Coaching

For a long time now, coaching has been a topic whenever we talk about people development. Over time, it was structured and divided into several different specialties. It’s coaching for career, relationships, finances, self-esteem, sports, weight loss, etc.

If, on the one hand, all these specialties contributed to a certain aspect of the profession, it also helped people who were really interested in acting as serious professionals to qualify and help people who could make good use of the technique and achieve relevant results.

If you still don’t know or until now you know about coaching more through memes than actually from professionals, you’d better read this article to find out more about what it is, how it works and in which situations it is recommended.

But, after all, what is coaching?

Coaching is a process where the client, called a coachee, seeks to improve performance to achieve goals and objectives through the assistance of a professional, called a coach.

How does coaching work?

It is a process carried out in sessions, generally weekly, led by the coach, lasting an average of one hour. The number of sessions varies, but it is quite common to hire a coach in a package ranging from 10 to 12 sessions.

There is no maximum or minimum value, since the profession is not regulated by any type of council, but, as it is a provision of services, it must be mediated by a contract signed by the parties that clarifies its operation and value.

The coaching process ends at the end of the agreed sessions or in the event of some extraordinary event that prevents the contract from being finalized. The end of a cycle does not prevent the contracting of another cycle, but it is recommended to wait a little between one process and another, except in special cases.

Each session is led through powerful questions and/or assessment tools or insights. They aim to encourage the coachee to reflect on their conduct and perception of some key points linked to the goals they want to achieve.

What he has done in detail that contributes to or hinders his performance and the results he has been achieving so far. What should you focus your attention on and what behavioral measures to take so that your results are more consistent with the goals you set.

The perception of these factors can often be internal or external and the questions and assessment tools help the coachee to understand and work to improve them.

It is up to the coach, through specific techniques, to encourage the client (coachee) to seek the resources he or she needs or acquire those he or she needs to deal with the factors that could drive him or her to achieve his or her goals.

In the coaching process, the coachee’s commitment to the goal is essential. As contradictory as it may seem, in many cases, coachees tend to only commit to the sessions, not working on the behaviors that bring them closer to achieving the goal during the interval between one session and another.

This means that a good part of the process also happens, or happens mainly outside of the sessions, where tasks are agreed that need to be carried out for the client’s evolution.

And everything revolves around goals. They are established at the beginning and pursued throughout the process. There is, of course, a “calibration” so that it becomes feasible, relevant and truly stimulating for the client. Everything that is done is to achieve this result.

Therefore, she needs:

• Be objective (leaving no doubt about what it is about);
• Measurable (which can be measured);
• Have a responsible person;
• Realistic;
• Have a set time to complete.

More than one goal can be pursued at the same time. It is common to divide a large goal into smaller ones or even to set more than one goal at the same time (but not too many to maintain focus) which will be the epicenter of the cycle. There is no coaching if there are no goals.

To achieve its fulfillment, at the end of each session, the coachee undertakes to carry out the activities foreseen in an action plan, prepared by him/herself, and position the coach in the following session on compliance with the plan. Carrying out sequential fulfillment of action plans is the most effective way for the client to achieve their objectives.