What is Coaching?

Frequently Asked Questions about Coaching

What is Coaching?
Why would I need a coach?
Why is coaching suddenly so popular?
What about coaching makes it successful?
Why can't I just talk with my partner or a close friend?
How is coaching done?
What would I work on with a coach?
How are coaching sessions conducted?
How do I pick a coach?
Are coaches trained or professionally qualified?
How much does coaching cost?
How are businesses using coaching?
What's the difference between a coach and a consultant?
What's the difference between a coach and a therapist?
Are there coaching specialties?
What is the media saying about coaching?

Return to NCCA home page

What is Coaching?

The International Coach Federation (ICF) defines coaching as "an ongoing partnership that helps clients produce fulfilling results in their personal and professional lives." We often recognize that we want something to change, but we aren't sure how to make it happen. Coaching is about making it happen. A coach can help you clarify what you really want, break through the blocks, determine a course of action and stay on track to mastering your life.

Personal, professional, business and life coaching are all part of a newer profession that synthesizes the best from psychology, business, transformational change, finance, philosophy and spirituality to benefit YOU, the client. It is different from consulting, friendship, therapy or advice. It is a special type of relating that catalyzes the attainment of your chosen goals and outcomes. Such a relationship can transform lives.

Coaching relationships can cover issues of career guidance, time management, goal setting, family relations, physical wellness, financial guidance, creativity, lowering stress, fitness, self-confidence, spiritual discovery, education and more.

Why would I need a coach?

Living the kind of lifestyle you genuinely want is difficult enough to do by yourself. Having your own life coach, someone who is totally committed to assisting you to achieve what you really want in all areas of your life, makes successful living so much easier. The coach-client relationship is unique. The coach becomes your advocate, champion, challenger, unconditional supporter, truth-teller and confidant. You become highly skilled at attaining your chosen goals, empowered to realize and manifest your talents, and move quickly from problems to solutions, from insights to actions, and from maintaining the status quo to achieving completely new outcomes in your life.

Good coaches provide unconditional support, understanding and acceptance for who you are and what you want for your life. A coach helps you discover who you want to be and keeps you moving forward by capitalizing on your special talents.

Why is coaching suddenly so popular?

Our society is shifting away from old definitions of success and is reforming around more personal definitions. People who hire coaches are looking for the next step toward their own personal success. They are willing to invest in a relationship that supports them in that process. While still in it's infancy, life coaching is emerging as the latest evolution in the self-improvement industry, but is extending even further into the corporate world as well as the lives of individuals.

What about coaching makes it successful?

Coaching works because of three characteristics: synergy, structure and expertise. You and the coach become a partnership/team and accomplish much more than you would alone. You take more action, think bigger and get the desired results, thanks to your accountability--monitored without judgment by the coach. Finally, the coach knows how to assist you to set the best goals, make better decisions and restructure your professional and personal lives for maximum productivity toward creating your desired future.

Why can't I just talk with my partner or a close friend?

Many of us have confidants with whom we share our challenges and our dreams. We are blessed to have these people in our lives. Nonetheless, even those who love us the most see us through eyes conditioned by past experiences and often can't resist giving us unsolicited advice. Such advice can often confuse us more, or pressure us to follow someone else's path.

A coach brings the benefits of objectivity, non-judgment and confidentiality. A coach helps you become accountable to yourself so that the decisions you make and the actions you choose move you in the direction YOU want to go. Imagine having a partner who is 100% committed to you, your happiness and your success.

How is coaching done?

Each coaching relationship is unique and coaching formats are customized to meet a client's needs. Coaches use powerful combinations of questions and requests to achieve results. A coach gives you support and feedback, and helps you to evaluate your actions and your results. A coach won't be interested in the past. He or she will want to know who you are now and who you want to become. It is not a coach's job to tell you what to do. It is a coach's job to empower you to sort through your own beliefs and values and make your own decisions based on what is best for you.

While clients do hire coaches to get a job, start a business, make more money or improve their career, the relationship often evolves into something much deeper. The coach listens carefully for the "heart" behind the words as the client shares dreams, goals or aspirations.

What would I work on with a coach?

In partnership with your coach, you will address anything you genuinely want, including such things as creating a balance between professional and personal life, business planning, developing high-quality relationships and so much more. Whether your challenges are personal, professional or both, a coach's job is to help you to identify what is working, to discover where constructive changes are needed, and to help you make these changes happen. This way you build upon what already works, discard what doesn't work and redirect your energies along a path of your own conscious choosing.

How are coaching sessions conducted?

While every coach is unique and most customize their services to meet specific client needs, it is common for coaches to meet with their clients on a weekly basis, often by telephone, for thirty to sixty minutes. The client calls the coach at the appointed time. Between sessions, the coaches and client simply exchange information by fax or e-mail when needed.

How do I pick a coach?

Coaching is a relationship based on rapport and trust. It is important that you feel comfortable with your coach. Therefore, your first role as a client is to shop for a coach. Make a list of questions. You should try to write down what you think you want from a coach: in what areas you want to make progress, how you think you would work best, what experience or specialty the coach should have. Speak with at least two people before you make your selection. Ask for a free sample session.

Are coaches trained or professionally qualified?

There are several training programs available to coaches. When selecting a coach, ask about their credentials and experience.

How much does coaching cost?

Coaching fees vary, but usually range from $200 per month on up for personal coaching sessions. Some coaches use a sliding scale to accommodate clients' needs. Fees are normally paid in advance, on a monthly basis. Some coaches offer group coaching with lower fees per person.

How are businesses using coaching?

Coaching is fast becoming a "must-have" in the corporate/business world. Management is evolving from the command and control model to a new perspective where employees are empowered at all levels, leading to a positive impact on the company's bottom line. Communication, cooperation, creativity and motivation for top productivity are no longer empty buzzwords, but a byproduct of practical tools and strategies developed and implemented by professional coaches.

For companies across the country, coaching sessions are becoming part of the business routine, using either internal coach specialists, coach/managers who are trained in coaching techniques, or external coaches hired from outside the company. Employers find that one-on-one coaching sessions and coaching circles keep employees focused on company goals. These sessions result in more effective problem solving, increased productivity and improved communications. Coaching helps employees find balance between their personal and professional lives creating happier employees, which translates into less stress, less sick time, less burnout and less employee turnover. Coaching also helps employees retain what they learn during training and effectively implement new skills.

What's the difference between a coach and a consultant?

While certain consultants may use coaching techniques to find out the client's needs, they are primarily paid for their expertise in a certain field--they TELL the client what to do. Coaching is all about you-YOU have the answers. Coaches can share their experiences, but the prime idea person and decision-maker is YOU!

What's the difference between a coach and a therapist?

Unlike counseling or therapy, a coach will not deal with "emotional problems", "past issues" or current traumatic experiences. Coaches usually work with highly functional, successful people who want to go beyond the average to create an extraordinary life.

Are there coaching specialties?

While you might seek coaching for one aspect of your life-say, problems at work or problems at home-over the course of your coaching sessions you may discover reasons to focus on other parts of your life. Most coaches are trained to coach people with a whole-life approach. However, coaches do sometimes develop expertise in specific areas such as Business Coaching, Spiritual Coaching, or Executive Coaching.

In Business Coaching, the coach and the client take a look at the client's (often small-) business and evaluate how solid its foundation is. Areas to focus on include business planning, marketing, profitability, managing growth, attracting business, and establishing systems. Spiritual Coaching concentrates the coaching on your spiritual life in deeper context than general Life Coaching. Executive Coaches have experience coaching high level managers in their unique situation-they often do not have people around them who they can be totally candid with about business situations. There are other 'niches' that coaches often have. When you are looking for a coach, ask about a coach's specialty in order to make a good match with your needs.

What is the media saying about coaching?

Inc. Magazine calls personal and business coaching "the management tool of the 1990s".

Newsweek (2/5/96) says, "Need a Life? Get a Coach." "Part consultant, part motivational speaker, part therapist and part rent-a-friend, coaches work with managers, entrepreneurs and just plain folks, helping them define and achieve their goals-career, personal, or most often, both."

Money Magazine, December 1997, "Live Your Dreams/Change Your Life." "…a personal coach is a new breed of consultant who is a combination of job counselor and psychotherapist…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. For $200 to $500 a month, a coach will help you identify your marketable skills, define your life and career goals, and then create a game plan to help you reach them. These job and life counselors will then check in with you weekly--most often by phone--to keep tabs on your progress and encourage you to stay on course. Typically people stay with their coaches for three months to a year…Unlike career consultants who simply help executives find new jobs, personal coaches act as combination job advisors and lifestyle therapists, addressing all aspects of your life, including such issues as how to spend more time with your family."

Return to NCCA home page