28 August 2015Management Magazine

Special Report

Coaching as aprofession for the future

In coming years, we are likely to ex-perience an increased demand for professional coaching as more peo-ple and employers become aware of the fact that performance gaps may not necessarily be addressed through more training

By EILEEN LASKAR

Everybody is born with the potential to be great! However, many people are settling for less because they have nobody to inspire, chal-

lenge and support them to expand their horizons. Professional coaches work with clients or coachees’ to unlock, apply, and stretch their potential for the greater good. Unfortunately, many people still don’t understand what professional coaching entails. In the sections below, we explore coaching for better under-standing and application.

Defining and simplifying professional coaching Many people associate coaching with sports, where a talented sports star such as Tiger Woods has a coach. In coaching, human potential is considered to be “work in progress” and coaches believe that people,

when stretched, can do more. However, sports coach-ing is more instructional as the coach knows what needs to be done and advises the player on what to do in order to improve scores. Professional coaching as an emerging career takes a different twist; it’s not about telling, instructing or advising others what to do and how to do it.

In their website, the largest global coaching regula-tory body – International Coach Federation (www.coachfederation.org) defines coaching as, “partnering with coachees’ in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximise their personal and professional potential.” In simple terms, coach-ing can be defined as a systematic methodology of unlocking people’s potential to maximise their own performance.

How coaching worksThere are certain principles that underlie the coaching philosophy. The first principle is that the coach must have inherent genuine desire to help people become their very best. This takes a positive mind-set and a possibility attitude to believe in people. The effective coach also believes in people’s ability to set goals and develop roadmaps. This takes patience and humility, especially in instances where the coach is an expert. It

29August 2015Management Magazine

Special Report

“Coaching improves employee engagement, productivity, manager-

employee relations, performance management, talent development and succession planning,” Eileen Laskar.

also takes a belief that people have limitless potential and no matter how well they are doing today, they still have so much more to offer. A coach challenges clients to do more.

Besides this coaching mind-set, the coach applies eleven core coaching competencies as prescribed by the International Coach Federation (ICF). In a coach-ing conversation, four competencies are fundamental; coaching presence (ability of the coach to switch off their own agenda, including advice and instructions), active listening (watching body language and tone of voice for what is being said and not said), powerful questioning (ability to ask resonant, relevant, incisive, challenging questions that provoke a coachee to think differently and gain awareness), and direct communi-cation (ability to reframe the conversation and help the client see different perspectives, while providing relevant feedback).

In essence, the coach is an expert in the coaching process and methodology, and the coachee/client is an expert in their own circumstances. Additionally, the coach believes people have their own solutions and that for real change to take place, true and committed actions and decisions must come from within

. How does a coaching journey look like? Coaching is a relationship where a coach partners with a coachee to help him or her achieve objectives. These range from personal wellbeing and effective-ness, career development, performance improvement, business success, change management and leader-ship effectiveness among others. The relationship begins with some form of assessment to determine the coaching need and also define clear objectives for the engagement. Based on the scope identified and agreed upon, the coach and the coachee design a coaching agreement which spells the obligations of each party and other important contracting terms, including the fee and payment terms, if applicable. The contracting terms may be simple when it is internal coaching at the workplace, or complex when coaching is being provided by an external coach. In each session, the coachee sets the agenda and this is what guides the focus of the session. He or she may submit progress reports to the coach to help monitor the progress towards the set goals. The coach and coachee monitor whether they are addressing the coachee’s needs using set monitoring tools. A final evaluation is conducted at the end of the coaching engagement.

Is coaching for people with performance problems? Traditionally, coaching was more remedial (trying

to correct some negative behaviour or turnaround poor performance). However progressively, coaching is being embraced as a developmental approach to employees and leaders in the workplace. Research has proved that coaching improves employee engagement, productivity, manager-employee relations, perfor-

mance management, talent development and succes-sion planning. Organisations and individuals seek coaching for growth and re-invention, given the vola-tile and competitive market. This trend will increase in the future. Just like in the sports arena, winning today does no guarantee winning tomorrow, neither does failing today mean losing tomorrow.

Are there specific coaching disciplines? At the heart of coaching are universal principles and

competencies. As the coaching profession has grown over the past 20 years, different niches have emerged to respond to specific coaching needs. Some specialisa-tion areas include leadership and executive, workplace, business and entrepreneurship, life, spiritual, career, performance, family, health and fitness, financial and wealth creation, parental, youth and retirement. There are as many coaching niches and varied coaching needs, and we are likely to see more areas emerging in the future. However, it is worth noting that some of these are considered the mother disciplines, especially the first five listed above. The rest would be more of sub-disciplines stemming from those core disciplines. It helps if the client chose a coach who is specialised in their area of need.

Coaching Vs. MentoringOther people development approaches are confused with coaching, especially mentoring. Mentoring entails inspiring and developing others through sharing expe-riences, lessons, resources and networks. The number one qualifier for a mentor is that s/he must have “been there and done that” and knows what works or does not work based on their experience. Most of the time, the mentee or protégé is the one who asks the ques-tions as the mentor does the talking and sharing. In coaching, the coach asks the question as the coachee thinks and generates their own solutions. Within the workplace setting, the two approaches complement each other, depending on the prevailing circumstances.

Coaching is an emerging and evolving profession and industry. In the coming years, we are likely to experience an increased demand for professional coaching in all spheres of life, especially as more and more people and employers become aware of the fact that the performance gaps they experience may not necessarily be addressed through more and more train-ing. Coaching is fast becoming the profession for the future!

Email: Eileen.laskar@cdi-africa.com