Context

Coaching is still a young profession. International Coaching Federation, ICF, which is the most recognized and the largest self-regulated coaching body in the world, was only registered in 1995. And today, still, the most common question is, what is coaching?

Well, in my view, coaching is all about creating sustainable change towards what really matters most to me. If you think about that and look across whatever area of your life, whether it’s your health, your wealth, your career, or your mission, or your business, or your friends and family, or yourself, in any of those areas, the most common factor is you.

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Where coaching can benefit you

Look at the areas where things are not happening as fast as you want. Or, the quality of your life is not as much as what you really want. You are already a successful person, and yet there are areas where you are getting in the way of yourself. It is probably the way you are perceiving things or people. You have this hidden potential to see, utilize your talents and strengths.

Discover Your Potential

The client’s perspective

If you look at what coaching is from the client’s perspective, what do they want? The client is focused on an area of their life looking to go from where they are to where they really want to go.

That gap is filled by working through with a professional coach as a partner. They work together so that individual starts to see more and more of their inner talents. Your client becomes aware of their true potential and they start to build the muscles on those talents through more knowledge, skills and experience. This leads to them becoming strong in the areas where it is aligned with their energy and essence.

They are targeting areas in their life where they want to grow and progress. It is evident that the most important indicator of our happiness is to feel and see that we are progressing. In addition to that, we want to feel that we are of service. We are looking beyond ourselves to create something for others that is of value to them. So, individuals come to coaches because they want to grow and develop and add value to others. They do that through capturing what really is the essence of their power. They select and aim those talents that most match the goal they have, and then take action step by step towards the outcome. So, it’s a journey, and during that journey the client has a partner, which is their coach.

The coach’s perspective

If you look at what coaching is from the coach’s perspective, who are they being?

The coaching process is all about delivering the core competencies of coaching as defined by ICF. There are eight competencies with a number of skills outlined within each competency.

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Each Competency can be delivered at deeper levels meaning that you can be educated at levels one to level two and finally level three. The coach has learned and is qualified to deliver that level of coaching.

The coach learns to deliver the competencies in their coaching practice with a coaching mindset.

As the mindset and behaviours are aligned over time, the coach’s character build stronger relationships. This includes bringing clarity and creating and building trust.

The qualities of an ideal coach start to develop and build over time. This becomes who they are – coaching becomes part of their identity. These characteristics show up everywhere – at work and in their personal lives. Some examples include being ethical and acting with integrity. Also, people know their word is their bond and they tell the truth and are your confidant.

The qualities of an ideal coach start to develop and build over time. This becomes who they are – coaching becomes part of their identity

These are all those characteristics that define a strong human being in building a relationship that has a very strong foundation of trust. This creates an environment where others can feel safe. They can talk freely with a partner who they know is present to support them towards more success as defined by them.

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The coach evokes awareness by using the skills they have learned, and applying them with an art unique to themselves. It is unique because the coach is drawing on their unique combination of talents. The coach uses whichever tool they have learned that they believe would best serve the client at that time. 

As the client starts to discover and believe in their talents and abilities, the coach supports them to build and develop them further. The coach has competencies beyond just the coaching competencies. What they have are competencies in their areas of expertise build over a life time.

What they are bringing to the coaching relationship is all of themselves. This is where coaching niche and specializations in the coaching professions are created and built upon.

Summary

So, in a nutshell, coaching is about discovering your true best self. It’s taking action and creating transformation. This is achieved by changing the way we think, by teaching and training our mind to start to focus in the areas where we are strongest. It is the decisions we make to lean towards being an unbalanced self towards the strengths that we have. It is about aiming those strengths at what really matters to us. It is to live a life of purpose defined by us.

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Taymour Miri is an ICF master coach and a Gallup certified strengths coach and more recently one of the first 136 coaches world wide to be awarded an Advanced Certificate in Team Coaching. He has 30 years’ experience in leadership roles and 20 years of experince in coaching. Taymour has trained over 1,500 coaches across five continents and is the founder of International Coaching Education (ICE).