Almost everyone has heard about coaching, but very few people actually know what coaching is. When people ask what coaching is, I have several responses:
- Coaching is helping people move from good to great. Coaching is not about fixing people, rather it is about developing people. Coaches work with people that are basically healthy and whole. We believe that they have what they need to further develop and progress professionally and personally.
- Coaching is about shortening the learning curve. The assumption in this definition is that the person is going to reach their goal on their own. Coaching simply helps accelerate the process by helping them get there faster.
- The best way to understand coaching is to be coached or to observe coaching. While is it helpful to have language to define what coaching is, people really understand what coaching is when they experience it firsthand. To help you to understand more about coaching, I have provided a coaching demonstration below.
Watch a Coaching Demonstration:
What are others saying about coaching?
Top Skills for Leaders
According to Forbes Magazine and 140 CEO’s, the top 10 skills that leaders should possess includes: Coaching. (This Is What Leadership Will Be In 2030, Benjamin Laker, Forbes, December 10, 2021). It is one of the top 10 skills because great coaches motivate, inspire and engage their teams while caring about each member as an individual. Likewise, future leaders need to appreciate employees as individuals as opposed to viewing everyone as just workers. The best coaches and leaders develop their people to be more successful than themselves.
The Benefits of a Coaching Culture
According to a recent ICF Report, 2019 Building Strong Coaching Cultures for the Future, companies with a strong coaching culture are 3 times more likely to be classified as high performing when compared to companies which do not employ a coaching culture.
