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Personal Business Coach
Inspired Development and Coaching |
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What is coaching?
A simple and clear definition of coaching is that it is a structured helping conversation. By helping in this context we mean enabling people to develop and perform to their full potential. There are some key words in this definition that would benefit from further development:
o Structured – it is not just a comfortable, supportive chat. It is a purposeful discussion within an organising framework
o Enabling – so that people address and solve their own issues and concerns
o Develop – learning is a key element
o People – they have ownership of the process
o Perform – related to organisational goals
o Potential – for present and future jobs
Used correctly by a properly trained and experienced coach, it is a highly effective development tool that involves the coach in working closely with an individual to improve an aspect or aspects of their professional life. Essentially, it is about action and change and facilitates greater clarity, improved performance and organisational growth. It achieves this through channelling an individual’s creativity towards organisational goals.
Coaching is done at the workplace and uses real work as the learning vehicle. It involves the learner in setting learning goals and methods, improving performance at work by turning things people do into learning situations, in a planned way, under guidance. The coach uses both support and challenge to help unblock potential and provide focus. The development activities which emerge from this dialogue are tailored to the individual’s needs, interests, style, ability, experience and pace, and the coach also ensures that the coachee receives immediate feedback about performance.
All these points are well captured in the following definition by Max Landsberg: “Coaching aims to enhance the performance and learning ability of others. It involves providing feedback, but also uses other techniques such as motivation, effective questioning and consciously matching your management style to the coachee’s readiness to undertake a particular task. It is based on helping the coachee to help him / herself through dynamic interaction – it does not rely on a one way flow of telling and instructing.”
An effective coaching process, therefore, helps people to:
o Better appreciate their own strengths and weaknesses
o Establish goals and targets for further performance improvement
o Monitor and review progress in achieving their goals
o Identify problems that may be adversely affecting progress
o Generate alternatives and an action plan for dealing with problems
o Improve their understanding of the work environment
o Realise their full potential
It is designed to produce autonomous learners who take responsibility for their own development. Learning is, therefore, grounded in the workplace in real business challenges and development is customised to the needs, experience and potential of each individual.
Coaching is cost effective because real work is being carried out at the same time that learning is taking place. A hands-off coaching approach stimulates commitment, independence and innovation in staff at all levels and it provides instant feedback about the learner’s performance, and thereby accelerates the learning and performance improvement process.
Compared to off-the-job training courses, coaching reduces both external costs (fees and expenses) and internal costs (a staff member being absent): every manager becomes a “learning provider” on the job. Ideally, this also becomes part of a boarder culture change towards a more empowering and less directive style of management.
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