Understanding Coaching
Understanding how coaching works is important. It helps set realistic expectations, and ensures that clients know what to expect from the coaching process. This creates more positive experiences and successful outcomes.
What is coaching?
​​​Coaching is a collaborative and goal-oriented process built on a series of unique conversations, in a supportive space where clients seek to improve their quality of life.
It is a partnership where the coach both celebrates their clients' successes with them, and challenges them. Coaches helps clients deepen their understanding of themselves and their abilities, while working toward personal or professional goals.
Through guidance, encouragement, and accountability, coaching empowers individuals to overcome challenges. It is an opportunity to explore their potential, and develop strategies for creating the life they desire.​​
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Coaching is designed to empower individuals to take action, make positive changes, and achieve their goals.​
What Coaching is not
Coaching is not therapy, mentorship, or consulting, which have different objectives and methods.
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A therapist helps individuals explore their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors to improve mental health.
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A Mentor provides wisdom and guidance.
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A Consultant offers advice and possible solutions.
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Knowing what coaching is, and more importantly, what it is not -allows clients to fully engage in the process, maximise their growth, and make informed decisions about whether it's the right fit for their needs.
Key Features of Coaching
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Client-centred: Coaching focuses on the needs, goals, and aspirations of the client.
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Collaborative: It is a partnership where the coach and client work together to identify and achieve desired outcomes.
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Goal-oriented: Coaching emphasises setting and working toward specific, measurable objectives.
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Action-based: Coaches help clients develop actionable steps to make progress and hold them accountable for following through.
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Growth-focused: The process is designed to enhance self-awareness, skills, and confidence.
Definitions of Coaching
from leading credentialing coaching bodies
ICF
The International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines coaching as partnering in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires a person to maximise their personal and professional potential.
The process of coaching often unlocks previously untapped sources of imagination, productivity and leadership.
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When you work with a coach, you set out on a path to greater personal and professional fulfilment.
EMCC
Coaching & Mentoring: It is a professionally guided process that inspires clients to maximise their personal and professional potential. It is a structured, purposeful and transformational process, helping clients to see and test alternative ways for improvement of competence, decision making and enhancement of quality of life.
Coach and Mentor and client work together in a partnering relationship on strictly confidential terms. In this relationship, clients are experts on the content & decision making level; the coach & mentor is an expert in professionally guiding the process.
ADDCA
ADHD coaching is an ongoing partnership that helps clients live more effective and satisfying lives by deepening their learning, improving their performance, and enhancing their quality of life. Clients with ADHD have the same human needs as any coaching client, and also face unique challenges related to ADHD, which can interfere with their quality of life. These challenges might include hyperactivity, impulsivity, and/or inattention, as well as the belief that they can't reach their goals because they have ADHD.
PAAC
ADHD coaching is a specialty skill set that empowers clients to manage their attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. It is an ongoing collaborative partnership between a person with ADHD traits, including persons impacted by ADHD, and a professional coach who brings current ADHD knowledge, best practices, understanding, and ADHD-friendly skills and tools to facilitate positive personal and professional change for the client.
ACO
Coaching: ADHD coaching is client-centred, client-driven, and confidential. ADHD Coaches regard the client as an intact, creative, and resourceful person, and approach the coaching through an ADHD-informed lens. ADHD coaches facilitate the client’s actions toward self-awareness and the identification and achievement of the client’s self-identified goals, providing structure and accountability as needed.
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Skills Coaching: The ADHD coach and client collaborate to develop conscious awareness of the client’s strengths and challenges. Leveraging that awareness, the coach supports the client in creating systems and strategies tailored to the client’s needs and to strengthen the client’s ability to manage the pragmatic aspects of life.
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Education: The coach helps to educate the client about ADHD and how it affects them across a lifetime. The coach may also provide information regarding tools, resources, and referrals specific to ADHD (or related to ADHD), as well as research-based information relevant to the client’s needs and interests.