 What is Coaching? Description
Coaching can be described as a method and technique which can be used for
guiding an individual to new learning in defined time frames.
There are many definitions for coaching. With so many varying and contradictory
definitions, it has been suggested that entering the debate of defining coaching
is at this present time an exercise in abstraction (Jackson, 2005). Even prolific
academic writers (Clutterbuck and Megginson, 2005) change their viewpoint,
indicating that the field is still developing and fluid. As far back as 1994,
Garvey (1994) refers to 'one-to-one helping' and thus proposes the concept
of redefining the term, with the almost Esperanto-like hope that 'one-to-one
helping' might be the rebirth of a muddied term which though effective in
descriptor terms is not 'sticky' in branding terms.
Some writers have suggested that mentoring is the model for coaching and
that mentoring, as a working title is too formal. They utilize the word coach
as it is a more readily palatable (Hudson, 1999). More recently, in a heroic
attempt to create some form of cohesion within this confused vista, we see
that prominent writers in the field are not happy to accept either activity
as a subset of the other. They state categorically that the distinctions between
these two terms causes confusion and that the community should start to move
to an agreed Coach-Mentor term (Parsloe & Wray, 2005).
Coaching definitions can be as simple and inclusive as, ‘the process
of empowering others’ (Whitmore, 1997). Or more definitive: ‘a process
that enables learning and development to occur and thus performance to improve'.
To be a successful Coach requires a knowledge and understanding of process
as well as the variety of styles, skills and techniques that are appropriate
to the context in which the coaching takes place’ (Parsloe, 1999). Perspective
also plays a huge part in the interpretation of an individual contributors
definition. Mentors view coaching as predominantly skills-related,
with specific capabilities linked to outcome (Cranwell et al, 2004). The coach
shifts the focus to the results of the job (Megginson and Clutterbuck, 1995)
and a primary focus on performance within the current job and emphasizes the
development of skills (Clutterbuck, 2004).
Definitions by coaches have developed over the years. From the somewhat
quaint, potentially dangerous and insular belief that the ‘most important
aspect of coaching is being accepted, respected and taken care of, rather
than the exchange of information between the coach and the coachee’ (Olalla,
1998). To the business definition that pronounces that ‘coaching is an enabling
process to increase performance, development and fulfillment’ (Alexander &
Renshaw, 2005). Interestingly, Megginson (1988) as far back as 1988 proffers
the view that coaching is more effective in a person’s development if actioned
at specific stages. Thus in the context of the business world coaching is
more role, job and project specific (Williams, 2000). If we follow this line
of thought that specific interventions at appropriate times in a persons development
is the most effective methodology, then a review of the broad range of coaching
interventions is required. And we will see that what is new, is that coaching
has amalgamated psychology, sports psychology and education (Zeus & Skiffington,
2000), and is now busy building ‘marketability and credibility’.
Origin of Coaching. History
The term ‘coach’ is first seen in the 1500’s referring to a method of carriage,
actually a horse drawn vehicle, originating in the small Hungarian town of
Kócs (pronounced "koach"). In the mid 1850’s the word coach was utilized in
English universities referring to a person who aided students in exam preparation
(Zeus and Skiffington, 2005) and appears to have links with "cramming" apparently
recalling the multitasking skills associated with controlling the team of
a horse-drawn stagecoach (Wikipedia, 2005). Coaching sees it's roots in
Humanistic Psychology (Zeus & Skiffington, 2000), focusing on a persons
dignity and intrinsic value.
Coaching in the Business World
As the Humanist movement started to emerge we begin to see a parallel emergence
of coaching within the business world, which can be seen within peer reviewed
journals. Gorby (1937) describes older employees coaching new employees to
reduce waste, so as to achieve a performance bonus. Bigelow (1938) recounts
Sales Managers coaching sales people. Mold (1951) reported a 'manager as coach'
program. Hayden (1955) argued that 'follow up' coaching improved appraisals.
Mahler (1964) indicated the difficulties of organizations getting their managers
to be effective coaches. Gersham (1967) evaluated the effect of supervisors
on 'attitude & job performance'. Tobias (1996) reports on a technically 'excellent'
44 yr old manager, who is coached on 'soft skills'. Though reported in ‘peer
reviewed journals’ the referrals are predominantly ‘case studies’ and ‘comment’
as opposed to rigorous analytical works such as the more recent study by the
Manchester Consulting Group (Zeus & Skiffington, 2005). This group reports
a 5.7 times ROI in regard to a coaching program launched between 1996-2000.
Also the research focus was geared towards a manufacturing biased as this
was the financial powerbase at the time and the concepts of ‘empowered workforces’
and ‘human capital’ other than an operational resource was yet to emerge.
Ostensibly the ‘life coaching’ concept demonstrated the first, by
modern definitions, coaching like activity, in a program aimed at high school
dropouts. This work at the forefront of the war on poverty commenced in the
1950’s from a YMCA-sponsored training program in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn,
N.Y. Its aim was to search for more powerful counseling/learning methods in
helping people learn the psychological and social skills for coping with the
predictable developmental problems of life (Adkins, 2006). Towards the end
of the 60's research became more rigorous (Grant & Cavanagh, 2004). This focus
on more academic methodologies was the catalyst for the credibility required
by the more progressive commercial bodies. And as such the birth of executive
& business coaching emerged from leadership Programs in the 1980's (Zeus &
Skiffington, 2005).
The real breakthrough of Coaching came with the mix of sports and the
business world, virtually re-inventing itself. Tim Gallwey (1974) with
his Inner Game of Tennis, was a primary catalyst for coaching in a business
context with the quick succession of other notable sports-coaches, such as:
John Whitmore (champion racing driver), David Hemery (Olympic Hurdles Medalist),
and David Witaker (Olympic Hockey Coach).
Coaching in it's modern guise was born out of the Constructionist Learning
Theory (Williams & Irving, 2001), with a core belief that there is no
single, true interpreter or interpretation of reality (Zeus & Skiffington
2005). One can see the birth of coaching from principles that state: we ‘all
construct our own understanding of the world we live in, through reflection
on our experiences’. And interestingly with the 1990's seeing what some believe
to be an upsurge in ‘quasi-philosophical’ groups, finding particular favor
with those involved in management and communications development (Parsloe
& Wray, 2005), it is possible to see how phenomenon's such as NLP (Grinder
& Bandler, 1989) have ‘cherry picked’ from such areas such as Constructionist
theory, Bateson’s (2000) Cybernetics, Chomsky’s (1972) Language Theory and
Landamatics (Landa, 1974). It is this ‘cherry pick’ approach and the demands
of a commercial corporate world that has generated the call for a ‘scientist-practitioner
model of coaching’, where a more academic and rigorous methodology will act
as a benchmark and validation of the field. For many coaching is a long way
from being a profession, despite the existence of those that coach professionally
(Grant, 2003b). The current concerns of definition and validity can be explained
by a profession that has ‘converged’ rather than ‘emerged’ onto its current
position.
Usage of Coaching. Applications
- Business Coach.
- Executive Coach.
- Life Coach.
- Performance Coach.
- Sports Coach.
- Workplace Coach.
Steps in Coaching. Process
Not universally agreed.
Strengths of Coaching. Benefits
- The predominant benefit of coaching to the individual and business is
the facilitation of self-directed learning. Though learning is enabled via
a coach, the true underlying benefit of coaching is in the ability of the
individual to 'move on' from the experience as a more able contributor.
- In terms of retaining and developing talent studies indicate considerable
advantages to companies that actively encourage coaching during transition/change
phases.
- ROI for coaching is considerably higher than standard classroom training,
especially in the executive community, where studies show they disconnect
up to 30 quicker than middle tier staff.
Limitations of Coaching. Disadvantages
- Coaching is not therapy. If it is then the coachee can become dependent.
- Can be seen as a prestige position in a business and thus can create
a cliché of coaches and political influencers.
- Try telling your boss he's a crap coach!
Assumptions of Coaching. Conditions
- Coaching really pulls on the idea of Malcolm Knowles and 'Adult Learning',
which in essence says that the individual has responsibility for their own
learning and all engagements, should be 'guided, rather than led'.
- This is an incredibly complicated topic, for such a simple thing. The
reason being that coaching itself is not by definition a model, models such
as GROW, are the tools of coaching.
- Currently there are no central models that offer a universally accepted
definition.
Book: Zeus & Skiffington
- The Coaching at Work Toolkit -
Book: Mary Beth
O'Neill - Executive Coaching with Backbone and Heart -
Book: Bruce Peltier
- The Psychology of Executive Coaching -
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Has Coaching Become Too Technical?
"I have been researching coaching for a number of years - partly in the hunt for the 'simple but effective' set of tools. The more I read, the more I seem to get confused.
In my early learning of ..." |
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GENIUS Coaching Model
"I developed the GENIUS coaching model as a guide to managing a creative thinking coaching session. This grew out of my experience of coaching people in the television and film industry where creativit..." |
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Raising Productivity by Coaching
"Be patient + be patient + be patient = success in coaching, but it is too hard to raise the productivity by coaching only.
There are too many factors involved to increase the productivity and th..." |
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Coaching has Qualitative and Quantitative Aspects
"Mentoring and coaching both have qualitative and quantitative aspects.
For example, using multiple data collection tools during my research resulted in verbal and numerical data; that is qualita..." |
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Leader Must make Decisions
"Ramos said: 'No authority shall rule over reason, on the contrary the mind must prevail over the authority to manage it'.
Therefore a wise leader should consider others opinion, especially expert..." |
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Coaching Reduces Wastage
"Besides increasing productivity, coaching can also reduce wastage. When a corporation or organization hires coaches to developed their participants that creates more cost effectiveness than any other..." |
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Qualities of a Good Coach. Checklist
"The importance of coaching cannot be underestimated. However, identifying a good coach is far from easy. Here's a checklist of quailities for a good coach I recommend:
- More knowledgeable in the..." |
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The GROW Coaching Framework
"There is a coaching model from partnership coaching, called "GROW" involving a set of exploring questions:
G - GOALS - what do we want to discuss about
R - REALITY - what is happening now
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Problems with Definition of Coaching
"Overly broad definitions of coaching (and mentoring too) plague discussions around these two topics:
- Coaching can be remediation or developmental, goal-specific or general in coverage, conducte..." |
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Business Coach must be Holistic
"I agree with the most comments. And as business coaches we have to know more about strategy/operations, people management, self management and communication. We have to have a more holistic view and t..." |
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Coaching BY Managers and Leaders
"I've been a long time manager in multinational companies and I am since 8 years a self-employed business coach. As a professional coach I support my coachees in finding their own solution of their own..." |
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Why Leaders Need Coaching
"Leaders must be very conscious of their actions and of the impact they have on others. Coaching is an excellent tool to gain consciousness. Any other reasons why coaching is particularly useful..." |
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Use of the Body in Coaching
"What do you think about those coaching approaches which uses the body to generate awareness and to develop soft skill? Are they acceptable in your culture? Do they fit in corporate coaching?" |
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Expert-aided Goal-oriented Learning
"A coach is one which takes you from the the present place to another desired place. Therefore coaching is goal-oriented learning with the aid of an expert in the field." |
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Psychoanalysis and Coaching
"I would like to know what is the relationship between psychoanalysis and coaching?
What are similarities and what differences exist between the work of a coach and a psychoanalyst?" |
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Dissertation Support on Effectiveness of Training
"In a month or so, I am starting research for my MBA dissertation on the effectiveness of training; the readiness of the learner; the environment and role of the company in learning, whether learning c..." |
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Does Business Coaching Really Work?
"Hypothesis: coaching helps the coachee (and his team) to perform significantly better in achieving business objectives.
Is this a dream or a fact? Experience?" |
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Mentoring versus Coaching
"Mentoring has high interest for me. Based on my observation and that of other officers, a great gap exists in planning and delivery. So mentoring should help to im..." |
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Teacher Professional Development (TDP) Models
"I came across several teacher professional development (TPD) models outlining ways and means to engage teachers as learners on site. The one I find most useful is the observation/assessment model that..." |
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Coaching and pedagogy
"I would like to see the difference between coaching and the roman concept of pedagogical leading.
To me, the difference could be the knowledge the coach should have about the strenghts of the coachee" |
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Expectancy Theory
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