Coaching is one of the methods of personal development, it is becoming more and more popular every year in our country, and more and more people use it. No wonder so many choose to become coaches. There are many stereotypes and myths around coaching. Who is a coach and how to become one?
What does a coach do?
The profession originated in the United States and has evolved from sports culture. Coaches there strongly motivate athletes and try to reveal their full potential. However, at the moment, a coach and a coach are not identical concepts. What does a coach do?
His task is to find and unlock the potential of his client. The coach recognizes the person’s goals and helps him achieve them. It not only motivates you to take action, but also provides the most necessary tools that can make the whole process easier. Thanks to this, people who cannot be what they want are opened up and realized. The most important thing is to unleash the hidden potential.
The coach conducts interviews not only individually, but also in groups, and the assistance extends to both personal and professional life. He is called a guardian and personal guide. However, he does not give commands like a coach, although many coaches combine these two functions.
What should a coach be like?
Due to the specifics of the work, the coach must have a number of functions that will facilitate the implementation of this profession and make it really effective.
First of all, a person who wants to become a coach must be able to listen and be open to people, inspire them with confidence and value communication with them. It is also important to be very patient and have faith in other people. Anyone who wants to work as a coach must be aware that this involves constantly expanding their knowledge in the field of personal development or psychology.
When can a coach help?
The purpose of meetings with a representative of this profession may be professional and personal development, readiness to implement plans, teaching responsibility for one’s actions, using one’s potential and broadening one’s horizons.
In most cases, the coach runs his own business and works under his own brand, but it happens that companies hire internal coaches.
Business and executive coaching is in demand for organizations of all sizes and industries. Wherever business results depend on people, coaching can help increase their involvement, efficiency and self-satisfaction.
According to my observations, the most active coaching services are used by large companies in highly competitive industries: FSI, Retail, FMCG, service, IT companies and representative offices of large international companies. The latter inherit the tradition of coaching in business from their parents in America and Europe. In 2019, IBM had several thousand internal coaches on staff and is still hiring external ones.
Coach – how to become one?
In fact, anyone can become a coach, regardless of education, but nowadays, if you want to create your own reliable brand, the right preparation is necessary. People who want to take advantage of the help of a coach will certainly prefer to put themselves in the hands of a professional.
There are a lot of trainings and courses on the market today that are definitely worth taking advantage of. Obtaining diplomas and certificates inspires the trust of customers.
All these specialists bring to coaching the competencies of the “former” professions: understanding the business from the inside, working with personnel and psychology. Coaching is the quintessence of all three categories of competencies. One way or another, every business coach works on the development of all three components.
Mostly people aged 35+ become coaches, since the profession requires a certain life experience and maturity.
Work results
The criterion for the effectiveness of a coaching project is the achievement by the customer of the planned results in skills and business. Expectations will be justified if the customer understands what coaching is, formulated goals and chose a professional and style-appropriate coach. Disappointments are possible here if one of the principles is violated.
You can avoid misunderstanding and disappointment in the results of interaction with a coach if you are sure of the qualification and certification of a specialist. People usually don’t go to the doctor without being confident in their education, don’t hire an architect to build their house without looking at a portfolio of previous work and checking references.
Although sometimes they hire people whose business cards say “coach”. And they don’t even ask too many questions. It mostly happens in life coaching. But it also happens in business coaching, more often with customers from small and medium-sized businesses.