10 Jun
Coaching nowadays is a buzzword, we hear in different places and contexts, often interchanged with mentoring. You can get coaching in many various topics: life, love, executive, development and career. But what makes coaching so powerful and effective tool to drive someone’s development? Find out more in this post.
What is coaching?
As mentioned before, coaching is often used as a synonym of mentoring, though there is quite a difference between the two. There are many definitions, but usually coaching is a process, where a coach – a supportive figure through conversations, exercises helps the recipient (or coachee) to achieve a specific goal. The coachee receive guidance and support to create those goals, the means to achieve them and to execute those plans. Though the coach is usually a more experienced and knowledgeable person in this relationship, usually they don’t provide knowledge transfer or benchmarking – those usually happen outside. Mentoring on the other hand heavily relies on the mentor’s knowledge and experience and its transfer to the learner; therefore it should not be considered as the same as coaching.
How coaching works?
Coaching is always a very personal matter, relies on a strong, supportive relationship between the coach and the client. Usually the starting point or the preposition of coaching is to identify the development area or need and to take steps to create a goal related to this and execute them. The coach and the coachee meets regularly and during the sessions they both have conversations and exercises to support the development. Similarly to a therapy session, the coach leads the conversation with questions and reflecting on the answers provided by the coachee. A coach never suggests or advises actions, rather guides, leads the client to the right approach. Each session requires preparations from the recipient, often via research, networking etc. Depending on the goals and premise of coaching, it may end with client’s ready to implement plan or until the goals are achieved.
Why coaching is important and good for your development?
There are many benefits of coaching, but I think the most important reason of its effectiveness is relying on the fact, that it is always individual, very personal and empowers the recipient to take actions. Without the trusting and supporting relationship, coaching does not work; as well as the “one size fits all” approach can not applied here. Coaching always relies on the actions and active participation of the recipient and the learning, development happens in an active way compared to if the person would receive a classical classroom training, which is more passive. Coaching also relies on effective communication skills; self-expression, self-reflection in an honest, non-judgmental, supportive environment. Learning and developing in an active way, relying on the actions and participation of the person – combined with the previously mentioned leaves a bigger impact and boosts motivation and confidence.
As we summarized, coaching is a very powerful and effective tool for development and it can be applied to many different fields of our lives and almost everyone can benefit from it. At SORUL we provide the opportunity for our clients to receive career and development coaching, no matter where you are in your career and what you would like to achieve, we are here to support you on your journey. Explore our offerings and contact us now!