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Need a coach? Select wisely!

Written by: Ralph Jacob

Article Overview: Coaching has become a useful way to help successful people become even more successful. In this article Ralph Jacobson describes when coaching can be effective...and when other kinds of support such as mentoring or counseling are more appropriate. The article very quickly establishes for you the approach that is best suited to your specific circumstance.

Need a coach? Select wisely!

Need a Coach? Select wisely
By: Ralph Jacobson

Until recently, few people openly admitted that they had or needed a coach. Today, partnering with a coach is an accepted practice. Many people report improvement in their performance and yet others who engage in a coaching relationship fail to achieve the improvement they seek. Coaches may become frustrated when their coachees disregard the prescribed regimen. Often disappointment is the result of a poor fit between the expectations and capabilities of the coach the needs of the coachee.

Personal leadership development support tends to fall into three buckets: coaching, advice, and counseling. Each is appropriate for a different need, requires different professional skills from the persona providing the support, and requires various levels of involvement from the person being helped. If these are not properly defined and aligned up front, positive results won’t be achieved.

Coaching. People typically seek coaching support because an aspect of their behavior tends to subterfuge their effectiveness. The realization for the need to make a change typically originates from the perceptions of several stakeholders. The work of the coach is less about developing insight and more about engaging the person to improve specific behaviors. The domain of the coach is to work on specific behaviors. The objective is to help the coachee develop a broad repertoire of behaviors so that they can choose the right response to the right situation. Ultimately the identified stakeholders determine whether the specified objective has been met.

During the selection interview, the coach determines whether the motivation to undertake the process of behavior change is present. The coachee must determine whether there is chemistry between the two parties and whether they will make the commitment to trust one another. If they agree, the coachee’s role is to acquire and listen to the feedback of critical stakeholders and follow the coach’s prescribed practices to improve the targeted behaviors. Example exercises may include writing down thoughts, trying out new behaviors and actively soliciting and following up on feedback.

In partnership, the coach and coachee set up one or two specific objectives to address over a specified time period. They develop a contract that specifies the role each party plays in the process with specific actions to be taken when an aspect of the relationship is violated. The contract may e openly shared with others. The coach is likely to work with the individual more intensely at the start of the relationship.

Coaches work with people who freely engage in the relationship—they typically don’t work with people who are on a performance improvement plan where coaching is the last step of an exit strategy.

Advice. You may find yourself in situations in which you have insufficient knowledge. You may distrust the quality of input from those around you or feel uncomfortable admitting to your peer or superiors that you need further information. Therefore, you seek external counsel from those who have the requisite experience or the specialized knowledge. You look for specific suggestions on how to deal with situations. The input sought is not about making significant behavior change. It is about developing a response to a specific situation. Indeed, you may seek advice regarding thee same issue from several people. Advisors may work ion an informal basis or work under a more defined project arrangement. Ultimately you choose whether to act in accordance with the provided advice. The responsibility of the advisor is to ensure a proper grasp of the st9iuation, to undertake the necessary homework, and to provide an unbiased and honest assessment and suggestions. The advisor should not take a personal affront if you choose an alternate course of action. Rather, success is determined whether you find the information presented by the advisor as having added value.

Counseling. Life and relationships are imperfect. Being human often means having to confront those issues that my have surfaced early in your life. Usually you can move beyond them and function adequately. Yet when issues of past relationships continue to impact your current behavior and relationships or when you struggle to find deeper understanding, it may be necessary to seek the support of a professional counselor. Typically this person has years of professional preparation and certification from a state agency. The backgrounds of these individuals may be in social work, psychology, psychiatry, or religious leadership.

Clients may see counselors for several sessions to several years. The emphasis is to understand how personal issues and relationships from the past impact current life. Counselors spend more of their time focusing on establishing insight and understanding. The work is typically deeply personal and thus confidential and private. Most counselors are trained to work in the realm of one-on-one situations such as marriages and parenting; they are less capable of dealing with the complexities and peculiarities of organizational life.

What is right for you?
The needs of most people don’t fall neatly within one of the three buckets of coaching, advice, or counseling. So how to you determine the person who is right for you? Here are three thoughts to help you make the appropriate selection.

1. What is the presenting issue? Can it be easily resolved with additional information or does it require deeper level of personal commitment?
2. Where is the need coming from? Is it arising in your personal or professional life? Are you making this decision or are others urging you?
3. How deeply are you prepared to work on yourself? Would it be sufficient to improve a specific behavior or do you want to get to the root of something that has troubled you for a long time?

Choosing the right professional support to help you improve your life is important. Taking the time to decide what you want to improve, why it is important to you, and how motivated you are to making those changes will help you determine the tailored approach to suit your needs.

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Article Tags: behavior change, buckets, capabilities, chemistry, counseling, disappointment, disregard, insight, jacobson, motivation, objective, perceptions, personal leadership development, professional skills, realization, regimen, report improvement, selection interview, stakeholders, subterfuge



Related Forum Posts
coach needs a coach - Yes... I remember that my coach had a coach. Makes perfect sense. Plus you're getting more stimulation as to HOW to be a better coach.
Re: Has a coach helped you? - [quote="OmnivoreInk":1rrrl97v]And is a coach different than a mentor? I don't really feel I need a coach... anything I need to know how to do I just find a book and read up on it. I would like to find someone to give me a quick and inexpensive lesson on content management systems (yes...I publish ezines without using a content management system!), but that's not the same thing, eh?[/quote:1rrrl97v] Great question about the difference between a coach and a mentor, and you'll probably hear many different opinions on this. For me this main difference is that a mentor has been there and done it and can tell/show you how to do it. A coach is trained and skilled in helping you to find the best way to achieve something perhaps through challenging your thoughts and beliefs, goal setting, accountability, brainstorming ideas, seeing and holding the bigger picture for you. As for learning more about content management systems, I'd say you need someone experienced with that specifically. Tell me more about what you want to learn and I'll see if I can point you in the right direction. Wendy
Rich Dad coaching - Hi, I've read reports like this before and I don't know whether they are true or not. What I do know though is about checking out any coaches before you hire them. These comments aren't a reflection of Rich Dad's coaching, just comments on being coached in general. Many companies that offer coaching are only offering you a way to learn their method of doing something. The coaches many not have any qualifications or skills in coaching they just know what they need to tell you to do. So, I suggest that you find out more about the actual coach you would be working with. What training do they have? How long have they been coaching? Often people get into a sales funnel and are offered expensive coaching as part of this, where they may be better to find a professional coach themselves who can offer excatly what you as an individual needs. Its also important to speak one on one with any coach that you may hire because there's need to be connection and someone you truly feel that you can work well with. Wendy
Has a coach helped you? - And is a coach different than a mentor? I don't really feel I need a coach... anything I need to know how to do I just find a book and read up on it. I would like to find someone to give me a quick and inexpensive lesson on content management systems (yes...I publish ezines without using a content management system!), but that's not the same thing, eh?
Re: Business Coaching Resources - i think a good coach is that who create skill in a leader in such a way that he help the organization to achieve the goal of the organization, the coach must take care about the communication skill of the leader because the communication gap can create various problems. [Link removed by forum admin. Links can be placed in a forum signature]


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