Are you Being Coached or Taught?

I have been involved in a number of firms retaining self titled coaches who help the firms set up their PSA, sales process, etc..

But it has always bothered me that in our industry a coach is a coach when they, well… say they are a coach!

I thought to consult the governing body of coaching, ICF (International Coaching Federation) to see what they had to say:

ICF defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. The process of coaching often unlocks previously untapped sources of imagination, productivity and leadership.

Certainly the case can be made by someone that firms out there are offering a process to inspire their clients. By providing you documentation, instructional training and the wealth of the experience of their programs, these firms are able to transfer the organization to achieve higher heights.

But what about the owner and the management? Where is their transformation? 

I was in a firm who was going through a costly service delivery redo. It was needed, the place was total chaos. But the owner kept pumping the breaks on implementation. Every session there was a new excuse or reason why we could not go forward. This lasted for years. The coach, as amazing as he was, never picked up the resistance. The coached stayed with the context, not the content. The context is what I could call the top layer, the excuse. The content is the stuff under the surface that is someone’s inner dialogue. Its their fears. With many of these firms, the coaches do all of the talking, there is no listening as they have a project or set of tasks to take you through. Which is great, but that is still not coaching - at least by the definition of the governing body of coaching.

Coaching is curiosity, its questioning, its validating. Its allowing the client to unearth their truths.

Yes, when I work with clients, we will go through some best practices. But its that magic moment when the client hits a stumbling block in their own mind that real coaching begins. Working with a client to overcome that fear, the resistance and find a new truth and understanding of themselves - that is the magic of an actual coach

As you investigate people to help you with your business, think of this.

Do you want someone who will just tell you what to do?

Or would you rather have someone who listens to you, helps you process and enter into a state of long term growth and change?