How does coaching actually help people to do learn and grow? The prevailing model, codified in the International Coach Federation's Core Coaching Competencies, is that coaches are process rather than content experts. We do not instruct, teach, and advise as much as we listen, inquire, and inspire. "The client has the answers" and "the client does the work" are two mantras of the coaching profession.
There are other schools of thought, however. Dave Buck, the President and Chief Experience Officer of CoachVille explains that coaching is the process of "inspiring an individual or team to produce a desired result through personalized teaching, expanding awareness, and designing environments." In other words, sometimes the client does not have the answers and sometimes the coach does the work of leading the way.
Bob Tschannen-Moran, of Life Trek Coaching International muses, "So when do we lead and when do we follow? When do we teach and when do we get out of the way, so clients can teach themselves? These questions go to the heart of transformational coaching. And the answers are as varied as the clients themselves. At its best, coaching is an intuitive dance, with the coach serving as a masterful partner on the dance floor of life. We know when to push and when to pull, when to speak and when to listen, in order to move as one with the client in the cause of human development."
Tschannen-Moran conducted 23 interviews with current and former clients. I am sharing them with you here to demonstrate the individual uniqueness of coaching in the real world.
1. Coaching as Art Appreciation. We started off interviewing a physician, who spoke of coaching in terms of art appreciation. "When you and I talk," he observed, "it's as though there are three people in the room. You, me, and my story. Together, like students, we step back to observe and to study my story as though it were a piece of art. By getting me to step back, you enable me to see things I might otherwise have missed. By keeping the tone appreciative, you enable me to keep working on my goals even when I am not doing as well as I would like. The poems you shared with me really impacted my morning routine."
2. Coaching as Scenic Overlook. From the doctor's office we turned to a realtor, who also appreciated the big picture perspective that coaching brings to life and work. As an essentially self-employed sales professional, she of course wanted to improve her production. But she also wanted to improve her life. "I needed to learn how to stop working so hard and to enjoy life more," she reflected. "I discovered it was all connected. The better I felt about myself and the more risks I took personally, the better I did professionally. Through coaching I learned how to make my own luck."
3. Coaching as Purposeful Change. Improved production is not, of course, a balanced measure of success -- not even for a corporate Vice-President of sales. He came to coaching to get in shape and to better organize his work life. Through coaching he identified other, more life-changing goals that have made his heart sing. "My original goals were 'straw dogs,'" he noted, "to take steps toward something different without taking risks. Once I got clear about my values and my future self, I went in a completely different direction. I am now a paid actor with dreams of one day doing that full time." Now that's purposeful change.
4. Coaching as Safety Net. Big changes are scary changes. Since no one knows for sure what the future holds, we can let our imagination go wild. When that happens, coaching provides a safety net enabling us to let go and to jump. It anchors us in the present moment so we can embrace the flow of what's happening, and what's required, in the here and now. "I came to coaching because I had had a rough experience in my last position and I wanted to find a new position where I could excel," said a public school superintendent. "Between all the second guessing and nervous waiting, it was easy to get paralyzed let alone to take good care of myself. Coaching provided the support I needed to go for my dream with greater self-awareness and healthier daily habits."
5. Coaching as Philosopher's Stone. The notion of going for a dream often conjures up images of changing positions or doing something completely different. And, indeed, that often leads to and follows from effective coaching. But not always. The philosopher's stone, to borrow an image both from our interview with the relationship marketing director of a major pharmaceutical company and from the ancient Myth of Sisyphus, is to find new meaning and purpose in the tasks we have been working at all along. "It's tough in business today," notes our client, "and it's a challenge to perform optimally without engaging in self-destructive behavior. Whether it's working too much or eating too much, it's easy to compromise ourselves. I know I have succumbed to both temptations, and I also know that coaching has assisted me to gain perspective and to do better."
I'll be providing the balance of the interviews over the next few days. So, please check back!
Is Coaching for you? Drop me an email or call!
Sheila Mikulin, M.A.
Life Vision Coaching, LLC
email: sheila@lifevisioncoachingllc.com
Phone 216 932 6012
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