__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What
is Life Coaching?
''Life Coaching makes a
valuable contribution to the process of helping
people to improve specific areas of their
lives.''
"For
some people
Life Coaching can literally change
their
lives for the better."
The coaching
alliance is not all about the coach's expertise
or
'fixing' problems. Rather, the emphasis is on
the coach to enable you to find your own
solutions to issues. In this way, you begin to
articulate your goals, ambitions and
aspirations. Here, Life Coaching will help you
to build a bridge between your current situation
and your success in future outcomes. You are
enabled to achieve success by being coached to
address obstacles and to realise your own
resources.
The benefits of
Life Coaching arise from a process that
involves:
The use of powerful
questions that take you below your surface
thinking so that you can draw on resources that
you were not acutely aware of.
The use of
feedback to encourage and support you in your
journey to achieving your desired outcomes.
The use of
exercises (based on Life Coaching and Neuro-Linguistic
Programming Techniques) to associate you into
different perspectives and to provide objective
vantage points so that you can think and plan
more strategically, develop better interpersonal
skills and communicate vision and mission more
effectively.
''In
essence,
Life Coaching facilitates learning, offers
alternative views and promotes action that leads
to achievement.''
As a client
you are responsible for creating your own
results. Life Coaching is only for you if you
are considering making positive changes in your
life and are willing to handle being accountable
for any tasks or actions agreed during the
coaching sessions. Indeed, being accountable and
responsible for your own actions reinforces
self-motivation, which can maintain your success
beyond the coaching process.
As
professionals we will take a focused interest in
you and give you our undivided attention. We
will also respect and accept all aspects of you
as a person.
In this way,
we can establish a partnership based on mutual
trust and commitment, so that you can develop
your ability to achieve successful outcomes.
We will engage with you through active listening
and feedback in order to encourage you and
prompt insights or ideas. In this way, we can
explore thoughts, release blockages, investigate
options and clarify action steps.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some FAQ'S about Life Coaching...
Is Life Coaching therapy in
disguise and can people can turn to it to avoid the
stigma associated with psychotherapy and
counselling?
No, coaching is not therapy.
Therapy often addresses dysfunction, whereas
coaching enables a functional person to move
forward and achieve greater success. However,
there are similarities between coaching and
therapy. Firstly, both disciplines help us to
recognise the limiting nature of some of our
internal beliefs and feelings. Secondly, both
enable us to understand that by altering our
self-limiting beliefs we can achieve more
positive behavioural outcomes.
Here, it is the
responsibility of a coach to identify the extent
to which an individual’s self-limiting belief is
problematic. For example, if a client’s belief
is rigidly held and destructive then the coach
should refer the client to seek therapy.
Alternatively, if a coach has the necessary
skills and qualifications in psychotherapy or
counselling then the coach could address the
client’s problem.
Is a Life Coach an expert who
possesses the ‘right kind’ of knowledge to fix
people’s problems?
No, Life Coaching promulgates a
mutual alliance, in which the client holds the
power to set the agenda and the coach acts as a
catalyst to enable an individual to find his or
her own solutions to problems. In this way, a
client takes responsibility and ‘ownership’ of
actions that lead to the results the client
wants.
Is Coaching essentially like
mentoring, in which clients are provided with
advice?
Coaching does not primarily
involve giving advice. Rather, it raises
people’s awareness of their own capabilities and
is based on the assumption that people are
naturally creative, resourceful and capable of
achieving better results.
However, we advocate that as a
last resort, suggestions for moving forward can
be made with the permission of the client if
they facilitate progress. Furthermore, in some
instances a coach may provide consultative
advice. For example, a coach who has a
background in business may give business advice
to executives alongside a coaching programme.
Does Life Coaching provide a cosy
opportunity to chat about problems and issues?
No, Coaching involves a focused
discussion, in which goals are developed,
clarified and prioritised so that clients can
take the necessary steps to increase their
performance and achieve their objectives.
Is it true that Life coaching doesn’t really
produce results?
No,
Life Coaching is about
getting results. The process of coaching
involves goal setting and as a consequence
clients become accountable to the coach and to
themselves in planning and implementing courses
of action that lead to the achievement of their
desired outcomes.
Is the coaching profession regulated
and is there a way to assess the
competencies of a coach?
Despite the fact that the
coaching profession is currently unregulated
there are a number of questions that can be
explored to assess the competencies of a coach.
For example:
What are the coach’s
qualifications and what kind of experience
and professional background does the coach
have?
Would the coach be able
to identify a clinical issue and refer a
client to a therapist where necessary?
What form of redress do I
have if I’m unsatisfied with the coach?
Does the coach subscribe
to a professional code of conduct?
Does the coach adopt a
goal-setting approach to coaching?
If
people have a set of
personality traits that are relatively
unchangeable is coaching limited in
terms of helping people to change their
behaviour?
The extent to which you can
change someone’s personality is questionable.
However, coaching can enable people to adopt
different ways of thinking that empowers them to
make positive behavioural changes.
Is it true that Coaching takes up too much
time to be worthwhile?
No, an effective coaching
programme can be conducted over the telephone or
in person and can involve an average amount of
six sessions, each lasting 45 minutes. This type
of programme can be tailored to ‘fit in’ with a
person’s busy lifestyle.
There doesn’t seem to be a
clear definition of what coaching is?
There are in existence
multitudes of explanations about what life
coaching is. However, we subscribe to the
following definition that has been produced by
the International Coaching Federation:
‘Coaching is an ongoing
partnership that helps clients produce
fulfilling results in their personal and
professional lives. Through the process of
coaching, clients deepen their learning, improve
their performance and enhance their quality of
life.’
Is it true that
successful people don’t need
coaching?
Testimonials show that
successful people increase their success through
coaching.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overcoming
Communication Barriers
After Dinner
Speech Tips
Anger Management
and Anger Management Tips
“coachingachievement
UK;
offers personal life coaching skills and
professional life coaching solutions."
Are you
unsure about what to do with
your career and would you
like to make positive
changes to
your professional life?
Would you like to enhance your performance at
work or in sport and exercise?