This article talks of the origin of Coaching, how it differs from other professions, common definitions, the role of a coach and his relationship with the coachee, the focus of coaching and whether coaching is effective -how coaching is impactful, results of studies on the subject and how to maximize the effectiveness of a coaching intervention “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime’’ -( Italian proverb). Common (mis) understanding – What do you understand by the term Coaching, especially when it comes to Executive or Leadership or Business Coaching? There are several misconceptions regarding Coaching. Firstly, everyone is a Coach these days, from a fitness trainer to a financial advisor to an image consultant. You have life coaches and even happiness coaches. Secondly, people often associate Coaching, especially in India with Tuition centers that help prepare students for competitive and entrance exams. Actually, a better analogy is from the world of sports wherein Coaches help successful sportsmen or sportswomen become even more successful. I will return to this point shortly. Coaching is often confused with mentoring but we will soon see that it is quite different. Origin – Modern-day coaching was born in 1974 when Timothy Gallwey, a Harvard educationalist and tennis expert wrote The inner game of tennis. The word inner was meant to indicate the player’s internal state or the opponent within one’s head which is more formidable than the one on the other side of the net. Gallwey went on to claim that if a Coach can help a player remove or reduce internal obstacles to performance, an unexpected natural ability to learn and to perform will occur without the need for much technical input from the Coach. This is Coaching’s association with the world of sports. Sir John Whitmore, known as the father of performance coaching wrote Coaching for performance, in 1992. This still is the definitive book for coaches and leaders. Quoting from this book, “In essence coaching is about partnership, collaboration and believing in potential. Coaching and high performance come out of awareness and responsibility. Coaching is the mechanism of transformation. To achieve this requires the foundation Coaching skills of powerful questioning and active listening”.
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