I am perfectly fine and happy. Why do I need a coach?
There are people that have a complete misconception of what a coach is, what a coach does, and why someone might need a coach in their life. With this article, it is my aim to give some clarity and also to give a different perspective and understanding of how important coaching actually is to each and every person.
What is Coaching?
The term coaching has different meanings to different people, but generally, coaching is about helping an individual to solve their own problems or to improve their own performance.
Traditionally, coaching has been associated with sports. But in recent years, coaching principles have become applicable in all areas of life. Because coaching is a partnership between the coach and the client, it is a popular option for a person that needs some sort of accountability in their personal or professional life.
A good coach believes that an individual already has the solution to any problem they are facing inside of them. The individual just needs to be guided in the right direction to get to that solution.
There is a huge difference between teaching some and helping them to learn. A coach is a learning facilitator that helps an individual to find the answers to their own problems that they already have inside them.
Because a coach can be seen as a facilitator for learning, they do not need to understand or know your industry, situation, relationships or any other aspect of your life in order to help you effectively.
A coach helps you build awareness about different situations in your life and supports you at every level of your journey to becoming who you want to be. A coach helps to unlock your potential to become the best version of yourself and maximize your potential.
Coaching can be done in a group or in individual one-to-one settings.
The difference between coaching, mentoring, counselling, therapy, and training
Although coaching, mentoring, counselling, therapy and teaching share some key characteristics and have a few similarities, it is important to understand that they are quite different and have different methods and approaches.
It is important to note that even though these are all different, there are a lot of areas where they overlap.
Coaching involves the belief that a person already has the solution to a problem within themselves and just needs a guide or facilitator to get to it.
A mentor might be seen as similar to a coach. The key difference is that a mentor will also sometimes impart knowledge and teach. A mentor is an expert in a field that will guide an individual, to “fast track” their growth, by following and learning from the mentor in the workplace or industry.
Counselling can also be seen as a therapeutic intervention. It can focus on either the internal or external. It is more focused on dealing with the past in order to help overcome traumas or barriers and to move forward.
Therapy is for an individual who needs to deal with and seeks relief from psychological or physical symptoms. Usually, the client wants relief or emotional healing from mental pain. Therapy deals with the mental health of a patient.
A teacher or a trainer is an expert in their field that imparts knowledge about their subject to a student.
Different types of coaching
Understanding what a coach can bring to your life is crucial when deciding to work with one. There are different types of coaches that deal with (and focus on) different areas of life.
Here is a list of some of these and how they can help you:
A coach that helps an individual identify and deal with key areas in their life. This can be anything from relationships, personal goals, and past traumas to business or work-related issues, dealing with stress and anxiety, work-life balance, and more.
A coach that focuses on the development and growth of a business or a person inside of their business. Here a coach will help an individual to identify any problem areas in their business where there might be a need for change or improvement. Here, the coaching can be done in group settings for the employees inside of an organisation or in personal one-to-one cases for CEOs or executives in a business.
A coach that helps a business owner or marketing team to identify key areas that need help or improvement and to guide them to find the strategies that will work best for their organization.
A coach that focuses on the health and wellbeing of their clients. This is for the person who needs new healthier habits and routines to improve their lifestyle and overall health.
A coach that works with young people and guides them through the journey of making important life decisions. A youth coach can also help an individual deal with current life decisions and past traumas.
Please note that these are not the only types of coaching.
What is the typical coaching process?
Each coach usually has their own way of approaching a client depending on the type of coaching they do and whether or not their coaching process includes NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) or not.
In general, a typical coaching process would look like this:
- Identify a topic or potential issue
- Exploring ideas and options
- Removing any potential barriers
- Taking action
- Reflecting, refining, and planning
Why start working with a coach?
Coaching is not just for someone who thinks, “I need help”. Coaching is beneficial to each and every person, whether you think you need it or not. Even coaches need coaches.
By working with a coach, you give yourself the opportunity to identify potential key areas in your life (that you might not even know you have currently) where you can improve, grow, and excel.
Some of the typical benefits of working with a coach can include:
- Finding sustainable solutions to personal and work-related issues
- Improvements in communication and interpretational skills
- Setting more achievable and realistic goals in all aspects of your life
- Finding solutions to key problem areas in your life.
- Enhanced capability to resolve conflict
- Increased personal confidence
- Feeling more prepared and motivated for big projects or occasions.
- Development of skills and capabilities
- Positive changes in attitudes and motivation
- Dealing with overwhelm and anxiety
How do I get started with a coach?
First, let me ask you a few questions:
- Is there some area in your life where you feel stuck? Work, personal, a decision that you need to make, anything?
- Do you need to make a big decision, and you are not sure what the right option is?
- Are you struggling in a relationship (romantic, friendship, or professional), and you are not sure how to fix it?
- Do you set goals but never achieve them? Or do you want to set a goal, but you’re not sure how?
- Are you struggling to deal with stress or anxiety?
- Do you have something in your life that you feel is holding you back?
If you answer YES to any of these questions, you need a coach.
Step 1
First, I’d like you to download this workbook to help you figure out how coachable you are and if you are willing to commit to doing the work you need to change.
Step 2
Next, I want to invite you to a quick (and completely free) 15-minute virtual coffee chat. We can have a quick chat to see if there is anything that you feel you might need help with.
