"That which you persist in doing becomes easier to do. Not that the nature of the thing itself has changed, but that your ability to do it has increased!" ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
"No pressure, no diamonds." ~ Unknown
Yesterday, I found myself explaining Whole Person Design Coaching, in detail, to an online forum to which I had offered reduced price coaching services to facilitate my need for hours for my certification.
While I would like to pretend that I was shocked at the misconceptions of what coaching is, I found myself having to verbalize what I have learned about and applied to coaching in the last few months, it was really good for me! The experience cemented in my head that I DID absorb the material and I DO know what I am doing. It flowed like water from a spigot. I am on the right road.
I have summed the thread into a Q & A for all of our clarity, now mind you these are actual questions from real people with unedited answers. :)
Q: What the hell do coaches do, if they don't give advice?
A: Coaches engage you in a discovery process to look at all aspects of your life, work with you to define your values and use tools to unearth your resources (your tool set and strengths you tap into to function). Then once goals are determined (by the client) then the coach works with the client based on their world, values and resources to plot strategic, sustainable and ecologically sound solutions move the client toward their goals. We do this by uncovering hidden area and blind spots through the coaching dialogue.
This is a Johari window:
It's a visual representation of the coaching process. Upper left corner is where you are on the surface, it's the part you openly own to the world and yourself. The upper right corner is where the coach engages the client in questioning and feedback, otherwise known as the "coaching intervention cycle" to bring the blind spots related to your goal to the surface. The lower left window would be your hidden truths that are subconscious that are released through the coaching process and finally that bottom right hand window is venturing into the unknown for the client and the coach, bringing it all together and it is the power in this last window which allows the client/coach team to devise solutions to the client's goals.
Q: Will I have superpowers when this is all done?
A: No, no super powers. That being said, some of the things people do take away from coaching are clarity about their situation or life, skills that they can implement in the absence of a coach, a better understanding of their values and resources. The client is completely responsible for what they get out of their unique coaching relationship.
Q: How do you go about getting certified? What are you getting certified in?
A: My certification that I will obtain at the end of November is my C.P.C. (Certified Professional Coach) through the Baraka Institute. It consists of 60 hours of class time, 10 hours of field work and a written and verbal test, this puts me in line to get my ACC (Associate Credentialed Coach) through the ICF but I am skipping ahead to the PCC.
My PCC (Professional Credentialed Coach) certification is through the International Coaching Federation (ICF). Of 4 credentialing bodies in the coaching world, they are the largest. In order to get my PCC, I will go through 125+ hours of class work, 750 hours of field work, have 2 letters of recommendation and take oral and written exams to obtain. Heavy duty stuff! :)
Now let me say, there are no regulations in the field, YET, just about anyone can hang out their shingle as a coach, but we see the writing on the wall that the government is going to step in and regulate this industry, therefore we are heavily regulating ourselves in preparation.
If you are truly interested in becoming a coach, I suggest working with a coach and please contact one of the staff @ http://www.barakainstitute.com/index.shtml and let them know you are interested in becoming a coach. Tell them Laura sent you.
Q: Can you link me to your regulatory board's ethics standards?
A: http://www.coachfederation.org/about-icf/ethics-&-regulation/icf-code-of-ethics/
Q: I always thought that if someone had the ability to coach others in such a positive out put way, to go on to succeed at whatever they may want in life. Why don't they coach themselves into being a millionaire?
A: Some people do coach themselves into being millionaires by targeting the market that can pay them $500-$1000/hr and writing books and such. Even coaches use other coaches to get further as it is a powerful tool. Eventually you can mostly self coach which is where I was when I joined the program, however because this is new to me, my coach has been helping me wrap my head around it all and hone in on my concerns.
I don't want to make a million dollars a year, I'll just be happy helping people (my mom says it was what I was meant to do and I agree with her) who want change and want to actualize positive goals. At one point I was going to go into social work, but then I realized that I wanted to work with people in a forward motion, not analysing their past.
No one here is offering the "million dollar cure" in fact, coaching is only as good as what the client puts into it.
What is your idea of coaching? How do you feel about coaching? What makes a great coach in your mind's eye?
I have been giving this process alot of thought and the more I look at myself the more I need it. I think coaching is great for people like me that lost their own selves so long ago they feel lost and can't get back. A coach is a person who helps your inner light shine and brings your soul back to its full potential. That is what I need and what the process would mean to me. Freedom from the darkness
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