ASK JUDY THE COACH Part 1:
What IS Coaching?
Despite how popular coaching has become in the mainstream, and how quickly coaching as an industry has grown worldwide – both in professionalization and the number of practicing coaches – many are still unclear about what coaching really is.
Maybe you, like many others, have heard your friends or colleagues describe their own positive experiences with coaching as: “life changing” or “transformative.” And yet you, like many others, are not exactly clear about how this powerful tool for personal and professional development, life advancement, and spiritual evolution can uniquely help you create the change and transformation you want to see in your own life and work.
If you find yourself among these ‘many,’ this 5-part series is for you.
In this series, I will answer the 5 questions I get asked most frequently to help you understand more about what coaching is and what to look for in identifying the right coach for you to work with.
The first question is, of course: What IS Coaching?
The International Coach Federation officially defines coaching as:
“Partnering with a Client in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. In this process, the Coach honors the Client as the expert in her/his life and work and believes the Client to be creative, resourceful, and whole. Standing on this foundation, the Coach’s responsibility is to: discover, clarify, and align with what the Client wants to achieve; encourage Client self-discovery; elicit Client-generated solutions and strategies; and hold the Client responsible and accountable. This process, in turn, helps the Client dramatically improve their outlook on work and life, while improving leadership and life skills, and unlocking their potential.”
In my practice, I define coaching as:
“A partnership process through which the Coach and Client work together in moving the Client toward learning and action on specific issues that s/he determines will bring them increased fulfillment, more balance, and a more effective process in their work and life, in order to achieve success in areas that hold deep meaning and value for the Client. A Coach is a patient listener, asks powerful questions, and provides calm, reflective guidance that honors the Client as naturally creative, resourceful, and whole; and supports the Client in accessing the revelations, answers, and creative power for change s/he naturally embodies.”
In applying this definition of coaching to my practice, I support you, the Client, in:
1) establishing a clear vision for your life (personally and professionally), one that holds the deepest meaning for you;
2) setting concrete goals to advance you toward that vision; and
3) identifying and engaging the action steps that will not only help make your vision reality, but will also serve as sustainable tools for creating a more meaningful, authentic, joyful, and successful life.
As a result, I offer coaching as a uniquely tailored life process and personal/professional developmental tool that supports my Clients in their capacity to:
- discover and engage their own inherent power for healing in their life and work;
- access the internal wisdom for their lives that only they possess and that will powerfully guide them to and through their own process of change and transformation; and
- reveal and experience for themselves the power of their own Soul in creating and living the life and work of deep meaning, purpose, and joy that they most desire.
REMEMBER: any coach you are considering working with should be able to provide you with the definition of coaching, and the coaching process and philosophy, that guides their coaching practice so that you can determine if their definition of coaching is a good match for your developmental needs and will support you in your goals for growth, change, and evolution.
In PART 2 of this series, I will offer my thoughts on the question:
What qualifications should I look for in a Coach?
How would you define coaching?
What is a definition of coaching that would speak to/resonate with you?
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