The International Coaching Federation defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.” What that means is that the coach, by creating a safe container and utilising mental models, helps clients unravel, explore, and discover new insights of the topics they are interested in discussing, and then take actions accordingly.
It’s a conversation, where the coach will ask questions that invite the client to change his or her thinking paradigm, see things from different angles, and consider alternatives he or she hasn’t thought about before, to achieve the goal that was established.
Is coaching for you?
It all starts with your desire to change. Acknowledging that there is something in your life that you want to or need changing is the first step (for a successful coaching program). The change can be a personal issue, a relationship problem you haven’t found a solution to yet, a dilemma at work, a dream you want to pursue… anything.
Next is deciding if you want to tackle this challenge alone or with a coach. If you decide to go with a coach, you will then start the coaching process.
What is the coaching process?
An analogy I like to make is that the coaching process is like solving a jigsaw puzzle. At first, the pieces are all scattered and some are even upside down. Slowly you turn some of these pieces face up, and you start finding connections between pieces. As more and more connections are made, the groups will become bigger. Sometimes you focus on trying to find more pieces of one particular group, with a common color pattern or design. Other times you are trying to explore unexplored areas of your picture, forming other groups with other colours. You will start seeing the possibility of connecting different groups together. Eventually, there will be only a few pieces left, but now most of the solution is already laid out.
The upside-down pieces are your unknown knowns, i. e., things that you don’t know that you know. Two connected pieces are two different thoughts that combine to tell a full sentence or a sequence of events. A group of pieces together starts forming an idea. And when different groups combine, that’s when ideas compound with each other and a possible conclusion starts taking shape.
All of this might take 30 mins or multiple months after many sessions, it all depends on the topic being discussed.
It’s important to highlight that the coach is not an expert in the topic being discussed… you are. The same is true about the ownership of the actions and the outcome desired for the coaching conversations. It’s up you to do the work. But what this means is that the coach is not going to be imposing ideas on you. The coach will be listening, honouring your wisdom, and guiding you to find your own conclusion.