What is coaching?

Coaching itself is a wonderful tool to help clients move forward in their lives. The total coaching experience is made up of four important parts. While each is beneficial on their own, it is the sum of the parts that helps the client to truly be successful.

1. The Tool of Coaching
It’s more accurate to say that coaching is a tool box. With many different tools to use at the right time. If you try one tool and it doesn’t feel like the right fit, you go back into the tool box and find one that does! Some of the tools include: listening, question asking, brainstorming, role-playing and visualization. The number of tools are only limited by the client and the coach’s imaginations!

2. The Co-Creative Relationship Between the Client and the Coach
It is because of this relationship that the magic in coaching happens! Together the coach and the client use all of their knowledge, resources, skills and intuition to problem solve. The coach sees their client as whole, resourceful and creative. They believe that the client has within them self everything they need to move forward. It is this open, authentic and non-judgemental support that allows the client to truly “show up” and simply be who they are. The confidentiality and the safe space that is created allow both the coach and the client to speak their truths and not hide behind important facts. From the coach the client can also expect their trust and an accountability partner. Both the coach and the client understand their own roles in the relationship. This is one of the reasons why the co-creative relationship works so well. Each person knows what is expected of them and they can easily bring to the relationship what is needed.

Coach’s Role:
- listens to the client on multiple levels continually
- asks powerful, direct, playful and thought provoking questions
- helps the client to move forward by assisting the client in setting goals, planning and strategizing
- believes the client to be whole, creative and resourceful
- is unattached to being right or to the outcome
- shows up authentically and is present while in the session
- sets appropriate boundaries and policies
- gives perspectives, options, ideas and solutions to help create awareness in the client
- supports the client in finding their own solutions

Client’s Role:
- supplies the agenda or topic of discussion for each session
- shows up authentically and is present while in the session
- comes to the session centered and ready to engage
- is honest and truthful
- does the “work”
- is responsible for their own successes, decisions, choices, actions and feelings
- makes a commitment to self

3. The Coaching Session
The session is all about being in the moment and flows like a dance between the coach and the client. It begins with the client’s agenda then follows with questions and exploration until the client experiences what we call their “a-ha” moment. From there the client makes a shift and they decide what their next action steps will be and choose a timeline in which to complete them. They also decide who will hold them accountable. Often it is the coach who will be their accountability partner.
(For further details about The Coaching Session be sure to read the Frequently Asked Questions page.)

4. In Between Sessions
A lot can happen in the session itself but it is what the client does in between sessions that really puts words into action and helps the client to create changes in their life! It is the client’s job to complete, within their chosen time frame, the action steps decided upon in the session. The client may have requested the coach to be their accountability partner and may contact the coach by e-mail to let them know how things went.

I like to compare coaching to personal training. With coaching, like training, you can feel a difference even after only one session. But you really start to see the differences after many committed and consistent sessions. Coaching is also very much about the work that the client does on their own in between sessions, just like working with a trainer.