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DO YOU NEED A PERSONAL COACH? By Robert D. Ramsey Do you know anyone who has a personal or professional coach? Chances are you do. It's a new service which is experiencing phenomenal growth among supervisors, managers, executives, CEOs and others who want to change their lives for the better. It may be just what you're looking for if you want greater success in your work and your life. What's the New Coaching Rage All About? Personalcoaching began emerging as a profession in the late 1980's and has been growing steadily ever since. Today, it's exploding in popularity. Personalcoaching has been featured across the spectrum of major media from Oprah to the London Times. Isn't it time you found out more about it? If you are not familiar with the process, personalcoaching is basically a one-to-one relationship which helps clients reach the goals they want most in their lives, their career and/or their relationships. Each client works individually with a trained coach to identify work-related and personal areas for development. It provides a structured way for clients (sometimes called coachees) to examine their lives more regularly, systematically and objectively than they ever would on their own. The goal is to help people develop better skills for identifying what they really want, building strategies to achieve desired results, staying focused and on track with their vision and bringing balance to their daily agendas. What started out largely as a means to assist business executives and other leaders work through complex job-related issues and decisions, now involves people from all walks of life who use coaches to inspire them and bring out their best in all facets of daily living. One of the best definitions comes from Bridget Gothberg, a Minneapolis-based coach, who describes her work as being a "personal trainer for the psyche." Gothberg goes on to explain, "Coaching helps people who are stuck move on with their lives. It helps them tame their personal gremlins." This all sounds good; but who are these people who use personal coaches? Who Needs a Coach? "People come to coaching for lots of different reasons, but the bottom line is change," according to Laura Whitmore, cofounder of Coaches Training Institute. Current users of personal coaches run the gamut of occupations, professions and interests including: • supervisors According to advocates, almost everyone needs a coach at some point in life. They readily cite the following examples of life-situations where coaches can help the most: when people want to change jobs or careers or start their own business; when successful business people and professionals need guidance at a time of decision or change; when people are working harder and enjoying it less; when people are ready to find significant partners to share their lives; when people want to simplify their lives; and/or when people are confused about life goals. It seems that personalcoaching is for anyone who wants to excel. That's most of us. To decide if personalcoaching is for you, it helps to understand the mechanics of the process. How Does PersonalCoaching Work? Personalcoaching is a collaborative, client-centered relationship. It is both coactive and proactive. The role of the coach is to question, listen, probe, push or do whatever it takes to provide clarity, focus and support for achieving life and work goals. The process begins with an initial assessment session (usually held in person, but occasionally over the phone) where the parties try to identify the client's real values, priorities and goals. This is a visioning session, usually lasting about two hours. During this period, the coach seeks to discover what the client really hopes to get from the coaching experience and from the coach as a resource. If all signals are "go," the coach and client then embark on a journey of exploration and discovery. The typical coach-client relationship involves weekly, one-half hour sessions held over the telephone. (Sometimes, however, these sessions are held in person or via fax exchanges.) Most coaches require a minimum commitment of three months. The average duration of involvement with a personal coach is nine months. Coaches today are specifically trained individuals from all around the world and from varied backgrounds, ranging from cosmetology to community education. ("There are no cookie-cutter coaches.") Most have been trained by either the Coaches Training Institute, Coaches University or Coaches International. Although states do not yet license personal or professional coaches, some are certified by their training institutions. It's comforting to some clients to know that to be a coach, you have to have a coach. The cost of personalcoaching ranges from $150-$1000 a month. Most coaches, however, charge between $200-$400 monthly. Compared to the going rate for therapy, this is a bargain. Exactly what a coach does also varies depending on the needs of the client and the skills of the coach. Most practice their art by asking the tough questions (even the stupid questions when necessary), focusing on the client's agenda, clarifying issues and pressing clients to find their own answers to what they want from life. Some coaches give homework and a few have been known to "fire" a client if no progress is being made. When asked what she actually does with clients, Bridget Gothberg describes her role as helping over-whelmed clients to "chunk it down" so that their lives become manageable. Even with some understanding of these mechanics, skeptics still often wonder what they can get from a coach that they couldn't get from a therapist, mentor, family member or friend or by spending "Tuesdays with Morrie." As it turns out, there are a number of significant differences. How Does Coaching Differ From Other Forms of Help? For starters, a personal coach views clients as strong, capable and competent individuals who just need to sort things out, make plans and move ahead. Clients aren't perceived as overly vulnerable or victimized. Coaches aren't trying to heal "sick" people. They are merely dealing with people who need a push (or at least a nudge) to jump start their lives. More importantly, unlike therapists, coaches concentrate on the future, not the past. They are not interested in where you came from or how you got here, but in where do you want to go from here and how are you going to get there. Coaches and clients don't look backward, only forward. That's where the client will be living from now on. Coaches are positioned to be more helpful than friends, family, mentors or other advisors because they are trained to ask the right questions. Coaches can be objective while others are often emotionally involved. Family and friends have a hard time resisting giving advice, being judgmental or trying to talk you in or out of something. Frequently, other well-intentioned people tend to be too kind and tell you only what they think you want to hear. A good coach will tell you what you need to hear or, better yet, allow you to listen to yourself. That's where the best advice comes from. Lastly, coaching is regular and continuous. It's not a one-shot pep talk. The structure of coaching is one of its greatest strengths. For More Information If you are interested in learning more about personalcoaching, there are many available sources of information. Two of the most popular books on the subject are Coaching For Performance by John Whitmore and Co-Active Coaching by Laura Whitworth, Henry Kimsey-House and Phil Sandahl. More details can also be obtained from the Coaches Training Institute (the nation's largest non-profit educational institution for personal and professional coaches and coaching skills) at 1879 Second Street, San Rafael, CA 94901. The phone number is 415-451-6000 and the e-mail address is thecoaches.com. If you are interested in finding a coach to talk to, check the yellow pages or internet websites or ask around. Someone you know is working with a personal coach this very week. Is a Personal Coach for You? Personalcoaching isn't for everyone. If your life is balanced, fulfilling and all you want it to be, who needs coaching? But for most of the rest of us, it may be something to think about. Coaching is easy, non-threatening, inexpensive and doesn't take a lot of time. That's a pretty painless way to get your priorities straight and your life back on track. If there's a sizable gap between what you are and what you want to be as a supervisor or as a person, coaching may be for you. The old adage still rings true, "Even champions need coaches." By Robert D. Ramsey, Ed.D. Dr. Robert D. Ramsey is a free lance writer from Minneapolis with extensive front-line experience in supervision and personnel management. Dr. Ramsey is the author of several successful trade and self-help books and is a frequent contributor to Supervision and other popular journals and newspapers. Copyright of Supervision is the property of National Research Bureau and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. Source: Supervision, Jul2000, Vol. 61 Issue 7, p14, 3p.  Back to Articles Main Page |
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