The International Coach Federation defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”
Leadership coaches partner with clients to enhance their capability as leaders, managers, or individual contributors. Coaches work with clients (and teams) by helping them define their goals, create an action (development) plan, discover ways to achieve their goals, and hold them accountable for taking action and goal achievement.
Additional goals of coaching include helping the client (through a variety of modalities including assessments and 360-degree feedback) to understand and leverage their strengths, and understand and address areas of development. Development and learning are customized to specific individual (or team) needs and goals. Coaching has structure, focus, is action-oriented, and is a highly collaborative relationship.
The foundation for the confidential coach-client dialog is inquiry which enhances self-awareness and leadership effectiveness within the context of the organization in which the individual works.
Clients report that leadership coaching has positively impacted their careers as well as their lives by helping them to:
- Establish goals and act towards achieving goals
- Increase self-reliance and self-efficacy
- Enhance self-awareness; understand areas of strength and areas for development
- Understand the impact of organizational dynamics and culture
- Enhance job and life satisfaction
- Contribute more effectively to the team and the organization
- Take more responsibility and accountability for actions and commitments
- Increase ability to work more productively with others (boss, direct reports, peers)
- Communicate more effectively
Clients who experience the most success with coaching are:
- Motivated to work with a coach
- Willing to do work outside of the coaching meeting in order to achieve their coaching goals
- Ready to be challenged, open to exploring alternatives, and eager to embrace new ideas