English | EN How does coaching work in a business approach?
Dec 18, 2013
In my last post, we discussed the difference between coaching and consultancy. Eventually, this is all about posture! While the consultant often needs to convince and help conduct change, the conviction is immediate in the coaching process and the change is inherently acquired.
There is no magic in coaching, just a new and innovating way to put people into action.
So.. is this the end of the consultant approach ?
No, of course! Because in the professional world, the coach also uses his expertise and consultancy approach to help the coachee find the right approach more quickly.
The professional coach knows the professional world – he lives inside its universe, and also pursues the same objective as any company : creating value, maximizing performance. The solutions being self-defined, they are clearly better shaped and “tailor-made” – performance is the key, but the coachee also gains for its own personal development – this is a win-win new way of creating value.
How does it work in a professional world ?
The command is placed by the manager in charge of the coachee. The first step is to define a clear and SMART (Simple – or Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic – or Revelant, and Time-framed ) objective.
This objective must be accepted by the coachee – no coaching is possible if the coachee doesn’t accept it. This is a key success factor and any professional coach should refuse a coaching if this pre-requisite is not met.
The sessions between the coach and the employee are completely confidential: the manager who is paying will be kept informed about progression toward the objective – but will never get access to the content of the sessions.
Once the objective is clearly defined, the coach helps to measure the importance of the goal: what are the positive effects of meeting the goal and what will be lost if nothing changes? This is a crucial step to make the coachee understand the necessity of his engagement. This step goes through an insightful description of the present state of the coachee, and of the “desired state”. Questioning is a key tool for the coach: he has to solicit the coachee – the coach cannot set target results, the coachee does: therefore, the engagement is often asked to be “pronounced” or even “signed”.
Once this is done, the rest of the coaching is easy: the coach helps explore solutions – coachee’s solutions ! (S)he helps measure benefits – as an expert of a specific domain, the coach may provide feedback and imagine new solutions. Then comes the time to put these solutions into actions until success: try, adjust, find new options – use all identified resources to be part of the solution.
Try, try again … and succeed!
Coaching is about people
In addition to fixed criteria such as skills and experience, the coachee must also look for someone that (s)he feels comfortable working with. Fit is to be found according to the current situation of both the enterprise and the coachee: it is important to measure the coachee’s development, expectations and personality to identify the best coach, even if any certified coach should apply the same and proper coaching process.
At the core of such process is the permanent support and remotivation of the coachee by the coach… The coach supports the coachee throughout the process and this is why the success is easier to reach. Do you remember the last time you decided to run every morning at 6 o’clock without the help of a coach… Did you run every morning since then ? How long did it last?
Next time, don’t hesitate: buy a coaching mission and your success will be maximized!
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