This is our third article in the What Is Coaching series. To read our definition of Coaching check our first short article What Is Coaching?, if you want to know about the Different Types of Coaching and Coaches read our second article.
As coaching is helping a person to step back, see the big picture, grow and develop their own skills, coaching can help you better understand your issues, become more aware of your perceptions, beliefs, habits, attitudes, behaviors, competencies, values and your identity.
During a coaching conversation, you can expect the coach to:
- Pull information from you using good questioning strategies
- Listen to your story without engaging in the details with you
- Provide a compassionate, listening, judgment-free attitude and presence
- Ask your permission to provide feedback, not advice
- Ask you to confirm if what you said is accurately understood
- Always ask you what you want, how you feel about your decisions and ask you to confirm you are making your decisions for yourself and not for someone else
Based on the above points, our experiences and observations, coaching usually can:
- Enable you to become aware of your own map of the world, better understand how to adapt to others around you, and adapt to or change your environment
- Provide you with a private space to talk about your challenges and deepest thoughts
- Present you with feedback, which helps you to see things from different perspectives
- Enable you to keep ownership of your vision and desires
- Enable you to change your perceptions, towards empowering beliefs and increased self-confidence
- Facilitate your self-expression and the formulation of your goals, wants and vision
- Provide an ongoing, short-term or long-term, presence to follow and support your growt
- Engage in an ethical conversation, driven by you, without advice or influence
Key takeaway: ideally a coach is at your side and supports your thinking, doesn’t give you answers, but works with you while you become more aware and come up with your own solutions and ideas which are aligned with your values and deepest needs and desires.
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