What is Coaching and Why You Should Hire a Career Coach

What is Coaching and Why You Should Hire a Career Coach

WHAT IS COACHING

ICF (International Coaches Federation – https://coachfederation.org –  ), which is the world’s largest professional coaching association, being the main accrediting and credentialing body for both training programs and coaches, defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximise their personal and professional potential”. In other words,  it’s a special relationship that the coach and client design together, to serve the client by making the most out of their potential – both professional and personal -It focuses on big goals, dreams, and transitions that aren’t going to be wrapped up in an afternoon. Besides that, instead of giving advice, a coach help you find your own answers and act as an accountability partner. Accountability does not include blame or judgment but rather the coach holds the client accountable to the client’s vision or commitment and asks the client to account for the results of the intended action. And a big benefit is that she doesn’t have any hidden agendas and lets you be the expert in your own life.

MENTORING VS. CONSULTING VS. THERAPY VS. COACHING

Some people call themselves coaches, but in reality they are mentors or consultants. This is especially common online. So, what’s the difference between the four?

A mentor is someone who’s already done the thing that you want to do. They’ve gone before you on the journey and you want to follow in their footsteps. They’ll give you perspective and help you avoid the common pitfalls in a specific type of experience. In other words, they transmit their personal experience to you.

A consultant or advisor is someone who you hire to solve a specific problem in your personal or professional life. They typically do some diagnostic to find your areas of weakness and then implement part or all of the solution. You hire this type of person because you need answers that you can’t or don’t want to find yourself.

A therapist is primarily focused on diagnosing and healing mental illness as well as on client’s past experiences. Coach, on the other hand, supports individuals in making desired changes in their life and moving forward with intentional action. Emotions themselves are not therapy. They are part of the human condition.

A coach is someone who empowers their client to develop themselves and find their own answers. In other words, a coach teaches you to fish instead of giving you the fish. Coaching is a unique skill-set in and of itself, which is why the best performers often don’t make the best coaches (and why the best coaches can be massively effective even if they don’t have experience doing exactly what the client wants to do).

Τherefore, if all you want to do is learn a specific skill, or be told what to do, you are better off getting the help of a mentor or consultant.

In general, coaching is not to be seen as taking the place of these other professions, nor is it in conflict with them. In fact, coaching often works in harmony with these fields.

If you don’t have a coach you’re putting a serious cup on your own potential.

As a career coach myself, I’m obviously biased on this one. And I can’t know how well coaching will work for you specifically. But one thing is for sure: coaching works.

How do I know?

First, because I’ve seen the impact of coaching on my own life. I’ve invested more money in coaching than in any other area of my life. And it always comes back ten-fold (like when I hired my first coach,  abandoned once and for all the Law career, started my own coaching business and got my first clients)

Second, because I’ve seen the impact of coaching on my clients. I’ve helped people find their life purpose and get clarity on their professional pathway and their life in general.

WHY CAREER COACHING IS SO POWERFUL

In a modern culture that acknowledges constant action and imposes the “doing” over our “being”, – who we really are,our values and vision – we,as professionals, often forget to step back and reflect. This leads to building a career that isn’t in alignment with the life we want, isn’t suited to our unique strengths and our “being”, hence it isn’t fulfilling for us.

I see so many people moulding their life around their career, instead of the other way around. It’s a shame; knowing that we can have the job we truly love and are passionate about and still we choose to just “pick up” one or “play safe”,for the sake of the money,our family,friends,social environment and of our deepest fears in general. Yes, we do have a choice.We always do; and our choices determine our actions and finally who we are, our “Being”.

A good coach will make sure that you won’t play neither “safe” nor “small”. They will be a trustful fellow traveller in your professional and personal happiness journey, reminding  your goals, your values and your vision, blurting out the fears as well as the challenges that hold you back and championing your brilliance and your unique potential.

And if you are a coach yourself, it is absolutely  essential that you hire the best coach you can. Why? Because a coach who hasn’t been coached is a walking contradiction, asking people to believe in a process that they themselves have not invested heavily in. This is equally true of consultants, trainers, and other service professionals.

WHAT A CAREER COACH CAN HELP YOU WITH

The following are a few benefits of Career Coaching

Clarity: We want to make sure that everything you’re doing aligns with your life purpose and an overall vision for your career and life. We encourage and help you search,discover and expand your own vision by pushing you outside of your comfort zone and reminding you got started in the first place.

Goal setting: Goals are an outcome that you would like to achieve. Goals are most helpful when they are measurable, specific, are owned by you, have a deadline by which they will be accomplished, made public (in order to achieve support and accountability) and constitute a reasonable stretch for you.

Action: Once we know the specific results you want to get, we need to break those big goals down together into smaller actions. That way, when you wake up each morning, you know exactly which high-leverage tasks to work on. Accountability (see first paragraph) here plays a prominent role as it is the extra final “push” you need to take action.Last but not least,nothing of the aforementioned would be possible without the help of your coach to overcome your fears(e.g failure,social rejection,fear of the unknown etc) by recognising their existence,reminding your values and vision and championing you.

Productivity: What might prevent you from accomplishing your long-term vision? We’ll want to optimise your habits, environment, and mindset so that you can focus only on the things that give you energy, not the ones that take it away.

Constancy to purpose and persistence: You may need to take too many actions  to achieve your goals. You may not. Whatever would be the journey, your coach will always remind you to keep on travelling. It’s not about the goals, the destination, but the process, the journey until getting there.

Results: Success in career is ultimately determined by the results you get, not the time you spend.

These are basically the five things you need in order to make a living by doing what you really love or are passionate about.If you are missing one of them, it is very hard to have a fulfilling career.

PERSONAL VS. BUSINESS VS. EXECUTIVE COACHING

There are three main brands of coaching. Here’s a rundown of all three:

Personal coaches (or life coaches) work primarily on developing the person they are working with. This development is almost always tied to an external outcome specific to the client(health,spirit,relationships,career).Currently I’m a career coach who focuses on inspiring professionals in London find their passion and pursue the career they truly love.

Business coaches help people start or grow their business. While most of their work still focuses on developing the business owner or entrepreneur as a person, the primary goal of the coaching is usually to achieve a positive and significant revenue increase for the business.

Executive coaches work specifically with executives of large and medium-sized corporations, or those on their way. The main focuses of this type of coaching are leadership, communication, and conflict management. This type of coach typically charges more money than the other two (though some business coaches may charge more) because they are working with larger businesses with more available resources and more growth potential.

There is often overlap here. Most entrepreneurs have tight integration between their business, leadership, and life. Powerful coaches are able to dip into all three buckets when needed.

PRIVATE COACHING VS. GROUP COACHING

Private coaching agreements are typically co-created by the coach and client in order to meet customised goals in a specific amount of time. Sometimes there is a set program but this is rare for 1:1. Private coaching is usually more expensive than group coaching. It usually allows the client to move faster and go deeper because the coach’s focus is entirely on them.

Group coaching agreements involve more than one client at a time. Group programs are most effective when they are designed for a specific type of client wanting a specific result – that way the 1:1 coaching that takes place is relevant to everyone. The main benefit to group coaching, besides the reduced cost, is the sense of community that comes from being around likeminded people.

Each of these models can be done in person, on Skype, or over the phone.

HOW TO FIND A GREAT CAREER COACH

Here are 3 ways to make sure you get one of the good ones:

Referrals and Testimonials. Referrals and testimonials are king in the coaching world. Is this person used to coaching others with your background and goals? Have they gotten results for their clients similar to the ones you want to achieve?

Thought Leadership. Most good coaches are also writers and/or speakers. Check out their body of work. It will tell you a lot about their style, personality, and philosophy. A great place to start is with the thought leaders you already follow. Please note: just because someone is great at teaching, executing, or creating new ideas does not mean they’re also a great coach.

Last but not least, Credentials/Certifications.Coaching as a profession is largely unregulated.This means you’ll find all different types of people calling themselves coaches,even if they only attended a 3 – days – seminar! While coaching has become a recognised intervention, sadly there are still no standards or licensing arrangements which are widely recognised. Professional coaching associations such as Association for Coaching (AC), https://www.associationforcoaching.com , the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC), https://www.emccouncil.org , the International Association of Coaching (IAC), https://certifiedcoach.org , and the International Coach Federation (ICF), https://coachfederation.org ,  have worked towards developing training standards. Among them, ICF has developed the most rigorous standards that all schools must follow in order to receive their prestigious accreditation. These programs are called Accredited Coach Training Programs, or ACTPs. Coaches who have accomplished ICF programs provide a minimum guarantee of their coaching quality. Despite the fact that credentials are not the most important factor in quality of coaching, their importance cannot be omitted as they demonstrate a specific (high) amount of coaching experience as well as coach training hours.( take also a look at EMCC accreditation – comparison – tables – June 2015 here https://emcc1.app.box.com/s/ryvg44bshj9vcig0ee69gxp7cejngs3b.

The pricing, length, and frequency of a coaching engagement varies widely. A good coaching agreement will be based on the needs of each individual client. But here’s a general idea of what you’re in for:

Length: There are many coaches who charge for 6–12 month packages, or on a retainer basis, instead of by the hour. Some programmes are shorter and can last between 8 weeks and 3 months.

Pricing: Depending on the type of engagement, the agreement between the coach and the coachee as well as if this agreement is customised to the client or not, career coaching can vary between 200 €/month-5000 €/month or more.

Frequency: 2–4 times/month is typical. But again, it all depends on the client. And the coach.The time you spend is less important than the insights and results you generate.

So, is coaching worth it? That will depend on how willing you are to take action as a client. If you believe that coaching works (and it does), then a better question is this:

How much time, money, and energy are you willing to spend trying to get clarity on what you love to do alone?