What is coaching?
“Attitudes are contagious. Are yours worth catching?”
~ Anonymous
It has been years since my first coaching session. I met my coach in a training on emotional intelligence and we just clicked. She had amazing background and a lot of experiences that made her easy to talk to. It was an amazing thing for an introvert like me that was looking for a cure.
Due to her questions, I started with small steps to reach my goals.I was searching for answers and solutions within me. At this point, working with her came as a continuity on the work done during my year of therapy. For me coaching meant strength and joy, it meant discovering the 100% happy me, or more accurate accepting the normal me with good and bad, both, while being reconciled with myself.
Since was something that made me react, my mentoring sessions turn to coaching. Asking questions and let the one in front of you finding his/her answers. It helped me improve my active listening ability that led to more healthy and communicative relations.
Some weeks ago at work I was lucky enough to be part of a 2 day programme for „effective coaching for managers” that together with reading „Coaching for performance” of John Withmore lead to this article. Here I want to introduce you to several types of coaching. It’s a „for your information” type of article, just to touch the subject. In case you have some questions about it, this holds general information so you have your basics.
Maybe after reading my lines you will decide that you can use some of the approaches in your day to day life and improve your relations, or maybe you will decide to start looking for a coach for your self, or maybe you will start working on something that you left on a top shelf of your mind in order to forget about it.
What you should know is that coaching is a process. That means it takes time, and it will not offer you miraculous responses to your long life search. Also, coaching is not about asking advices from your coach or looking for recipes for success over night. You will have to work, to look to ways, to be creative, to be open and to be honest, first with you, and after that with your chosen coach. Coaching doesn’t solves childhood challenges - that is therapy! It doesn’t offer you a person to follow and learn from, that has more and vast experience - that is mentoring! Coaching is a short time development method that helps you achieve your potential, with somebody that has the ability to see the bigger picture.
There are so many types. Usually a coach is specialised in one type and they have their methods and exercises. Search for what you need - just like in mentoring and therapy. In the following lines you will find some types so you will know what to expect.
GROW Model: is a way of achieving goals and solving problems (you can read more about it in the Withmore’s book)
Goal - What do you want?
Reality - Where are you now?
Options - What could you do?
Will - What will you do?
STEPPPA Model: it can be user when emotions need to be overcome. (appears in the work of Angus McLeod Associates)
Subject: What is the subject, the topic or the goal?
Target identification: What are you aiming for? What do you want to achieve?
Emotion: Is the goal worth it?
Perception and choice: What is the meaning of the goal? How does it have meaning for you?
Plan: How will you achieve it? What do you need to do in order to get from A to B?
Pace: When do you want to achieve it?
Act or Adapt: Step-by-step plan of actions is needed? What are they? Do you need to adapt in order to check the actions?
OSKAR Model: is solutions-focused, collaborative process. (model develop by Paul Z. Jackson & Mark McKergow)
Outcome (objective): what you want to achieve after the session (specific problem or issue)
Scale: on a scale from 1 to 10, how close are you to achieve the outcome?
Know-how: what you need to get where you want? What skills, knowledge, qualifications, and attributes you need to get your outcome?
Affirm + Action - what is already working well? Identify positive actions, skills, behaviours and attributes. What actions you need to take in order to make progress towards your outcome.
Review: the actions taken, what’s improved and what is needs to happen next in order to improve even more.
CIGAR Model (originated from the Full Potential Group)
Current Reality: Where are you now?
Ideal: what would be an ideal outcome after the coaching session in respect of the current reality?
Gaps: what are the gaps between the current reality and the ideal situation? What ideal situation will help you eliminate them?
Action: what actions are you committing to take in order to achieve the ideal?
Review: comes after suitable actions have been taken, what are the results?
In order not to get you bored with the subject, the list stops here. There are a lot of other models, and a good coach will apply to you the one that is suitable to your needs. But like in sports (from where the term “coaching” comes) you will have to do the work, you will establish what you want to change, you rhythm, places or what will you do in order to reach you goal.
What you should remember at all times is that coaching is a process not a miraculous pill, but the right question asked at the right time can change minds.
