What is coaching?

Coaching can be defined in various ways. It has, for example, been described as: “unlocking a person’s potential to maximise their own performance. It is "helping them to learn rather than teaching them,” (Gallwey, 1975); “a process that enables learning and development to occur and thus performance to improve,”  (Parsloe, 1999); a flexible process “whereby an individual, through direct discussion and guided activity, helps a colleague to learn to solve a problem or to do a task better than would be otherwise the case,” (Megginson and Baydell, 1979); and concerning itself "with amplifying the individual’s own knowledge and thought processes. It is about creating a supportive environment in which to challenge and develop critical thinking skills.” (Guest, 1999).

For clarity, this is coaching as a professional development methodology – a tool to drive individual and organisational performance. It can be carried out externally by specialist coaches, as if often the case when dealing with the most senior executives, or by trained managers. The techniques and processes are similar to those used in other coaching disciplines, such as career coaching and life coaching, but in this coaching the focus is always on driving organisational performance.

How does coaching work?

The aim is to develop an individual’s performance by unlocking their capabilities through guided conversation and questioning. The participation of the individual being coached (the coachee) in arriving at solutions is an essential part of the coaching process.

We are talking about something different to one way instruction, advising, or providing answers. A coach does not provide answers to specific problems by themselves, as such. They don't teach or instruct.  Instead they work with the coachee as a facilitator helping to raise awareness through analysis and reflection, and therefore enabling the person being coached to formulate their own ideas and solutions.

A good coach should be able to develop a powerful relationship with the person being coached based on honest and truthful dialogue, challenging perceptions and behaviour in a safe and secure environment.

In coaching of this kind the focus will be on the individual’s performance in the context of the performance of the organisation overall, raising awareness of their importance in and impact on the wider business. Because coaching involves the participation of the coachee, finding their own solutions and agreeing the actions they will take, it drives deeper and more lasting behavioural change.

What does coaching achieve?

This is one of the most common misconceptions about coaching –that its main purpose is to deal with problems, or that because you are engaging in coaching you must have problems with your performance or be a poor performer. This is not the case.

Coaching may well cover issues that arise, or work on techniques and skills, but the main emphasis is not on addressing problems or managing poor performance. Good coaching is about achieving a high-performance culture, about focusing on the strengths of a team or individual – the assets that enable peak performance. It is about challenging people to challenge themselves and helping them to realise how great they can be.

Is coaching the same as mentoring?

Coaching should not be confused with mentoring, which, although similar in some ways, is a fundamentally different approach to development.

With mentoring, the individuals that are being mentored (mentee) draw on the knowledge, experience and wisdom of their mentor to support them through a significant transition in their work - taking on a new role or accepting a significant change in responsibility, for example. A mentor, therefore, generally requires direct experience of their mentee’s industry and role. Mentoring is a longer term and typically lighter touch development approach with its focus predominately on professional and workplace issues.  It has been defined as: "Help by one person to another in making significant transitions in knowledge, work or thinking." (Clutterbuck and Megginson, Mentoring Executives and Directors)

Coaching, on the other hand, is the process by which individuals are enabled, through questioning and discussion, to solve problems or transfer their learning to the workplace, in order to improve their performance at work and gain insights about themselves, their capabilities, and potential.

Coaches tend not to require a detailed knowledge of the industry or the role of their coachee in order to be successful, as they are not issuing instructions or advice. They can, therefore, work with a wider range of individuals to help improve awareness and performance. Coaching relationships also tend to be shorter and more intensive, with less time elapsing between meetings, and with a wider focus across personal and professional development.