Why everyone needs a coach today
Posted on April 26, 2019 by Kristen Coakley, One of Thousands of Executive Coaches on Noomii.
We look at others who have achieved great success, yet we overlook the fact that they don't do it alone. A coach supports making positive changes.
In our lives, everyone wants to feel successful and our expectations are not always limited to work. This need includes being successful at our relationships, with our families, in our activities and our careers. We are all working hard to achieve the best potential version of ourselves. However, when we look at those who have achieved great success, we tend to overlook the fact that they rarely achieve this alone. Many famous celebrities attribute their success to working with a life coach such as Oprah Winfrey, Hugh Jackman, Leonardo DiCaprio and Serena Williams. Coaches like Tony Robbins and JT Foxx are household names and linked to providing coaching and mentoring to an international high-profile few however, there are many talented coaches that specialise in providing support to individuals, executives, leaders, and organisational teams.
What is Coaching?
Coaching according to the International Coach Federation (ICF), is a partnership between a coach and coachee/client in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires the achievement of both professional and personal potential. Simply put, it is a conversation- based relationship that focuses on identifying and exploring what is holding us back in order to create opportunities and awareness of what we need to achieve the future of our dreams.
A coach uses their expertise in the coaching process, connected listening and curiosity to create awareness, positive change and forward momentum for their coachee. The coach aims to empower their coachee’s to take control of their lives and careers and to step beyond their comfort zones to reach their full potential.
Why does everyone need it?
If you wanted to become a professional athlete would you keep your head down and keep doing the same things repeatedly hoping that something great would happen? No, you wouldn’t. You would hire a coach to help get you in the right mindset, set challenging goals, practice and make changes and push you out of your comfort zone to achieve what you wanted. When working to create success in our lives and careers, engaging a coach can similarly challenge, stretch and push us to achieve great things.
Coaching provides one-to-one support from an objective, trained and dedicated support system which creates a safe place for individuals to explore and better understand their situations. Having a support system in place can be critical to achieving your goals and making change successfully. Research has shown that coaching can improve communication, self-confidence, motivation, productivity, relationships, life and job satisfaction (ICF, 2009).
So, ask yourself, do I want success in my life? Self-confidence? Motivation, productivity? If the answer is yes, why not go ahead and find a coach that will work with you to achieve it?
How Coaching works
Research shows that the scientific principles of neuroscience, psychology and psychiatry are all practically applied in the practice of coaching. Coaching adds real value because of these principles:
• Coaching is always centred on the coachee; the coach creates a safe space for development and exploration;
• Coaching believes that the coachee has all the insight and knowledge inside them;
• A coach partners with the coachee to set value-based goals and provides support to achieve them;
• The process is based on a mindful understanding of the situation;
• At the end of the process, the coachee is empowered to take their learning forward and confident in their own capability.
Taking Action
Interested in finding a coach to work with? Here are a few tips to make sure you start your coaching journey off right:
1. Spend some time thinking about what you are hoping to get out of coaching and what your goals are before you start looking for a coach.
2. Find a coach that is registered with a professional coaching body (International Coach Federation, Association for Coaching, European Council for Mentoring and Coaching, etc.) as this will mean that they are trained (or training)/accredited, uphold a standard code of ethics and are committed to coaching professionally.
3. Arrange to meet with your potential coaches, finding a coach is very personal and you need to make sure you are comfortable working with the coach you choose.
4. Ask any questions you may have about the process, costs, coach before you get started.
5. Make a commitment! When you’ve found your coach, be committed to putting in the time, work, and effort to get the most out of your coaching relationship.
