What exactly is coaching?
People often ask what is coaching and how does it differ than consulting, mentoring or even therapy. I'm reminded by one of my professors at UBC who provided the following analogy.
Picture a bicycle leaning against the wall and the goal for you is to learn how to ride the bicycle.
A therapist might stand beside you and ask how you grew up with a bicycle in your life, chat about past fears with biking and discuss your feelings, anxieties and emotions with cycling. The goal is to examine the past as a way forward.
A consultant might jump on the bike and start riding it for you, performing and testing out the bike and ultimately ride the bike for you while documenting all the instructions for your future use. They are expert bike riders and the goal is for them to do the work for you.
A mentor might get on the bike and ask you to watch them ride the bike, teach you about their experiences and greatest learning, tell you what to look out for and guide you through the steps themselves. The goal is to learn by watching them.
As a coach, you and I would stand beside each other, look at the bike and collaboratively discuss what is needed for you to ride the bike yourself. Through curiosity, questions, staying in the present moment I will work with you in discovering your current thoughts and feelings and collectively figure out where you would like to go from here. It's a journey that I am a part of and together we will pave a way towards your ultimately goal - to get on that bike and ride it!
As a coach, I bring a sounding board to your inner thoughts and feelings as you start to consider making a change in your life. You may feel stuck in your career or you may feel unsure of a decision in your life. Sometimes, the answer (or even the right question) isn't clear to you. In coaching this is known as going beneath the waterline to really find out what's going on for you with the goal of making a change and moving forward.
The goal of the coach is to partner with you towards a new decision, new insight or new awareness. The belief is that you, and only you have the right answer and that you are more than capable at arriving at that decision.
Picture a bicycle leaning against the wall and the goal for you is to learn how to ride the bicycle.
A therapist might stand beside you and ask how you grew up with a bicycle in your life, chat about past fears with biking and discuss your feelings, anxieties and emotions with cycling. The goal is to examine the past as a way forward.
A consultant might jump on the bike and start riding it for you, performing and testing out the bike and ultimately ride the bike for you while documenting all the instructions for your future use. They are expert bike riders and the goal is for them to do the work for you.
A mentor might get on the bike and ask you to watch them ride the bike, teach you about their experiences and greatest learning, tell you what to look out for and guide you through the steps themselves. The goal is to learn by watching them.
As a coach, you and I would stand beside each other, look at the bike and collaboratively discuss what is needed for you to ride the bike yourself. Through curiosity, questions, staying in the present moment I will work with you in discovering your current thoughts and feelings and collectively figure out where you would like to go from here. It's a journey that I am a part of and together we will pave a way towards your ultimately goal - to get on that bike and ride it!
As a coach, I bring a sounding board to your inner thoughts and feelings as you start to consider making a change in your life. You may feel stuck in your career or you may feel unsure of a decision in your life. Sometimes, the answer (or even the right question) isn't clear to you. In coaching this is known as going beneath the waterline to really find out what's going on for you with the goal of making a change and moving forward.
The goal of the coach is to partner with you towards a new decision, new insight or new awareness. The belief is that you, and only you have the right answer and that you are more than capable at arriving at that decision.
Those looking to partner with me are:
- Looking to get unstuck in a decision, moment or reflection point in their life.
- At a cross roads in their career and have a desire to either explore why you should stay in your role or if you should pursue something else.
- Find out what your values are, what you stand for, as a way of guiding key decisions in your life.
- New to a leadership role and you're not quite sure if you're making the mark on your team. Or you may be struggling on how to connect and lead.
- Looking for a curious collaborate conversation that will enable you to become clear to which decision you would like make leading towards a change.
Team and Group coaching
Traditionally when people mention coaching, they automatically think about executive or leadership coaching. A service that is only available to the aspiring executive leaders within large organizations. However the benefits of coaching within organizations has shown that any employee can benefit from coaching, not just with how they can realize their potential within themselves but also how best to work with others, towards a shared purpose or goal.
There is often a distinction between team coaching and group coaching. I would offer up this description.
In team coaching, the team of individuals have a shared goal and interest and their individual actions contribute to the greater whole. Some examples of team coaching could include:
In team coaching, the team of individuals have a shared goal and interest and their individual actions contribute to the greater whole. Some examples of team coaching could include:
- A software sales team looking for opportunities on how to individually be successful in their own metrics while also focused on the team's shared sales goals and initiatives
- A group of volunteers looking for ways on how best serve their local charity by figuring out the best ways of working together
- A group of leaders looking for best practices on how to engage, retain and motivate their team at their next annual planning session.
In group coaching, the individuals may share a common goal or interest but their individual goals and plans are their own and each others actions do not affect their own. Some examples of group coaching include:
- A parent / teacher meet, where the parents share a common goal of finding out what's important to their own children while their own individual parenting styles and approach don't necessary reflect or affect the group
- A group of aspiring career seekers looking to discuss best practices to their own individual resume writing skills and techniques
- A group of startup entrepreneurs getting together to discuss the best approach to get funding for their own individual business plans
The distinction between team and group coaching may be subtle and is typically only referenced with those in the coaching industry. What this might sound like to you within your organization might be the need to have a team building day, or a training day focused on the team's goals and priorities for the year. It could sound like a personal development day, kick off, or annual summit. However you might describe it, team and group coaching is quickly becoming just as valuable as one on one or individual coaching.
