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What is Coaching?

 

“Who, exactly, seeks out a coach?…Winners who want even more out of life.”
~ Chicago Tribune

If you are looking for a partnership that can help you accomplish extraordinary and fulfilling results in your professional, personal or business life, you’ve come to the right place.  Coaching is about you….your success.The International Coach Federation (ICF) defines coaching as:


“Partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”

ICF is the leading global coaching organization, with over 21,000 members, dedicated to advancing the coaching profession by setting high professional standards, providing independent certification, and building a network of credentialed coaches.Professional coaches are trained to listen, observe and facilitate the exploration of the client’s motivations, desires, skills and thinking to create permanent lasting change. A professional coach begins with the belief that the client is creative, resourceful and whole.  Thus, the coach’s job is to enhance and develop the skills, resources and creativity the client already has.

What Can a Coach Do For You?

  • Help you explore and clarify relevant goals, consistent with personal and professional values;
  • Elicit you generate solutions and strategies;
  • Help you see blind spots and give you objective feedback; see new perspectives
  • Accelerate achievement of your goals by providing focus, accountability, tools and support;
  • Challenge you to do more than they would on their own
“If you’re thinking of overhauling your career to achieve a more fulfilling life, consider joining the estimated 100,000 Americans who annually enlist the help of some 4,000 personal coaches each year.”
~ Money

How is coaching different from consulting? Therapy?  Sports coaching? A best friend?


Consulting
— Consultants are typically hired for their expertise to solve a specific client problem.  Consultants recommend and often implement the solutions for a client.  Coaches differ in that they help the client figure out the solution to the problem and they coach the client from behind the scene to stay focused, accountable and achieve the solution on their own.

With the increase in coaching popularity, many consultants have added the word “coach” to their titles, however many have not received ICF accredited coach-specific training.  It is important to discover whether a coach has received ICF accredited training rather than appending a title on their business card.

Therapy — Coaching is not therapy. Coaching does not seek to resolve the deeper underlying issues that are the cause of serious problems like poor motivation, low self-esteem and poor job performance. Coaching is generally more concerned with helping the client achieve specific desired goals or changes in behavior.

Sports Coaching— Coaching includes several principles from sports coaching, like teamwork, going for the goal, being your best. But unlike sports coaching, most professional coaching is not competition or win/lose based. We strengthen the client’s skills vs. help them beat the other team. It’s win/win.

Best friend — A best friend is wonderful to have. But is your best friend a professional who you will trust to advise you on the most important aspects of your life and/or business? And, like family members, best friends have a stake in the game…..they may be personally attached to a specific outcome.  Keep your best friend, and hire a coach.

What is the basic philosophy of coaching?


In a world of increasing interconnectedness and rapid change, there is a growing need to evolve or be left behind.  Change is simply easier with support.  Trained, professional coaches provide a supportive environment to self-reflect, explore and design achievable and desirable change.

Who hires a coach?

Business owners
Mothers
Career changers
Entrepreneurs
Athletes
Doctors
About to-be retirees
Executives
Lawyers
Managers
Leaders
Adventurers
Business start ups
Anyone who wants to make a change

Why Hire a Coach?

  • You want more of something.
  • You want less of something.
  • You want faster, easier change.
  • You want more money.
  • You want a better job.
  • You want to develop your leadership skills.
  • You want better relationships.
  • You want to start a business.
  • You want to lose weight, get healthier, more fit.
  • You want to have more fun.
  • You want support to achieve a goal, any goal.
It’s as simple as that. Coaches accelerate your journey.

“The goal of coaching is the goal of good management:  to make the most of an organization’s valuable resources.”
~ Harvard Business Review

What happens when you hire a coach?

Many things, but the most important are:
  • You take yourself more seriously.
  • You take more effective and focused actions immediately.
  • You stop putting up with what is dragging you down.
  • You create momentum so it’s easier to get results.
  • You set better goals that you might not have without the coach.
  • You simply get things done that you’ve already dreamed about doing.

Why does coaching work?


Coaching works for several reasons:
  • Synergy between the coach and client creates momentum.
  • Better goals are set — ones that naturally pull the client toward the goal rather than goals that require the client to push themselves to the goal.
  • The client develops new skills, and these skills translate into more success.

ICF Sacramento is simply the premier source for trained professional coaches in Greater Sacramento and surrounding communities.






ICF Sacramento
3308 El Camino Ave, Suite 300-110
Sacramento, CA 95821
United States of America