What is Coaching?
The International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. In the Open science community, it seems like coaching is still a new part of professional development, where workshops and training are the norm. I think coaching is a secret weapon to getting where I wanted to go faster.
So how’s coaching different from…
I like the distinction from the NASA HQ page on coaching: “Unlike a consultant or a mentor, an executive coach is not an expert in the client’s field and may never have held a job at their level.” I have been an executive director and worked within the university system, but we don’t have to have the same career path to work together.
Coaching vs. Therapy? Coaching is meant for healthy people to accelerate forward and sessions focus on the present and the future. Therapy is a healing modality that focuses primarily on the past and the present. An analogy I like is a coach is to a trainer as a therapist is to a doctor. You would not go to your trainer for healing. Co-Active Coaching has a summary blog of therapy vs. coaching.
Coaching vs. Mentoring? In coaching, the client and the coach are peers. In mentoring, the mentor has elevated status because of more experience. Kent State has a great table showing the differences between mentors and coaches.
When to work with a coach?
Fast-tracked leadership development. You are the organizational leader and don’t have a traditional boss. As a nonprofit Executive Director, I reported to the Board, but at times it was useful to have a coach to navigate delicate situations or to move faster.
Stop repeating what’s not working. Coaching isn’t navel gazing, but it does provide for time to pause, reflect and learn from the situations. It’s through learning from real life that we grow as leaders (and stop the destructive patterns that hold us back…). A good coach reflects those patterns to you.
Forward motion. It is easy to get stuck in the endless loop of busy work and not move your bigger goals forward. With a coach, I was able to overcome some of the fears I had about playing bigger and do the work.
Re-energizing your work. When I started my second term as Executive Director, I worked with a coach to re-energize myself and envision what I wanted to accomplish beyond status quo.
New opportunities & change. When I was considering Executive Director jobs, I worked with a coach to clarify the opportunity I was seeking.
Resources
NASA HQ Coaching - Many other organizations support coaching as part of professional development