Thursday, April 12, 2012

Coaching and Why We Need It? - Are Coaches or Mentors Really Necessary?

What is life coaching and do we really need it? How to obtain goals with a coach and to overcome the roadblocks in life. Have you ever plotted out and was determined to achieve a certain goal and then; nothing changed? If your answer was yes, you do not stand alone. Statistically speaking there close to 90% who share the same results. The other 10% have a coach, a mentor or someone who provokes and shares an endless amount of encouragement.

The reason we do not follow through is an internal thermostat. We seem to accept the status quo and as a result stay on the same path. That thermostat maintains the same until we change it through persistence and determination. By working with a coach or mentor we have a much large chance of changing the settings on that thermostat.

Mentoring and coaching can be a life changing experience. The term coach comes from an old English word 'coche' which means a wagon or a carriage. And as you interpret means of transporting a person from point A to point B or to their destination. We can also interpret coaching as helping a student have a clearer understanding of a situation or subject. A better understanding of their purpose in life, to the setting of goals, their meaning in life, to understanding what is keeping them from accomplishing their goals and the ability to live a well balanced life are all part of the coaching or mentoring process.

Typically we will view coaching as training intensively through instruction or demonstration. And through acquiring this knowledge are able to improve our behavior. The coach observes what is happening and then redirects the person's actions for the accomplishment of a goal. 

A coach can cause the student to hold themselves accountable as they pursue a goal or commence a new venture and help them to stay focused and follow through. This is done through experiential learning where each individual finds his or her way of doing their very best. Coaching another person is a great honor and is mostly a matter of creating the learning environment within which the student can develop.

Coaching is conversational and can also be controversial because the coach’s role is to provoke critical thinking and reflection which in turn causes significant shifts in perception, shifts that ultimately lead to profound personal change. Many times our existing interpretations have generated a meaning about the world that is restrictive and acts like a prison, limiting both possibilities and potential. Personal coaches are not for the meek. They are for people who value clear feedback. If successful coaches have one thing in common, it is that they are ruthlessly results oriented on behalf of their student.

Finally a coaching session is not a forum for the coach to display their superior knowledge but one built on trust and designed to enable and empower the student to resolve specific issues and develop the confidence to move forward, and perceive better ways of participating in life.

I like this quote from Andy Stanley: “You will never maximize your potential in any area of life without coaching. It is impossible. You may be good. You may even be better than everyone else. But without outside input you will never be as good as you can be. We simply do it better when someone else is watching and evaluating.”

You may go here for more information on how to be a leader, a coach and a mentor and motivate others:

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