What is personal coaching. Coaching - what is it?

". Let's talk about something bigger and more mysterious. And at the same time, how good coaching differs from quackery.

What is coaching? This word appeared in our open spaces recently. And if earlier people dealt with their attics with the help of psychologists, now coaches have taken over the matter. In this article we will try to answer the questions:

Let's finish our language introduction and continue.

Coaching - what is it?

Coaching is a conversation between two people:

• one (coach) knows what to ask,
• and the second (client) is looking for answers.

The main idea of ​​coaching— the client himself on our own based their knowledge finds answers. Why yourself and based on your knowledge? Because people hear a lot, a lot of “advice” that never helps. A couple more tips won’t change anything :) Only a personal analysis of your own experience can change the situation.

Of course, this idea has been implemented many times before and in various forms. For example, almost 3 thousand years ago, Socrates taught people in a similar way - he did not answer their questions directly, but encouraged them to look for answers on their own. Since then it has been called the “Socratic method of teaching.”

Besides Socrates, they liked to use this method in spiritual training. Not here, where spiritual training was very limited. And in the East. For example, almost all Sufi wisdom was passed on from teacher to student in such a way that the student himself found answers to his questions. We cannot guarantee that all Sufis studied this way 🙂 But history has conveyed exactly this method.

Among modern but earlier systems, for example, auditing is a communication in which the main work is not of the consultant, but of the client.

But why, nevertheless, precisely “on your own strength and on the basis of your knowledge?” Because otherwise a person will achieve not his own goals, but the goals of the “adviser”. And this already smells bad...

Who is a coach and what does he do?

A coach is either a person who has read a book on the subject or someone who has received some training (for example, from Coach University). Since we don’t want to rewrite books on the subject, we won’t dwell too much on what a coach does, especially since it’s difficult to apply without training.

It’s better that we talk about the two main points that a coach SHOULD NOT DO, so that you can determine whether he is working with you as a charlatan or as a professional.

The first and most important thing that a coach should not do is tell your opinion. Actually, not even once. No customer ratings. For example, the client says “my mother hurt me.” If the coach says

• "this is bad",
• "I wouldn't think about it"
• "it is important",
• "do not pay attention"
• etc.,

then this is a charlatan.

Real the coach will say something like “I see, how can this help you?”

Why? Because any opinion from a coach violates the basic idea of ​​coaching (see previous section).

The second thing a coach should not do is devalue the client. That is, the statement “my mother offended me” should not sound

• "it's a lie",
• "all mothers are good"
• "you're wrong"
• and any other statement discrediting the client's revelations.

Those who allow themselves such remarks are simply half-educated.

Professional instead of devaluing, it will give significance, for example, “pay attention to how she did it and find something good there.”

Why? Again, any devaluation of the client violates the core idea of ​​coaching (see previous section).

You can say: “But, excuse me, any conversation one way or another contains either an expression of an opinion or some devaluation, especially when the interlocutor is wrong - why shouldn’t a coach do this?”

How does a coaching session work?

Yes, in general, it’s simple. The coach asks leading questions. And in the process of answering, the client finds the answer to his main question, for the sake of which everything was started.

Let us illustrate this with an example. Let's say we have a coach Vasya and a client Petya. Petya comes and says:

- I have problems in my life.

Coach Vasya answers:

- From you... money.

Petya agrees, and the process begins. Coach Vasya:

— What valuable things are not happening in your life right now?

Petya thinks for a long time, then says:

- Yes, a lot of things. For example, there is no money.

To this the coach says:

- What is valuable in this?

Petya is surprised by the question:

- Come on, you can buy food with money. Clothes.

But the coach is experienced, doesn’t twitch in surprise, doesn’t say “you’re a sheep, money doesn’t buy happiness,” but continues:

- What else is valuable in this?

Petya begins to list:

— With money you can buy a car, an apartment, girls, drugs… .. …. ..

The coach is not far behind:

- Why is this valuable to you?

Petya at first does not understand how this question differs from the previous one, but then he realizes:

- Well, all this brings pleasure...

Actually, coach.vasya has done half the work, but to be on the safe side:

- What else?

Here Petya (under good conditions and high IQ) thinks, compares, analyzes and understands:

- Eh, I don’t need money, in general, but pleasure. Although I already have a lot of pleasure... What I’m really interested in is how, along with the pleasure, I won’t end up without a livelihood?

Coach Vasya is glad that the client asked a more correct question, and gets down to business:

- If you knew the answer, what would it be?

Client Petya does not expect this and begins to think:

- So, the answer would be... like... yeah, something like this: “Calculate what the cost of living is needed and invest the rest in pure pleasure.”

Vasya continues to forge iron:

-What else is missing from this?

Petya thinks for a while, then answers:

Coach Vasya is happy with the progress and polishes:

- What else?

Now Petya understands the system:

“So, there’s somehow not enough pleasure in this job, as well as money.” It would be nice to change jobs... Yes, exactly. I love growing plants. I have 20 pots of excellent herbs on my windowsill. Right now I can open the business “Growing spices as a business”; To be safe, I don’t even need to quit my job - I’ll work via the Internet... hurray! Thank you Vasya!

As you can see, on the part of coach Vasya - the right questions + lack of evaluation and devaluation. And on the client side, Petit’s main job is to analyze life.

Of course, such an effective and short session only occurs:

• a) under the guidance of a professional
• b) with a prepared client.

But the main thing here, of course, is a professional who can easily prepare the client to the required level of ability. It's time to move on to the next question:

What is the result of coaching?

There are two options. The first is if the coaching was not done correctly. The second - if professional and correct.

In the first case, the result will be minimal. And it will be no different from a session of psychoanalysis, consultation with a psychologist, on Tarot cards and. Why? Because a bad session = it was not the client who thought, but the coach. Therefore, the decisions are not of the client, but of the coach. And the coach can implement them - but not the client.

You can easily determine the result of professional coaching:

1. The client is cheerful and smiling.
2. The client is sociable.
3. The client recommends the coach to anyone and everyone.
4. The client found the answer to his question.
5. The client is confident that he is able to implement the solution.
6. The client knows what to do if he cannot implement the solution - because he has developed alternative plans.
7. Over the course of several professional sessions, the client regains the ability to analyze life and find solutions, and he does not need a coach to do this.
8. The client's life REALLY changes for the better and he REALLY solves problems.

This is the difference :) And the key point is the eighth. Because any good communication without depreciation and evaluation produces points 1 to 7. Well, the eighth point is a consequence of the coordinated work of the coach and the client, not out of fear, but out of conscience :)

Is it possible to do coaching on your own?

The only question is whether you are a professional at this. Well, and luck, of course. You can solve minor problems yourself. But the difficult ones... Usually people cannot even look at difficult problems, let alone solve them. One of the tasks of a coach is to support, help, and encourage you to look at what a person usually cannot see. But, again, only highly professional coaches are capable of this.

We hope we answered all your questions :)

If you forgot anything, ask questions in the comments!

1 In fact, of course, coaching comes from the English “coach”, trainer (and, oddly enough, carriage, cart, bus). What's the connection? First, of course, the meaning “carriage” appeared. Then "car". Then there is the “vehicle fleet manager who instructs how to handle the machines.” Well, then - the instructor himself. .

In this article I want to shed light on the topic of coaching, since in the post-Soviet space a lot of ambiguous information about coaching and coaches has gathered. Some people ended up with the right coaches and were very happy with the results, while others ended up with charlatans and realized that they simply lost money.

In addition, I will give you some tools so that you can experience what coaching is like.

In this article I will tell you:

• Who is a coach (history, definition).
• The difference between a coach and a psychologist, trainer, consultant.
• How to distinguish a coach from a charlatan.
• What questions do clients turn to a coach for?
• How can a coach be useful to a client?
• What does a typical coaching session look like?
• How much can a coach earn?
• Could coaching be beneficial for you?
• Can you become a coach.
• What does it take to become a coach?
• My journey as a coach: how I became one and what it gave me.

I am sure that my thoughts will seem objective to you, since, on the one hand, I am a certified coach, and on the other hand, coaching is not a source of my income, since my main job is personnel management on the largest Ukrainian TV channel. In addition, I myself hire coaches to develop company employees and see different representatives of this profession.

I have been a certified coach for several years now. When I tell others that I am a coach, I am constantly asked the same questions:

• Who is a coach? What is this, a personal growth coach?
• How do you work with clients? You probably give them advice?
• Is it true that clients pay $100 for one coaching session?
• And are you really just asking questions?

Everyone has heard the word “coach” for a long time. Each of us has different associations when we hear the word “coach”. Some people imagine a personal growth coach, some a psychologist, some a charlatan information businessman, and some, perhaps, an avid NLPer.

Of course, none of this has anything to do with coaching. It’s just that all these people at one time caught the trend in the popularity of coaching and began, among other regalia, to attribute to themselves the newfangled word “coach”.

Real coaches don't teach anything at all.

But everyone will probably agree on one thing: coaches make good money. And this is really true. A coaching session even for a beginning coach costs $50, but experienced coaches charge from $100 to $200. But there are those who can charge $500 or even $1,000, but these are usually very well-known coaches who work with business owners, and this work is limited to either a series of intensive coaching sessions, with a pause of 6-12 months between them, or, on the contrary, occasional meetings once a month.

But what’s most amazing is that real coaches (and I’ll tell you who a real coach is below) don’t teach anything at all. They don't tell you what decisions to make, they don't force you to work better or harder. And what is no less striking is that they talk to the client not about his past, but, as a rule, about the future.

So why do people who ask questions about the future get thousands of dollars from their clients?

Let's try to figure it out. Let's start with the definition.

What is coaching?

Official version:

Coaching(English coaching - education, training) - a method of consulting and training, differs from classical training and classical counseling in that the coach does not give advice and strict recommendations, but looks for solutions together with the client.

My version:

Coaching- this is a special type of work of a coach with a client, thanks to which the client achieves outstanding results faster, more joyfully and easier than he himself would work to achieve them.

A little history

TIMOTHY GALLWEY

It all started with Timothy Gallwey, who was the originator of the concept of the inner game, which formed the basis of coaching. The concept was first outlined in the book The Inner Game of Tennis, published in 1974. This date can be considered the date of birth of coaching.

The idea of ​​the inner game came to him while working as a tennis instructor.

The opponent in your head is much more dangerous than the opponent on the other side of the net. The coach's job is to help the player eliminate or mitigate internal obstacles. As a result, a person's natural ability to learn and achieve effectiveness will emerge. The purpose of the "inner game" is to reduce any interference with the development and realization of a person's full potential.

Timothy Gallwey

JOHN WHITMORE

He developed Gallwey's ideas as applied to business and management. John Whitmore is a British racing driver, one of the UK's leading business coaches, and the creator of the popular GROW coaching model.

John was a student of Timothy Gallwey. In 2007, he received the President's Award from the International Coaching Federation (ICF), which recognized his work in promoting coaching worldwide.

THOMAS LEONARD

Considered the creator of coaching as we know it today.

Thomas was a financial consultant. One day he noticed that his most successful clients weren't asking him for financial advice so much as they were asking him for personal business advice. Business managers and top officials of companies were interested in learning how to quickly respond to a changing economic situation, how to effectively manage employees, and some simply could not formulate their future professional goals.

Here is just a small part of Thomas's achievements:

• Founder of the Coach University (Coach University - www.coachu.com), the International Coach Federation (ICF), the International Association of Certified Coaches (IAC) and the CoachVille.com project.
• Developed 28 personal and professional programs.
• Author of six books for coaches and 14 internal exclusive works for students of the Coaching University.
• Among the more than 28 programs he developed, Clean Sweep is a very popular one.

How coaching evolved

• From the 70s to the mid-80s - the stage of the emergence of coaching in the USA.
• Mid-80s - coaching began to spread in the United States.
• Mid-80s - coaching intensified in Germany.
• The end of the 80s - personnel development through coaching began in Germany.
• The beginning of the 90s - in Europe and the USA, the division of coaching into specializations began.
• Mid/late 90s - coaching is actively gaining momentum in Europe and America.
• From 2002 to the present day there has been a phase of in-depth professionalization.

The difference between coaching and other types of assistance and consulting is shown in the graph:

Thus, coaching is the only way of counseling in which the client is the expert, and the coach only asks questions.

How to distinguish a real coach from a real charlatan?

»
Separately, I would like to talk about the “coaches” who studied at Erickson University of Coaching.

It is worth noting that because Marilyn Atkinson spent many years of her life calling her former NLP teaching the newfangled word “coaching,” many students of this school are now perceived as coaches. I do not want to challenge their right to be called whatever they want, but I am obliged to shed light on this issue.

Who is Erickson, after whom his teachings are named:

• So, Erickson Milton Hyland (1901–1980) is one of the most popular American psychotherapists XX century.
• Wrote more than 140 papers on psychotherapy. In 1923 he developed a number of techniques hypnotherapy, including the hand raising method.
• Erickson - founder and president of the American Society clinical hypnosis(American society of clinical hypnosis), founder and editor of the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. Regularly conducted his famous seminars hypnotherapy and a short straight psychotherapy.

Erickson's biography does not indicate that he was a student of one of the well-known coaches at the time (they are on the list above). In addition, Erickson himself did not call himself a coach or his science coaching.

But then Marilyn Atkinson appeared, who taught her followers NLP. However, at some stage she began to call herself a coach, without indicating who she studied with. Here is information about it:

• Marilyn Atkinson - President of Erikson International University, Doctor of Psychology, coach, world-famous trainer, student Milton Erickson, a famous psychologist.
• Marilyn is the author of many works, has been teaching and consulting in leading corporations in the world since 1985, and is the founder and president of Erikson International University (Canada) to this day.
• Marilyn is the author of books on coaching: “Mastery of Life: Inner Dynamics of Development”, “ACHIEVEMENT OF GOALS: A Step-by-Step System”, “LIFE IN THE FLOW: Coaching”.

Therefore, internationally certified coaches often challenge Atkinson's right to call herself a coach, as well as her students.

What questions do clients turn to a coach for?

The range of questions with which clients turn to a coach is indeed very wide. Here are some of them:

• Business planning, budgeting, goal setting.
• Establishing a balance between work and personal life.
• Solving difficult situations.
• Achieving peak productivity at work.
• Solving business and personal problems.
• Making key decisions and developing strategies.
• Increased sales.
• Control my life instead of letting other people control me.
• Increase my company's profitability by at least...
• Take the adrenaline out of my life so I don't burn out.
• Accelerate my own development.
• Design a path for my own growth.

An example of specific queries that I worked with:

• Which career path to choose?
• How to overcome your weaknesses to become a marketing director.
• Learn to manage a company (the person recently became a partner).
• How to talk to a shareholder about your development.
• Increase your income by 50% in 6 months.
• Create passive income of $200 in 10 months.
• Purchase of a car (not on credit) for 1 year.
• Career growth to the position of manager in 1 year.
• Reducing the level of stress and tension so that work is fun.
• Find a boyfriend by the end of the year.
• Finding life balance (so that work does not come at the expense of other areas of life).
• Increased level of well-being and energy.
• Learn to manage your time, determine your capabilities and effectively determine deadlines for completing tasks.
• Bringing order to life (instead of the existing chaos).
• Lose 5 kg in 3 months.

What does a typical coaching session look like?

A typical coaching session lasts 60–90 minutes. If meetings are frequent, it may be reduced to 30–45 minutes. Meetings usually take place in a cafe or restaurant, as well as at the client’s workplace (in his office or meeting room). Less often, the client comes to the coach’s office.

Before the coaching session, the client forms his request - a certain task for the duration of the session. During the session, the client and the coach will have to find a solution to their request.

The result of a coaching session is a clear understanding of the client what to do to achieve his goal, and an action plan, usually for a week.

During the session, the coach asks the client questions and uses various coaching tools.

A typical coaching session follows the GROW model, which Whitmore came up with:

• Goal - what is your goal? What do you want to achieve?
• Reality - describe your situation now.
• Options - what are the options for achieving the goal? Who can help you? What do you need? Let's brainstorm.
• Will - what needs to be done to achieve the goal? What are the next steps? When could you do this?

One of the tasks of a coach is to raise the client's bar. That is, helping the client set higher goals so that he achieves more in life.

Now, as promised, I am giving you one of the coaching tools.

This is a tool for a comprehensive assessment of the client’s life and searching for weak points in it.

There are 30 questions here. Each question must be answered “yes” or “no”.

Now calculate your score separately in each area. If an area scores less than six “yes,” it means there are problems there. If eight or more, everything is fine. Between six and eight - it would be worth improving.

Now your goal is to get all 30 “yes” in 90 days. Weak? ;)

How much can a coach earn?

Most often, a coach will charge $100 per coaching session.

Clients do not apply once, but buy on average 5–10 coaching sessions (private clients usually take five, corporate clients - 10). In such cases, the coach can make discounts.

The coach is not 100% busy all the time. A load of 40–60% is considered good, since the remaining time is required for moving around the city, attracting new clients, maintaining websites, and so on.

Many coaches provide training, which generally also charge about $100 per hour.

Let's take a person's normal working day - 8 hours. At 40% load, our coach will work 3 hours a day. This will be three coaching sessions of 60 minutes each. For such a day, the coach will earn $300 (provided that the coach did not give discounts).

In 20 working days, a coach earns $6,000.

This is a person who does not engage in any other activity other than coaching. There are not many of them, but I know several representatives.

More often, a coach’s income ranges from $3,000 to $10,000.

If coaching is not the main activity for a person and in addition to it there is a permanent job, such a coach conducts no more than one session per day. And he doesn’t have clients for all 5 days. Usually this is 3–4 days. Which gives $300–400 per week or $1,200–1,600 in additional income per month.

There are also coaches who practice coaching solely to maintain their experience and conduct one session per week. Which gives 400 dollars a month.

Can coaching be beneficial for me?

Are you ready for coaching?

Rate it from 1 to 4, where 1 is false and 4 is completely true.

»
___________ total score

Result:

• 60–53. You are a very good candidate for coaching!
• 52–47. Are you ready. A slight resistance holds you back. This is where coaching can begin.
• 46–39. You're in a wait-and-see position. Before we get started, it's best we first talk about why you're thinking about coaching.
• 38–0. Come back when you're ready to make a decision. Now you are not ready to take responsibility and make significant changes in your life. Coaching for those who are READY. Now may not be your time yet. This slice gives you an understanding of where you are now.

Can I become a coach myself?

You can safely give a positive answer to this question if you can answer “yes” to all points:

• You want to help other people achieve their goals.
• We are ready to become a model for them and to achieve their goals in different areas of life.
• We are ready to devote time to training and basic coaching practice (more than 100 hours).
• You have time for coaching sessions after completing your training.
• Ready to learn, train, conduct sessions in the presence of others, and receive feedback from the trainer.

What does it take to become a coach?

The algorithm here is as follows:

1. Choose a school that suits your needs based on location, course timings, reviews, and ICF certification.
2. Raise money for the course ($1,000–$2,000).
3. Complete a training course (average 1-3 months of intensive classroom training for 2-3 days per week or 10-12 months of online classes once a week for 60-90 minutes).
4. Start hosting free coaching sessions. You need to spend at least 100 hours.
5. Start telling others that you have become a coach.
6. Create your website.
7. Start attracting clients.

My journey as a coach: how I became one and what it gave me

Initially, I went to study coaching not at all to practice coaching, but to improve my leadership skills. My team grew from 2 to 10 people, and I needed to learn how to manage them effectively. Since I had read all the main books on management at that time, I looked for management advice in the field of leadership.

Leadership training didn't spark my interest or respect, so I switched to coaching. I met a coach who told and showed me what coaching is, and my training began. I studied at the MAXIMUM International Coaching Academy (don’t consider it an advertisement) with Maxim Tsvetkov for 10 months, every week for 90 minutes in webinar format.

After completing all my homework, I began to set goals for myself, work to achieve them, and saw the effectiveness of coaching as a way to achieve goals (even though I just wanted to learn how to manage people).

Coaching works like magic: you just need to set a goal and understand the ways to achieve it, and you automatically start working on it.

At the end of the course, I already had clear goals in all areas of my life. In addition, my employees noticed changes in my management style, and our relationship became much better.

To obtain a certificate, I needed coaching practice, so I began coaching everyone I knew. It so happened that many of them achieved their goals very quickly. One of my subordinates, after a month of coaching, left for a higher position in another company with a salary twice as high. :)

I realized that coaching works like magic: you just need to set a goal and understand the ways to achieve it, and you automatically start working on it.

I received the certificate and began to inactively coach those clients who came to me mainly on recommendations. Over time, the number of such clients increases. But for me, my main priority is my career: I want to become a CEO in 5 years, so I don’t spend as much time on coaching as I could. For me, this is rather an opportunity to earn pocket money for my favorite toys (phone, laptop) on the weekend.

What coaching gave me:

• Achieving a number of goals (career, health, salary).
• Experience managing people in a more democratic style.
• Meeting new and interesting personalities.
• Awareness of your purpose.
• A more balanced life.
• Improving relationships with others.

Additional information on coaching and development can be found on my website. :)

Coaching is one of the many new words that burst into our lives and became familiar before people fully comprehended them. Coaching – what is it?

This is not training, although they have a lot in common, not the direction of psychotherapy, not counseling. A variety of people are involved in coaching, proudly calling themselves coaches, but often having difficulty explaining the principle of their activities.

And the literal translation of the word “coach” is even more confusing, because this concept is translated from English as “coach”, “cart”.

If you don’t see a goal in life, or it seems difficult to achieve, if you are tired of running in circles after a ghostly “carrot,” then you need a “carriage.” She will comfortably take you to the pinnacle of success along the shortest path. This is coaching.

Coaching is a personality-oriented activity that provides conditions for a person’s self-realization and accompanies him on the path to success.

The specialist who provides this support and creates the conditions is called a coach.

Why is coaching needed?

This is a relatively young phenomenon in the social life of society, which became famous in the late 1990s in the UK and the USA. But today, according to statistics on the website of the WPA - “Academy of Coaching Excellence”, in the United States about 50 thousand people consider themselves to be a “coach” profession.

And their number is constantly increasing. There are still significantly fewer coaches in Russia. According to the online magazine “Company Secrets”, there are only 3 thousand of them, but, according to forecasts, over the next 5 years this figure should increase 15 times.

Coaching is necessary in a difficult situation when a person himself cannot find a way out of it. And often he doesn’t even realize the problem, but simply feels dissatisfaction with life and a desire to change everything, but he doesn’t know what or how to change.

The work does not bring satisfaction, there are no prospects for growth, and the individual does not see himself in any other type of activity. A favorite activity that a person is willing to do 24 hours a day does not generate income. And I would like to turn it from a hobby into a business.

Life has faded and lost its colors, goals that one would like to strive for have disappeared from it.

The woman realizes with alarm that her existence has turned into a dull run in a circle: “home-work-home.” But life passes, and fear arises because of its meaninglessness.

Repeated attempts to organize your own business have ended in failure, and a person gives up and has a feeling of his own helplessness and mediocrity.

These are all real and familiar situations to us. Finding a way out of them on your own is very difficult, and often impossible, since a person sees his problems from the inside, and not in relation to the world around him, and is focused on his experiences, and not on prospects.

You can turn to friends for help, but they have enough problems of their own, and few people want to look like a loser in front of their friends.

It is in such situations that a coach is required - an inspiration, a professional in revealing a person’s potential, which he sometimes does not even suspect.

A coach has a set of techniques and techniques that allow you to understand your abilities, see real prospects for your activities and ways to achieve success.

Coaching as a type of activity

There are several areas of socio-psychological support for people who want to solve their problems or engage in self-development. They have a solid history, authority and proven methods.

First of all, these include various areas of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, personal growth training, consulting and mentoring.

Coaching was born at the intersection of these types of activities, but has significant differences that allow it to be competitive in the market for such services.

Coaching and training

The work of coaches is especially often compared with training, and sometimes they are equated. Both of these directions are forms of influencing a person and controlling his behavior. And their goal is positive changes in the life of the individual.

Coaching can be called the closest relative of training, since it was born in a sports environment, and “coach” in the slang of English students means “personal trainer” or “tutor” who literally “drags” the student to success.

But still, two serious differences do not allow us to identify coaching with psychological training.

Trainings in the form in which they are common today are in a group form, and this is considered the most effective. And coaching involves an individual approach to each client and individual lessons.

Although there is “team” coaching, it is less common, and even within it, the coach works with team members individually.

Training is the formation of certain skills - behavioral, emotional, communication, etc. Its goal is human development. And how and where an individual will apply the acquired skills and whether he will do it at all is beyond the interests of the coach.

The main task of coaching is not personal development, but defining goals and creating conditions for achieving them. A coach does not teach, does not form, does not develop, he directs a person’s thinking so that he himself finds answers to his questions and solutions to problems.

Coaching and psychology

A coach works with a person individually, which is impossible without a good knowledge of psychology, because a person must see his own prospects and capabilities.

Unlocking the inner potential of an individual involves solving a whole range of psychological problems and removing internal barriers. However, coaching cannot be classified as a purely psychological technique.

Psychotherapy and psychoanalysis solve problems of correcting mental state and are aimed at changing a person’s subjective feelings, his attitude towards reality and himself.

The main task of psychoanalysis is “opening boils”, identifying past problems.

Coaching does not deal with the past, it is focused on the future. He does not look for answers to the question “why?”, but encourages the person to find the answer to the question “how?”.

How to make life better? How to find your place in the world? How to solve the problem?

Coaching and Consulting

Wikipedia defines coaching as a consulting activity, but the similarities between them are only superficial. A coaching session is truly similar to counseling and is a confidential conversation between the coach and the client.

However, the consultant's goal is to provide the client with a package of advice that will help him understand the problem. How a person will use them is no longer the consultant’s concern.

Unlike a consultant, a coach:

• does not give advice;
• does not offer ready-made solutions;
• interested in revealing the inner resources of a person who must see his own path;
• accompanies a person throughout this entire journey, stimulating him to overcome emerging obstacles and internal barriers.

True, in practice, most coaches cannot resist giving advice, although professionals consider this inappropriate. Because the most effective way to solve the problem will be the one that the client himself has found, and does not perceive it as imposed from the outside.

Coaching practice

The main goal of coaching is to awaken the creator in a person, the creator of his own life, and he is capable of more than he thinks. Coaching techniques are aimed at achieving this goal.

Question method

The main coaching technique is the following: using the right questions, provoke the client’s mental activity. Finding answers to the questions proposed by the coach allows you to solve several problems:

• specify the client’s main problem;
• help him realize the primary task;
• find out what prevents its solution;
• unlock the client’s internal potential;
• encourage him to find an independent solution.

The questioning method is not new. It was used by the ancient philosopher Socrates, who believed that correctly asked questions will help find a solution to even a very confusing problem.

This method includes the coaching technique – GROW, developed by the founder of business coaching, Sir John Whitman. It includes four groups of questions.

1. G oal (goal) – what goal the client wants to achieve.
2. R eality (reality) - what happens in reality.
3. O ptions (options) – possibilities or options for getting out of a situation.
4. W ill (intentions) – what needs to be done first.

Based on the method of questions, communication between coach and client is built, which is called a coaching session.

Organizing a coaching session

The session takes place in the form of a dialogue and lasts from 30 minutes to 1 hour. By asking the client questions, the coach not only clarifies his situation and problems for himself, but stimulates the person to find his own solution.

A coaching session can be conducted not only in person, but also via Skype or telephone.

In total there are usually at least 5 sessions, and often more (up to 15), and each meeting of the client with the coach should have a specific result, in the form of solving an intermediate problem, drawing up an action plan or readiness to change something in life.

In addition to dialogue questions, a coaching session may include “homework” - actions planned during the conversation that the client must complete by the time of the next meeting with the coach.

As a result of a series of coaching sessions, a person receives not only a solution to the problem and real positive changes in life, but also acquires skills to discover his own capabilities, which he can then use independently.

Types of coaching

Given the rapid spread of this type of service, it is difficult to identify a generally accepted classification. There are many types of coaching, and even more areas in which coaches work. But most often there are two large types.

1. Business coaching, focused on working with business representatives and resolving issues of its organization, promotion, efficiency, financial incentives, finding a niche, etc.

2. Life coaching, aimed at improving the quality and meaning of life, solving personal problems, overcoming conflicts in relationships, developing life strategies, etc.

Both of these types are equally popular, however, women for whom their personal life is usually a priority are more interested in life coaching.

There are also individual and team types of coaching. But their difference is not in the format of the sessions - in a team session, meetings between the coach and group members also take place individually.

The difference is in the goal. Team is aimed at solving problems of a group nature, for example, increasing the effectiveness of teamwork.

There are also other types, for example, Ericksonian coaching, named after the American psychotherapist M. Erickson. The methodological foundations of this type of coaching are being developed by specialists from the International Erikson University. And in Life coaching, the metaphorical direction has recently become popular.

As in any other young and dynamically developing activity, processes of transformation and innovation are in full swing in coaching, strategies are developed, new directions arise and quickly disappear. Coaching is still far from developing traditions and generally accepted criteria and principles.

Who can be a coach

This is a rather pressing question, since the coaching profession is just gaining popularity in our country, and there are many who want to try their hand at it. The answer is simple: anyone who has the ability to do so can be a coach.

Is education necessary? Yes, education is needed in any field, but getting a coaching profession is not so easy. For example, an international certificate can be obtained by completing training under the ICF - International Coach Federation program, as well as at the Global Coaching University or at the International Coaching Academy.

There are also a lot of courses and individual advanced coaches that offer expensive but quick training. But its quality is questionable.

In mastering the coaching profession, what is more important is not the certificate, but personal qualities and abilities, which not everyone has. In addition to general knowledge in the field of psychology, sociology and management, a person must have the following qualities:

• openness and communication skills;
• patience and kindness;
• high level of empathy;
• attentiveness and ability to feel the interlocutor;
• flexibility and high speed of thinking;
• creativity;
• readiness for self-development and mastery of new techniques, techniques, etc.

Only by possessing these qualities can a person lead his client to success, even if he himself is not very versed in the client’s professional activities.

Do you need to be the most successful person? Ideally, yes. But everyone's definition of success is different. The main thing is to be able to inspire people, to ignite them with the desire to move forward.

And more and more people understand the importance of the work of a coach who is not only able to objectively and impartially assess the situation, but also awaken the desire and strength to move forward.

And what’s important is to do it yourself, so you don’t feel like a helpless loser who can only obey someone else’s instructions.

Coaching is a professional partnership with a client, focused on the creative creation and implementation of special, significant changes for his life in the personal and/or professional sphere.

Ericksonian coaching provides an elegant way to facilitate change. Using comprehensive, modern technology, Ericksonian coaching empowers people to clearly understand their unique path and provides support as they move toward their goals.

International Coaching Federation (ICF) definition of coaching.
ICF defines coaching as a partnership process that stimulates the client's thought and creativity, in which he, with the help of a coach, maximizes his personal and professional potential.

Effectiveness of coaching. Life coaching. The essence of coaching. Coaching models. Coaching questions. Coaching tools.

• Solution-oriented– the coach helps the client achieve his true goals, instead of allowing him to concentrate on past experiences and look for reasons for failures.
• Systems approach– the coach supports the integrity of the client’s personality and the focus on the fact that changes that occur in one area of ​​life affect the larger picture of his life.
• Focus on the client– the coach believes that the client has all the resources and skills to achieve his goals, respects his action plans and the results he wants to achieve. Coaching is an advice-free zone.
• Both values ​​and action oriented– by following a change plan in specific, inspiring steps, the client creates fundamental changes in attitudes, behavior and habits.
• Developing Mindfulness– during transformational coaching, the client expands his awareness of himself and his life, relationships, his goals and their achievement, which creates the basis for further development.

METHODS: All training programs at Erikson International University are based on systems thinking methods, results-oriented technologies, and the latest research in the field of psycholinguistics and management.

We use models based on creative vision that provide the keys to discovering, maintaining and developing that vision.

Our methods are integrated, seamless and clear. They help explore human behavior and help create the most effective direction for personal and corporate development. We give people the opportunity to change their view of the world around them and their existing situations. The concept of “personal effectiveness coaching” and the technologies underlying our programs stimulate the rapid growth of creativity and take communication and the quality of interaction in teams to a new level.

• More than 40,000 people around the world and more than 4,000 people in Russia and the CIS have achieved their goals with the help of coaching.
• 80% use coaching tools in their current work
• 20% became ICF certified coaches
• 100% use coaching skills every day

LIFE COACHING

This is the joint work of a person with a coach to solve his life problems and achieve life goals.

RESULTS OF LIFE COACHING

• Understanding what is happening in life, family, relationships, career, business
• A vision of ways to develop oneself as an individual, ways to develop relationships, careers and business
• Self-acceptance and understanding
• I believe in myself and my abilities, in my uniqueness and my success.
• Trust in yourself and the world, your loved ones and children
• The strength to move forward along the chosen path
• Flexibility, the ability to hear, feel, recognize and quickly respond to changes in the world and surrounding space
• Openness to the world, opportunities, changes
• Efficiency in solving any life problems, what was previously incomprehensible, is now solved quickly, easily, “at once”.
• Health of family, relationships, yourself and your body; “tightness”, psychosomatic disorders, chronic diseases, neuralgic pain go away.
• (* We thank Irina Dybova, a graduate of MEUK, for her participation in preparing the text about life coaching)

COACHING IN MANAGEMENT. EXECUTIVE COACHING

COACHING IN THE COMPANY (BUSINESS)

What benefits do working with a coach give managers (top managers).

• Develops the ability to create a vision of the profile of a current or desired position in order to fit it
• Creates a consistent action plan to turn the vision into reality
• Develops the ability to work for results
• Develops the ability to create a business vision based on personal values
• Helps create a career plan and plan for success
• Helps you move beyond personal limitations that create risks for career advancement
• Supports in overcoming significant professional and career setbacks that affect motivation and commitment
• Supports the development of self-confidence and skills to manage major organizational change
• Identifies and supports individual communication style strengths and helps move beyond personal limitations
• Increases the effectiveness of communication with people of different personal styles
• Overcomes personal limitations or self-awareness gaps that impede the development of relationships and the achievement of strategic business results
• Helps build personal financial savings and simplify your lifestyle
• Strengthens sense of personal identity and helps create work-life balance
• Develops a strategy for expanding social connections and sphere of influence
• Helps you realize your ability to influence and unlock the potential of others
• Helps create dialogue between team members
• Teaches how to provide individual and team coaching for breakthroughs and results.
• Helps to implement a 360* approach to evaluating leaders in the company
• Helps expand personal and professional horizons
• Creates a safe zone for exploring professional life events and interpersonal conflicts

What does working with a coach give middle managers?

• Develops the skills needed to manage projects and develop subordinates and teams
• Helps identify and develop the strengths of an individual's communication style
• Helps make communication more effective with people of different personal styles
• Helps develop greater self-awareness and move beyond limitations in relationships and work
• Helps to create a professional image to match the current or desired position
• Develops a values-based vision for your personal life
• Develops a vision of oneself in the profession related to personal values
• Promotes the development of personal and professional social connections
• Supports the development of more effective management skills
• Helps you learn how to manage stress at work
• Helps develop confidence in your professionalism
• Develops the ability to ask insightful questions that inspire and motivate others
• Develops management vision
• Develops confidence and skills in managing and influencing organizational change in one area of ​​the overall vision for business development
• Supports the development of confidence in public presentation skills
• Develops negotiation skills
• Helps develop a career development plan
• Helps create financial reserves
• Promotes work-life balance
• Teaches how to conduct individual and team coaching to improve performance and personal growth
• Helps overcome professional problems and other significant frustrations that affect motivation and commitment
• Helps create or develop a foundation for personal leadership
• Develops personal and career prospects
• Helps you learn how to manage organizational politics

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