coaching…what is it and what do you know about it?

I went for a walk into the streets ofPrague. I asked random passers-by: “What is coaching?”

…”It is trendy; it is “in”; it is expensive and managers attend it.”

Hmm, I see this word is fairly profaned.

Then, a passer-by became more talkative

“Yes, that’s great. We have coaches in our company. They accompany us at meetings and then they tell our boss the way to do it better.”

I can also see that it is possible to find couple of people who have no idea what coaching is. Yet, they charge a colossal fee. In addition, they ruin it’s credit.

So, who is coach? Coach needn’t have any specific university or secondary school. He must complete 100 hour-long training in coaching.

He should also keep basic rules:

  • We don’t tell the client what to do.  They are skilful, they will find it out by themselves. The coach isn’t skilful if he can’t help the client to discover his own solution.
  • We use the client’s choice of words. A skilful coach doesn’t need to dazzle with technical terms. The client can recognise by himself if the coach is good. He recognises it depending on usefulness of the consultation.
  • In dialog, we go where the client wishes to. We don’t make our own ideas what the right solution should be.
  • We turn the client’s attention towards the future and towards his goals. In coaching, it is unethical to “dissect the parent-client relationship”. If the coach finds out that similar topic needs to be taken care of, he recommends short-term therapy. They can go on coaching contract afterwards.

These are the principles of my work

The coach works with client’s potential; with his experience, knowledge, competence and above all – with his wishes, desires and dreams