have to understand the cause of a problem to solve it. Focusing on the future creates more useful energy than focusing on the past, and small steps toward the future will lead to big success. However, if a client consistently hits roadblocks which cannot be overcome through coaching, the coach may make a referral to a therapist.
Recap
Clearly, coaching can mean a lot of different things to people in the business world. Most often, the application of the term “coaching” corresponds to other types of change-conversations where a person’s self-efficacy or self-determination are diminished or even quashed. It sounds more collaborative, pleasant, and professional to coach someone than to mentor or manage them. Now that we’ve established some of the fundamentals of what coaching is and is not, let’s dive deeper into how a coach works with a client.
Coaching for results
Coaching is an equal partnership between a coach and a client. A coach co-creates a thought-provoking, reflective, and creative space with a client to inspire personal, professional, and business goals to maximize potential. There are different frameworks and methodologies for coaching. I use a combination of models and techniques while co-creating a safe space with my clients in which I am their thought-partner. For example, I often employ the techniques of the Four Square Coaching Framework3 developed by Robert Hicks, Ph.D., and Appreciative Inquiry4 developed by David Cooperrider, Ph.D., et. al in combination with several other coaching methods. I use evidenced based-tools which provide support and encourage exploration of the experience and internal wisdom brought to each conversation by my clients. I use deep listening and thoughtful reflection to get to the heart of the matter with them.
Our coaching partnership requires both of us to hold a high level of respect for each other and speak honestly at all times. My clients expect me to be forthright about what I see, hear, and sense is going on. I ask questions to evoke reflection or awareness, share observations and thoughts, and explore beliefs. I challenge my clients to explore new ways of thinking and being. However, I don’t confront or make them wrong. In return, I want them to ask for what they need. I expect them to be honest and candid with me about what they experience in our meetings. My clients always maintain their agency and exercise their inner wisdom when deciding how to move forward in their lives.
Coaching is a vehicle for achieving results, and my clients are the driver. They bring their goals to the engagement and then set an agenda for each meeting to provide a clear focus and direction. I weave their defined goals into our meetings as we move forward, keeping us both on track.
Fieldwork is an important part of the process. Most of my clients’ growth and transformation will occur in the field. In each meeting, we design growth experiences. These can be thinking & observing, researching & gathering information, or action experiments that they design. Growth experiences create movement, and movement is progress even if it is not forward. My clients are responsible for their own actions and results. They learn as much from their failures as they do from success. Ultimately, learning creates awareness, awareness creates growth, growth creates evolution, evolution leads to transformation, and transformation results in success.
Conclusion
If you’ve read this article, you’re probably considering working with a coach to make a change. This is one step forward towards making that change. Change isn’t easy, and it takes a lot of work. A coach serves as a pivotal source of support when making changes and transitions in your life. Anyone can call themself a coach. Furthermore, the word “coaching” is used broadly across different types of change-conversations. As you seek out a coach to support you in the changes that you wish to make along your journey, ask them about how they work with their clients and what coaching frameworks they use. Most coaches will offer a free initial consultation. In a future article, we’ll discuss in more detail how to select a coach. For now, it’s important to think about the type of support that will serve you best in accomplishing your goals. Remember, what works for someone else may not work for you. You have your own wisdom and answers within you to accomplish your goals, and a coach is a thought-partner who helps you discover them.
Sources:
- International Coaching Federation. (n.d.) What is Coaching? http://www.coachingfederation.org ↩︎
- Ibid (Frequently Asked Questions: What is professional coaching). ↩︎
- Hicks, R. (2017). The Process of Highly Effective Coaching: An Evidenced-Based Framework. Routledge. ↩︎
- Cooperrider, D., Whitney, D., & Stavros, J. (2008). The Appreciative Inquiry Handbook: For Leaders of Change. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. ↩︎
