What exactly does coaching involve?

Did you know that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the coaching industry saw one of its fastest periods of growth?  According to the International Coaching Federation (an internationally recognized certification body and industry standard setter), between 2019 and 2022, the number of coach practitioners increased by 54%.  It’s a clear sign of the growing popularity and acceptance of coaching as an invaluable tool for growth, development and well-being.

But what exactly is coaching?

The best way to appreciate coaching is to first understand what it is not.  Coaching is not consulting, advising, counselling. or therapy.  It’s a tool for helping people develop skills and improve performance.  An effective coaching experience lends to improved self-awareness, problem-solving and action planning.  It helps the client take deliberate steps towards defined goals with confidence. 

This is achieved through a series in-person or on-line guided conversations, or a combination of both, with a trained professional who is not just a good listener.  An effective coach also creates a safe, comfortable, judgment-free space for the client to become freely explore ideas and problems, examine root-causes, feelings and perspectives, and come to their own conclusions about what’s needed and what has to be done. 

Coaching can be used in a variety of situations for both individuals and groups, such as listed below. As such there are many types of coaches, such as:

• • Business
  • Career
  • Communication
  • Development
  • Diversity and Inclusion
  • Emotional Intelligence
  • Empowerment
  • Executive
  • Finance
  • Health/Wellness
  • Life
  • Leadership Development
  • Marriage
  • Parent
  • Performance
  • Relationship
  • Sales
  • Spiritual
  • Sports
  • Teams
  • Transformation

Regardless of the type of coaching, a typical coaching experience has the following phases:

1. 1. On-boarding and Contracting –The first interaction between the coach and the client is used to get to know other, and clarify the general coaching need and desired outcomes, frequencies/meeting times, session duration, locations.  It is also used to confirm the “business end” of things such as cost and, in the case where the primary client is with organization and not the coachee, reporting requirements.  In such scenarios, it’s especially important for to review the obligation to the client vs the coachee, to give the coachee assurance of confidentiality and the conditions for termination.  (Yes, you can fire a coach or the coach can fire you, at any time or any reason, with or without penalty)
   2. Analyzing and Exploring – Effective coaching required a clear and shared understanding of the coaching need(s) and desired outcomes.   This happens broadly at the start of the coaching contract and is revisited at the start of each session.  This is because often what the client or coachee believes to the problem is not the actual problem or the desired focal area at the time. Coaching conversions, especially at the start can be likened to peeling an onion.  Getting to the heart of matter can be supported and sometimes accelerated through the use of analytics tools such as emotional intelligence assessments, questionnaires and visual aids such as the wheel of life or decision quadrants. 
   3. Coaching – Once the coaching need is confirmed (and revalidated), coaching conversations allow the coachee to further ventilate and explore issues and assumptions, surface and discuss new insights and develop potential solutions.  The role of the coach here is simple to listen with judgment, create a safe and comfortable place for introspection and emotional processing.  During the phase, the coach will be looking for patterns, mental blocks or hidden or unsurfaced issues, by asking clarifying questions or repeating what was heard for confirmation.
   4. Action Planning – At the end of each session, after reflecting on what was discussed, the coachee will be encouraged to propose a plan of action, along with clear targets and timelines.  At this stage an effective coach may also do a walkthrough of the proposed plan for clarity and validation of decisions and help the coachee assess their readiness or ability to take action (availability, resources and support).
   5. Assessment – Your coach is your accountability partner.  At the start of each follow up the coaching session and during the final wrap-up session time is spent discussing what actions were taken between sessions, results, learnings from the experience, and progress towards the end outcomes.  This conversation is key to helping the coachee and coach assess the effectiveness of action plan, level of real interest in pursing goals, re-validate goals and recalibrate plans as needed. It is not unusual for the coachee to change the focus or frequency of coaching, because the actions taken solved the problem faster than anticipated, external factors invalidate the original problem or exacerbate the issue. This may prompt a return to the formal contracting phase.
   6. Follow-on support – All good things come to an end.  Whether because circumstance forced a curtailment or the contract came to its natural term, the final session will include an opportunity for the discussion of next steps, the availability and terms of post-contract check-ins and other needs for support from the coach or other parties. 

There is no set duration for coaching or number of sessions.  This is determined by the coach, client/coachee during the contracting phase.  However, typically coaching options include:

• • Standard coaching “hour” (but can be modified to 30 – 45 minutes) for individuals, longer for teams depending on the size and activities.

• • The number of session can shortened with use of analytical tools, but typically can last for  4 to 5 sessions (approximately one month).  However, executive coaching and team interventions can typically range from 3 months to as much as 12 – 18 months, depending the need and complexity.

• • Most coaching sessions coincide with standard working hours, though some coach offer early and afterhours/weekend sessions, on request.

This is why the contracting phase is important.  You don’t want to shortchange yourself by setting up too few sessions and finding the coach unavailable after your discover more sessions are needed.  Neither do you want to be committed to pay for sessions, long after the coaching need is resolved. To find out what arrangement will best for you, visit (Individual Coaching) to schedule your complimentary introduction session with Coach Earl.