Perhaps one way to describe coaching, is by saying what it isn’t! It isn’t mentoring or counselling – coaches do not look back at the past, but move us from where we are now to where we want to be – faster than we could do on our own.

Here are some quotes from famous writers on the subject: 

         Coaching is an ongoing partnership that helps clients produce fulfilling
         results in their personal and professional lives. Through the process of
         coaching, clients deepen their learning, improve their performance and
         enhance their quality of life’ 
                                                                        International Coach Federation 

         (Coaching is) ‘The art of facilitating the performance, learning and
         development of another.’ 
                                                                        Myles Downey 1999 

         ‘Coaching is unlocking a persons potential to maximise their own 
         performance. It’s helping them to learn rather than teaching them.’ 
                                                    Tim Gallwey The Inner Game of Tennis 

Coaching is not Counselling

Coaching originated in the 1930s when the first self-help books were published. By the 1980s many counsellors realised there were many life situations that needed a wider view and this led to new ways of working. 

Coaching is about now and the future, about moving you from where you are now to where you want to be, and about focusing on what needs to happen for you to achieve your true potential, and to be all that you want to be. 

Counselling usually looks to the past to find solutions to an existing problem or issue, and to the reasons behind certain behaviours.

Coaching is not Mentoring?

A coach, needs no experience of what's under discussion. In fact, it's often better that they have no specific knowledge, as this enables them to ‘see the wood from the trees’, to 'take a step back' and to 'hear what's really being said'. The coach only needs the expertise to help the client find the answers that are within. 

Mentoring has much in common with coaching, though there is one major difference. Mentoring is often concerned with a specific task, and a mentor is usually someone who has ‘been there, done that and got the t-shirt’. A mentor often has experience of the task and knows the ‘tricks of the trade’.

What's coaching like?

A coach does not have the answers and does not give advice. Instead a coach believes that everyone has the answers within themselves.  Coaching is about helping you find those answers, bringing them to the surface, and converting them into actions through small steps that gradually bring you closer to your goal.  The strengths of each individual are recognised and everyone is accepted as the special person that they really are. The coach remains non-judgemental, non-biased, supportive and encouraging.  They will support and guide you through the progressive coaching process where obstacles and challenges are converted into stepping stones, and where each step brings the you closer to fulfilling your dreams about what you truly want to be, do and have in your life, business or organisation.

Individual coaching sessions are a conversation between coach and client where the coach uses questions that tap into the subconscious mind, and find the answers that the client knows deep within.  Team and group coaching uses similar techniques to facilitate team building and visioning.   Sessions are usually 45 minutes for personal and one-to-one coaching, and vary according to business needs for corporate performance coaching.

For more information about what coaching is and how it can benefit you, see our testimonials page.