Has Coaching Become Too Technical?

Coaching Specialities
J. Ignasi, Coach, Spain, Member
I wonder if coaching schools are making coaching more complex and less natural as part of their business strategy?
I'm surprised by the increasing number of specialities associated with coaching. I think the objective of this is to open new markets for schools.
Somebody said that when people know how to do something they do it.
When they don't know how to do it they teach it.
Maybe many people want to teach because they don't do coaching...
Knowing how complex it is to be a good coach, I'm not sure all learnings are well focused.

Doubt Kills the Warrior
John Wright, Consultant, United States, Member
I always listen to prospective clients. If they want help improving their business performance or issues with people at work, I will accept the engagement. If they want me to do their job for them, I won't.
If you internalize everything from every "somebody", you will kill the warrior in you. Evaluate what others have to say. If it makes sense, use it and incorporate it into your services. If it isn't useful, ignore it.
I listen to my clients and focus on what they tell me. Sometimes what they say is valuable and sometimes they attempt to deflect me because I am getting too close to the root cause(s) they need to address.
Don't be too concerned with everything everybody else is saying. It will overwhelm you. A mantra I follow is; "what you think of me is none of my business." I listen to experts I respect. For others I follow the advice quoted above. If you are doing a good job and your clients are coming back and telling you: "You've changed my life..." keep going...

Response to Alec
steven zuback, Coach, United States, Member
Only if you let it become too technical.

Coaching is Becoming Technical
Louise Sparks, Coach, Australia, Member
Alec, I agree with both J. Ignasi and John Wright.
The way I see it is similar to doing my degree: in order to get the qualifications you must learn the theory and do what is required by the assessor.
Now when you are seeing your clients and applying your knowledge, you will use some of the skills you have learnt, depending on the requirements of your client. You will modify some of the skills you have learnt because so far your experience tells you that is working. Some knowledge and skills you may never use in your coaching.
Maybe look at collecting your qualifications differently to coaching your client - even though they are intertwined - when you study your student, when you coach your coach... Do you see what I mean?
Don't give up just think of this a bit of a challenge that you will be able to do by changing your approach a little. Good luck with it... You know you can do it. Remember just keep it simple! One is studying, the other is coaching!

Sometimes Coaching has to be Technical
Stefania Di Cristofalo, Coach, Italy, Member
I think coaching school are a business but is also true they are a means to become a professional coach. Obviously it depends on the school.
Sometimes coaching has to be "technical" if the client want it so. HR offices want to be confident you perform as a coach and not as a psychologist. Tools, conversational models, questionnaires help to demonstrate the approach and provide a repeatable and measurable framework. This does not always mean that the coach performs better and the coachee reaches a higher degree of awareness.
In my experience, coaching becomes technical when I have to coach teams which are required to learn and apply a new management & engineering approach. In this case I must be able to change hat, coaching soft skill such as trust and communication style, while I am performing as a technical trainer.

Has Coaching Got Too Technical?
ian cockerham
Remember: coaches need coaching too; every coach has a coach. How long since you the coach had a coaching session yourself?
Was it too technical or did it feel 'right' for you?
The client is the measure of the success of the coach....

Has Coaching Become Too Technical
Cynthia Crump, Antigua and Barbuda, Member
In my field, coaching is not too technical. I use coaching as a school-based alternative to teacher professional development to complement the traditional training model. From my research, coaching became important in the 1960s, influenced by the requirements of progressive education, but now coaching is propelled by conctructivism. The coach (mentor or peer) working with an individual or a group fosters reflection on experiences and helps in the construction of understanding of pedagogy or methodology.
The tool box could include observation schedules, samples of reflections, student -centered experiential strategies, live-taped model lesson by an experienced teacher, and competencies of master teachers in the form of mentors, observers and supervisors.
The teachers are given the opportunity to observe each other, share and reflect on the data and their practice, fostering improvement. The main difficulty is the peer coaching activities - time was the biggest constraint; that is, time to meet and plan and share.

Has Coaching Become Too Technical
Stephan Weber, Business Consultant, United Kingdom, Member
Alec, an interesting question. For clarity, what do you mean by technical? Looking forward to hearing from you.

Has Coaching Become Too Technical
David Smith, Business Consultant, United States, Member
If you are connecting coaching to technology then I must say you are right. With changing technology such as internet and smart phone, the work of a business coach increased. A business coach must be up to date with changing technologies, know all the trending strategies to be able to provide modern solutions.