What Is Coaching? (got a phone? change your life! )

according to the International Federation of Coaches
"professional coaches provide an ongoing partnership designed to help clients produce fulfilling results in their personal and professional lives. coaches help people improve their performances and enhance the quality of their lives. coaches are trained to listen, to observe and to customize their approach to individual client needs. they seek to elicit solutions and strategies from the client; they believe the client is naturally creative and resourceful. the coach's job is to provide support to enhance the skills, resources, and creativity that the client already has."

according to melinda
WHAT??!

i must say that i believe every word written above, and everyday i try to instill this definition into my practice, but let's be honest - that definition reads like a bunch of doublespeak and fancy phrasing that sounds good, but doesn't really explain what coaching is. therefore, let me simplify it for you in layman's terms (i'm a big believer in simplifying).

when i tell people i am a coach, a lot of them ask me "what sport?" you may laugh, but i like to think that i coach people in the game of life. yes, i know that sounds a bit cheesy, but if you think about it, we are all participants in a big game. we even talk about life as though we are athletes - "running in the race" , "taking the plunge", "jumping from one thing to another", "making goals" for ourselves, "climbing to the top", "skating by" with some things and "hitting it out of the park" with others. we are just a bunch of players in a game.

well, athletes have coaches to help them win. these coaches take the athlete's vision, help them plan a strategy to reach it and work with them through the steps, pushing them when the athlete is ready to give up, and cheering them on along the way. this is not much different than what i do for my clients. i take your goal, help you plan your attack, show you how to manage obstacles along the way, and encourage you with excitement, enthusiasm and without judgement.

first of all, a coaching relationship is a very special one, and it is important that the client and the coach are well-suited for each other. to assure this, i offer a FREE coaching session so we can get to know each other and discover if your needs as a client match my skills as a coach - plus personal chemistry is important in any relationship! hopefully, we'd then make the decision to move forward.

as your coach, i would ask you to tell me what you want to achieve from our work together. many clients are not sure how to answer this - they know they want something...they know they want a change...but they're not always sure how to articulate their wants - perhaps they're overwhelmed with the fast pace of today's world, and can't find the time to stop and really focus on what they want. that's where i come in.

i will ask you questions to extract the basic truths of your life...one by one...and then these little elements will form a big picture that will give you a clear view of how things really are. usually from here, we can move on to defining goals, setting up strategies, creating step-by-step solutions and acknowledging your accomplishments.

sometimes all one needs to achieve their dreams is a little help. i provide that help as an interviewer, a guide, a sounding board, an objective voice of reason, a cheerleader who truly believes in you - and as a friend. i also try make sure that the whole process is a lot of FUN!

i have some other, somewhat unconventional, ideas about coaching that can be found in the FAQ. i recommend you read this to gain some more information about coaching, to learn a bit more about who i really am, and to determine if we might work well together. at the very least, reading it will hopefully make you laugh a little!

read more about coaching in this article that appeared in Newsweek.

want to find out if you're a good candidate for coaching? take this quick quiz!