“Success doesn’t come from pie-in-the-sky thinking. It’s the result of consciously doing something each day that will add to your overall excellence.” Nick Saban, former College Football Coach
To understand how coaching works, its best to first understand how it differs from other professional development programs.
Coaching versus Mentorship
Most organizations will adopt a mentorship model, which can be formalized or not, and tends to focus on advice giving by a senior employee based on their personal experiences. While this model is valuable and should remain a part of professional development, it is not be an objective process that focuses on what makes the mentee a unique individual. Furthermore, while most mentorship models focus on professional growth, they lack a structure in which to to sustain that growth, which is fundamental to coaching.
Coaching versus Consulting
Many consulting firms will offer leadership development or employee engagement programs that focus on aligning employees to the organization’s vision and values to improve the collective performance. Coaching on the other hand, shifts the landscape from where people receive direction, to one where people commit to doing things they care passionately about, ultimately creating a more sustainable source of accelerated performance.
Coaching versus Counseling
Typically, counseling focuses on how past events may be impacting current performance and lacks a process of accountability and action. Coaching is focused on the individual’s vision for the future, looking to the past only to inform potential obstacles.
The Coaching Process
The coaching process is a collaborative partnership between a coach and willing client that explores the deep personal level of beliefs and values. Coaching creates goals and accountability to get to the client’s desired vision for the future.
Coaching focuses on three key levers:
- The Who – examines what makes the client an individual – client’s collective needs, values, desires, experiences, motivators, dreams, passions and feelings
- The What – focuses on what the client wants to work on, informed by the client’s present circumstances and reality
- The How – defining clear goals and accountability process to ensure achievement of end vision. It explores what drives the client’s behavior, actions and movements and how to align them to achieve the vision