What is Coaching: A Comprehensive Guide

Introduction to Coaching

Definition of Coaching

Simply put, coaching is an activity which enhances learning and development. A dictionary definition of coaching is “to tutor, train, give hints to, prime with facts” (Concise Oxford Dictionary 2003).

Other definitions include:

“Unlocking a person’s potential to maximise their own performance” (Whitmore, 1996)

“A process that enables learning and development to occur and thus performance to improve” (Parsloe, 1999)

“A collaborative, solution-focused, results-oriented and systematic process in which the coach facilitates the enhancement of work performance, life experience, self-directed learning and personal growth” (Grant, 2001)

“Developing a person’s skills and knowledge so that their job performance improves, hopefully leading to the achievement of organisational objectives” (CIPD, 2004)

Evolution and Importance of Coaching

Coaching has been increasingly used to enable individuals to adjust to major changes in the rapidly evolving business environment; often used in organisational settings to enhance learning, development and performance of employees (Hudson, 1999; Zeus and Skiffington, 2003).

It has been argued that these activities take place through, the transferral of knowledge for skill development, and through the enhancement of psychological development for the process of empowerment (Popper, Micha, Lipshitz and Raanan, 1992).

Different Types of Coaching

As coaching has grown in popularity, so have the different types of coaching that have emerged. Here are some examples of the more notable types of coaching:

Executive Coaching – focus on developing strategic leadership for executives
Life Coaching – focus on personal and individual, relationships, finance
Wellbeing Coaching – focus on wellness, work life balance
Career Coaching – focus on career decisions, transition, progression
Business Coaching – focus on business growth, systems, processes
Team Coaching – focus on team dynamics, team goals, team cohesion

Understanding the Coaching Process

Key Elements of the Coaching Process

There are different approaches and techniques used in coaching however, a simple overview of the coaching process would include:

Goal setting
Developing an action plan
Giving feedback
Adapting and change
Monitoring progress
Evaluating progress
Achieving goals

The Role of a Coach

The key role of the coach is to facilitate change for the coachee. By providing open and honest feedback the coach is able to increase self-awareness in the coachee (Kappenberg, 2008). Every coach will apply their skills differently, however, some of the core characteristics of an effective coach include:

Incorporating interpersonal and communication skills (Sztucinski, 2001; Hudson, 1999). For successful coaching relationships it is important that the coach builds rapport and is able to communicate effectively.
Building trust (Guthrie, 1999; Kilburg, 2000; Caproni, 2001; Kappenberg, 2008). Trust is an essential foundation to any successful coaching relationship. This creates the right environment for open, honest communication to take place.
Providing feedback (Crane, 2001; Grant, 2001). The coach needs to be able to provide, open, honest feedback that will facilitate increased self-awareness and change.
Providing a safe environment (Kilburg, 2000). The ability to create an environment where the coachee feels safe to open up and be honest, is very important. This may take time but is essential for progress.
Building relationships and rapport (O’Neill, 2000; Bush, 2004; Hunt 2004). It is important to develop rapport to build a good relationships within coaching.
Showing empathy (Kilburg, 2000). Empathy is important within a successful coaching relationship as this helps build trust.
Clarifying expectations (Crane, 2001). A coach needs to be able to ask the right questions and clarify their understanding about things shared during the coaching sessions.
Being honest and objective (Edelstein and Armstrong, 1993). A coach needs to remain objective and be able to provide honest feedback, even when this may be challenging. This needs to be done with sensitivity and compassion.

Benefits of Coaching

There are many benefits of coaching, from an individual and team standpoint some of the most salient ones that stand out include increased:

Self-awareness
Confidence
Openness
Motivation
Empowerment
Learning and growth
Performance
Agility to cope with change
Resilience and ability to cope with uncertainty

Exploring Coaching Approaches

Transformational Coaching

Transformational coaching focuses on helping individuals achieve personal and professional growth. The aim of transformational coaching is to assist individuals in identifying and breaking through limiting beliefs, developing new perspectives, and unlocking their full potential.

Characteristics of Transformational Coaching:

Empowerment: Transformational coaching emphasises empowering clients to take ownership of their lives and make conscious choices that align with their values, aspirations and goals
Self-Discovery: Transformatiomal coaching involves helping clients explore their strengths, values, passions, and purpose; facilitating a deeper understanding of themselves and their desires.
Goal-Orientation: It focuses on setting meaningful and achievable goals, creating action plans, and supporting coachees in taking the necessary steps to achieve their objectives.
Mindset Shift: This coaching approach helps individuals identify and challenge self-limiting beliefs and patterns of thinking, enabling them to adopt a growth mindset and develop new perspectives.
Holistic Approach: Transformational coaching considers all areas of the coachee’s life; this includes personal, professional, relationships, health, and well-being, and recognising the interconnectedness of all of these.

Techniques and Strategies in Transformational Coaching:

Powerful Questioning: Coaches use thought-provoking questions to encourage coachees to reflect, gain insights, and explore new possibilities.
Active Listening: Coaches listen attentively to clients, seeking to understand their needs, concerns, and aspirations without judgment, and providing a safe and supportive space.
Visualisation and Imagery: Coaches employ techniques such as guided visualization to help clients create a vivid mental image of their desired outcomes and increase motivation.
Values and Strengths Assessment: Coaches assist coachees in identifying their core values and leveraging their strengths to align their actions with their authentic selves.
Accountability and Action Planning: Coaches help clients develop action plans, set milestones, and provide support and accountability to ensure progress towards their goals.

Performance/Career Coaching

Performance or career coaching is a form of coaching focuing on improving an individual’s performance and success in their career. It involves working with coachees to identify their strengths, weaknesses, and aspirations. The goal is to create strategies to enhance their skills, achieve their career goals, and thrive in their chosen field.

The scope of performance coaching includes areas such as career development, skill enhancement, goal setting, work-life balance, leadership development, and navigating professional challenges.

Goal Setting and Action Planning:

One of the key aspects of performance/career coaching is goal setting. Coaches assist individuals in clarifying their short-term and long-term career objectives, identifying specific milestones, and creating actionable plans to achieve them.

In a similar way to transformational coaching, this process involves aligning goals with personal values, assessing current skills and competencies, and identifying any gaps that need to be addressed. Coaches then support individuals in breaking down larger goals into smaller, manageable tasks, setting timelines, and establishing accountability mechanisms to track progress and stay on track.

Enhancing Performance through Coaching:

Performance coaching aims to enhance the coachee’s performance by focusing on their strengths, building new skills, and developing strategies to overcome challenges.

Coaches work with clients to identify areas for improvement and provide guidance, feedback, and support to aid individuals reach their goal level of performance. This may involve providing tools and resources, offering skill-building exercises, facilitating self-reflection, and enabling self-awareness.

Coaches also help clients leverage their strengths and talents, identify opportunities for growth and development, and build confidence and resilience in their professional life.

Through working with a performance/career coach, individuals can gain clarity about their career direction. They can then develop strategies to overcome obstacles, enhance their skills and competencies, and ultimately achieve greater success and satisfaction in their professional lives. Performance coaching can benefit individuals at every stage of their careers, from entry-level professionals seeking guidance to experienced leaders aiming to further excel in their roles.

Leadership Coaching

Focus of Leadership Coaching:

Leadership coaching is a specialised form of coaching that focuses on developing and enhancing leadership skills and abilities specifically. It addresses the unique challenges and responsibilities faced by individuals in leadership positions. The coaching process may cover areas such as self-awareness, emotional intelligence, effective communication, decision-making, strategic thinking, team building, and managing change. Leadership coaching aims to support leaders in maximising their potential, leading with authenticity and integrity, and driving positive organisational outcomes.

Essential Leadership Skills:

Leadership coaching helps individuals cultivate essential leadership skills that are crucial for success in their roles. These skills include effective communication, active listening, empathy, problem-solving, decision-making, strategic thinking, delegation, conflict resolution, and inspiring and motivating others. Coaches work with leaders to identify their strengths and areas for development, provide feedback and guidance, and help them acquire and refine these skills. Leadership coaching also emphasises the importance of self-awareness, self-reflection, and continuous learning as key components of effective leadership.

The Goal of Leadership Coaching:

The goal of leadership coaching is to help leaders to reach their full potential, whether that be in a business setting, team sport, or general life. This is accomplished through enhancing their leadership effectiveness, and helping them to achieve their own professional goals.

Coaches begin by working closely with leaders to identify their vision, values, and leadership style, which then helps them to align their actions and behaviours to best suit their leadership style.

Leadership coaching also focuses on developing leaders’ abilities to inspire and motivate their teams. It enables them to foster a positive work culture, build strong relationships, and navigate complex challenges. The aim is to ultimately empower leaders to create an environment of positive change, drive organisational success, and leave a lasting impact on their teams.

Leadership coaching is a valuable resource for both new and veteran leaders. It provides them with the support, guidance, and tools to enhance their leadership skills, navigate company dynamics, and lead from the front.

Through the coaching process, leaders can gain more self-awareness and refine their leadership approach. It helps them to continually grow as leaders and adapt to the evolving demands of their roles.

Life Coaching

Overview and Applications of Life Coaching:

Life coaching is a form of personal development coaching that focuses on helping individuals make positive changes in various areas of their lives.

It is a collaborative process between the coach and the coachee, where the coach supports and empowers the client in setting and achieving personal goals, overcoming challenges, and creating a more fulfilling and balanced life.

Life coaching can be applied to many aspects of life; including the coachee’s career, relationships, health, well-being and personal growth. It provides individuals with the tools, strategies, and self-accountability to navigate life transitions, unlock their potential, and live a more purposeful and meaningful life.

Self-Discovery and Personal Growth:

Life coaching encourages self-discovery and personal growth by helping individuals explore their values, strengths, passions, and aspirations. Coaches facilitate a process of self-reflection and introspection, enabling clients to gain clarity about their goals, priorities, and what truly matters to them.

Through powerful questioning and exploration, life coaching supports individuals in identifying and breaking through limiting beliefs, gaining new perspectives, and developing a growth mindset. It fosters self-awareness and empowers individuals to make conscious choices, take responsibility for their actions, and live in alignment with their authentic selves.

Improving Relationships and Well-being:

Life coaching also focuses on improving relationships and overall well-being. Coaches help individuals enhance their communication skills, set boundaries, and navigate conflicts effectively, thereby improving their personal and professional relationships.

Additionally, life coaching addresses holistic well-being, including physical, mental, and emotional aspects. Coaches may provide guidance on stress management, self-care practices, goal-setting for health and wellness, and developing positive habits and routines. By addressing these areas, life coaching supports individuals in creating a balanced and fulfilling life, enhancing their overall happiness and satisfaction.

Life coaching provides a valuable resource for individuals seeking personal growth, clarity, and support in navigating life’s challenges and transitions.

By partnering with a life coach, individuals can achieve better self-awareness, set meaningful goals, develop strategies to overcome any obstacles, and make overall more positive changes in their lives. Whether it is career advancement, relationship improvement, or overall well-being, life coaching enables individuals to take proactive steps towards creating the life they desire and deserve.

Becoming a Coach

Skills and Qualities of an Effective Coach

Some of the core skills and qualities of an effective coach include:

Active listening
Ability to challenge
Being supportive
Showing compassion and empathy
Being honest and objective
Being non-judgemental
Ability to hold people accountable
Establishing credibility

Training and Certification Programs

There are many training and certification programs to becoming a coach. At Engage, we have our accredited coaching course for those wanting to train and become a certified coach. This course is aimed at complete beginners, and those with little to no coaching training.

We also have our advanced coaching training course which is aimed at those who are already coaches, who may want to develop their coaching skills and advance further in their coaching career.

Ethical Considerations for Coaches

The coach sits in a highly privileged position, where the client trusts them with confidential information and personal insights. Therefore, the need to work with ethical and professional standards in mind is critical. The standards and ethics upheld by the British Psychological Society would be a good foundation upon which to base any professional coaching practice.

This would promote objectivity, good contracting around confidentiality and knowing professional boundaries and limits of capability. A successful coach will always work with the clients best interests in mind.

Finding the Right Coach

Identifying Personal or Professional Coaching Needs

When looking for a coach, there are many factors the client needs to consider. First and foremost, there needs to be a good fit and chemistry. The coachee needs to feel that they can trust the coach and that they will be able to work well together.

The coach does not need to be an expert in the industry sector or share the same background, but they do need to be able to establish credibility. It can be helpful to find a coach who has some expertise and experience in the specific field, e.g. with Executive Coaching that the coach has worked with executives and understands some of the challenges an executive faces.

Researching Potential Coaches

It can be difficult to know where to start when researching a potential coach. Some criteria that may be useful would include:

Personal and professional recommendations – can others recommend anyone?
Qualifications, background and experience – do they have credentials and credibility?
Personality and chemistry – do you get on, good style of working together?
Expertise – whilst having specific topic expertise is by no means essential for effective coaching, it can be useful in certain circumstances.

Questions to Ask When Choosing a Coach

Some questions that might be useful to ask when choosing a coach include:

Could I work with this person?
Are they credible?
How does the coaching work?
What is their approach to coaching?
Who have they worked with and what is their background?
Do they have qualifications?
Do they have testimonials or recommendations?
How long is each session?
How much do they charge?
Do I need to do any homework?
What are my responsibilities?

The Coaching Relationship

Building Trust and Rapport with a Coach

Building trust and rapport within the coaching relationships is one of the most essential components of coaching, because without trust the progress will be slow and may not even get off the ground.

Setting Clear Goals and Expectations

Setting expectations and clarifying goals are essential elements of coaching. This ensures that everyone is clear about what they are working towards. This clarity makes it easier to track progress and avoid assumptions.

Maintaining Accountability and Progress

Another essential element of successful coaching is the role of accountability and tracking progress. When we are held accountable to our goals and actions this leads to goal attainment and progress by creating a clear structure and process.

Coaching Techniques and Tools

Active Listening and Powerful Questioning

A very important skill of a coach is their ability to actively listen and asks powerful questions. A powerful question will avoid yes / no answers and will engage the coachee to consider more fully their responses.

The coach is not providing the answers, but responding actively to what the coachee is saying and asking relevant questions that support the coachee to reflect more deeply and find the answers within themselves.

Assessment and Feedback Tools

Using coaching assessment and feedback tools such as Engage are valuable for several reasons:

Provide objectivity
Offer an evidence-based approach
Capture valuable benchmark data
Remove guesswork
Enable honest, open conversations
Create structure and consistency
Empower the coachee to take more ownership

Visualisation and Goal

Visualisation is a useful technique employed in coaching which involves the coachee using their imagination to explore ideas and goals. With goal visualisation specifically, the coachee is encouraged to picture different scenarios that relate to their goal.

The coach invites the client to project themselves into the future and imagine achieving their goals, how will they feel, what will they have achieved, what will be different when they are successful. This technique simulates future success. Visualisation is particularly helpful in exploring creativity and unblocking thinking.

Overcoming Challenges in Coaching

Dealing with Resistance and Skepticism

At some point the coach will face resistance in some form or other. This can present itself as skepticism, whereby the coachee is cynical about the process and its effectiveness or they may have more generalised doubt.

A helpful way to deal with resistance is to bring curiosity to the discussion. Get curious about what is driving the doubt and explore the validity of any misperceptions or thoughts that arise. It is important to challenge thinking but this needs to be done with sensitivity and support.

It can feel uncomfortable dealing with resistance for many coaches but this should not be avoided. It is important to get to the underlying cause of the resistance and explore ways to counter this.

Handling Client Expectations and Setbacks

A very important element of coaching is to manage expectations and deal with setbacks. An expectation is the desire for something to happen which may or may not be validated. This is something that needs to be communicated openly and explored so that underlying assumptions are discussed and boundaries are set.

When expectations are not discussed or managed, this can lead to dissatisfaction and disappointment. Transparency and clarity about what is and isn’t’ possible is important.

In terms of dealing with setbacks, it is important to ensure that the client doesn’t distort their thinking and see things worse than they are. Setbacks can cause frustration and disappointment which are emotions that need to be acknowledged. However, it is important to support the coachee to come to terms with the new situation and know when to draw the line and move forward.

The coach plays an important role in helping the client to find a new path forward and build resilience so they bounce back quicker when things don’t go to plan.

Measuring Coaching Success

Evaluating Coaching Outcomes and Impact

Measuring the impact of coaching continues to be a much debated topic within the coaching community and is not without its challenges. This is due to many factors, including the confidential nature of the activity and also because without tangible metrics in place the outcomes and impact are harder to capture.

Engage is unique in its ability to measure coaching impact using scientific validated methods. This is achieved by capturing benchmark data about the coachee in relation to confidence, openness and motivation, which are known to be important factors that drive coaching outcomes.

As coaching becomes even more popular the demand for more evidence based approaches which bring rigour to the coaching process rises. It is important to establish clear outcomes at the beginning and have validated methods to measure these in order to demonstrate impact.

Collecting and Analysing Feedback

A common method of measuring coaching impact has historically involved collecting feedback. This provides qualitative data which is helpful. An even more rigour approach would include collecting quantitative data as well and combining these two methods.

Long-term Benefits of Coaching

In order to establish any long term benefits of coaching, establishing clear metrics and outcomes is important. This ensures that data can be compared over time to assess what is and isn’t having an impact and to justify ongoing investments. Increasingly organisations that employ coaches are demanding more qualified information about coaching impact.

Conclusion

In conclusion, coaching is becoming a more used and necessary practice in many areas of life; including but not limited to careers and professional development, increasing leadership skills, and generally navigating through life. This article has presented the different approaches to coaching; how to become a coach; how to find the right coach and how to navigate the coaching relationship. It has also presented a coaching techniques and a useful tool for coaches as well as how to overcome challenges in coaching and how one can measure the success of coaching.

If you’re interested in becoming a coach then be sure to check out our accredited coaching course. If you’re looking to incorporate coaching in your business or organisation, then also take a look at our coaching training for managers. This course was developed to help leaders and managers in organisations take a coaching approach to management and get the most out of employees. You may also want to develop leadership internally. If this is the case, then have a browse of our leadership coaching programme, a programme whereby business leaders have individual and group coaching sessions with a coach in order for them to gain a better understanding of their mindset, their barriers to change, whilst developing an actionable plan to become better leaders and drive better performance as a business overall.

If you are interested in developing your mindset before engaging in coaching training, then be sure to explore our mindset training course; an automated course designed to teach you about mindset and train you to develop your own mindset.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the difference between coaching and therapy?

Therapy differs from coaching in that it tends to deal with clinical issues and different forms of trauma or difficulties a person may be experiencing. Therapy is more focused on the past and exploring and understanding why current behaviour presents. Coaching typically is focused on the future, and finding solutions and which move people forward towards their goals.

How long does coaching typically last?

Coaching contracts can vary enormously, however, a typically coaching process may involve 6 monthly sessions of one to two hour sessions.

Can anyone become a coach?

There are no specific barriers to anyone becoming a coach, with the right training, qualifications and mindset.

Is coaching only for individuals or can it be applied to teams as well?

Coaching can be used with individuals and teams.

How much does coaching usually cost?

Coaching fees with vary enormously depending on the level of experience, expertise and qualifications of the coach, the level of difficulty required within the engagement, and the industry sector. Fees may start from as little as £120 per session for life coaching up to £5000+ per session for business and executive coaching.

What are some signs that indicate the need for coaching?

Some of the key signs that suggest coaching would be useful, include when people are stuck in their thinking, when they repeat unhelpful patterns of behaviour, they lack direction, or when they want to achieve some kind of change in their work and life and need support to achieve this.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr Jodi O’Dell

Jodi is the founder and driving force behind Engage. She is an occupational psychologist and executive coach with a PhD in Coaching Psychology, who for over 20 years has dedicated her career to helping people thrive and be the best version of themselves.

As a leading expert in coaching, she has worked globally with blue chip clients. She combines this wealth of experience and passion for human development with the scientific rigour of evidence-based research which underpins the Engage toolset.

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