I have read numerous stories about coaching and how effective it is.
I have a friend who has a short (10 minute) daily coaching call.
Coaching appears to be one approach for people to become successful. It seems to have replaced finding a mentor, reading books, etc.
I have asked my LinkedIn social network what they thought of coaching, and the answers are illuminating!
Read on to see the various ways coaches/mentors motivate their clients to succeed.
Click here to find the original question and answer on LinkedIn Answers
The Success Stories series provides case studies from people about what it takes to become successful. Each of us is unique in our goals and aspirations, but we have things in common with others. Through the 10,000,000 people in my LinkedIn network we can share ideas and solutions that will help you achieve your goals. While I don’t always agree with all the comments I receive, I include all that are presented coherently and could help at least one of my readers.
The questions have been slightly edited for grammar and presentation. Comments and Kudos, while always appreciated, have been edited out.
Thermal Protection System Engineer at NASA
Coaching has helped me continue my growth as a curious, learning person, and has helped me get unstuck when life gets a little blurry. Coaching brings clarity of thought, prioritization of activity, and accountability to myself. I am a Franklin Covey Personal Coach, and have created a coaching model to help people like my mother and father… help them communicate. It has fundamentally freed me from lousy thinking and given me back my sense of well being.
Owner and Head Coach / Move To Action
Increased Focus. It sounds pretty simple, yet it’s difficult to attain for many people. I am an Executive and Professional Coach who has a Coach that I work with to increases my performance through the increased focus that comes from our conversations. The success that I have achieved has greatly accelerated since I started working with a Coach. By revenue has grown along with my personal pleasure in my work.
For me, being a Coach is sometimes like being a fresnel lens. That lens takes disused light and focuses it into a concentrated beam. Without this lens, a lighthouse is pretty much useless and provides no safe passage for ship at sea. Many business people are looking for the safe passage that comes from focusing on their thoughts, issues and goals. It’s the focusing that comes from working with a coach that makes the difference between safely reaching your destination or ending up "on the rocks".
Owner: You’re The Difference, Professional Speaker, Author, Training & Coaching Consultant
I am a coach, and, if I may, I’d like to answer the questions that seems general.
1. A mentor is supposed to be someone who has been there, done that in a specific line of work. They are an expert and basically will show you the way, and/or tell you what to do. The expression that comes to mind is "take you under my wing."
2. A coach is supposed to be someone who may or may not have been there done that in a specific line of work. They may or may not be an expert in that field. However, a coach doesn’t take someone under his/her wing. Briefly, a coach supports a person in getting what they say they want. A coach doesn’t tell you what to do. A coach will actually suggest finding mentors, reading books, listening to CD’s, etc.
There is much more that a coach is, or does. However, that’s not the nature of your question, so I won’t clog the line with a long winded answer.
Business Analyst
If you want honesty, it hasn’t helped one bit. I also am not even sure how one goes about finding a coach.
Everything I’ve been able to accomplish, in a career sense (and yes there are other types of accomplishments not applicable to careers and probably more important) has been through my own work. Networking has never had any results for me, neither has coaching.
I can’t "just believe" on faith that coaching is of practical value unless I see it with my own eyes, and so far, in the 20 years since finishing undergraduate I have not seen it.
I’m sorry, but I can’t pretend.
Factory Representative at E Source
Coaching is a great way to get feed back on your actions. My coach is not in my industry and still makes such an impact on my performance. When I am stuck or stopped by something she will ask questions that I haven’t thought of or don’t want to ask my self to get to the source of what the hurdle is for me. She is committed to being a contribution and with that will often say the things that a polite friend or coworker will not.
There is an agreement with people that is “don’t call me out on my weak spots or BS and I won’t call you out on yours." This allows people to stay at a the same level of results instead of taking on the REAL thing that is challenging you. My coach does not have that agreement with me. Her agreement is "I will point out where you are not pushing the envelope for yourself and where you are not taking actions that would make a difference"
The key to getting the most out of my coach is that I be COACHABLE and do the task/make the call/take the action that is being given.
Books offer great information and tips on what has worked for others but the information goes straight into your head with everything else you have learned. IF the information in your head made a difference, we’d all be multi millionaires. Most of the information in my head I just judge and assess, picking the tip that I am comfortable with. I have noticed that taking comfortable actions may get the job done but taking a new or uncomfortable action produces extraordinary results.
I found my coach through a course I am taking at Landmark Education.
[ZT - I have heard a lot of good things about Landmark. I attended one of their "What if" lectures and was impressed. Because I am an orthodox Jew, their Saturday sessions make it difficult for me to attend. I have a close friend who is into it. In fact its the person mentioned above who has the 10 minute coaching call each day.]
Professional Training & Coaching
I had a coach from Peak Potentials for one year. I received a 30-minute session twice a month. It helped me to get discipline and do my homework and I did. It also helped me to stay focus on my life dream. She helped me fulfill my life dream which was to live near a
I am from cold
I am now living in
Marketing Consultant, Author & Speaker
I participated in a group coaching program for about a year. It was very expensive and worth every penny.
At the beginning of the program we were required to do a personal inventory and look at our values, a vision for our business and create a mission statement. At first I thought these activities were a little "airy fairy" and wasn’t really convinced they were of any use. I was wrong.
As a result of this program I am in the process of making a major shift in the focus of my business, am more motivated and am working on projects and for clients that more closely match my skills, values and interests.
In a related note, I’ve been interviewing entrepreneurs for my forthcoming book: The Baby Boomer Entrepreneur. One trend I’ve noticed is that all successful entrepreneurs mention coaching as one of the factors of their success. Some have on-going coaching. Some have more than one coach. Some use coaching periodically to get help with specific problems.
General Manager at Zentiva
I have to say that I have mentors as well as coaches in my life. Even now I use a regular executive coach. I guess that it is very important for anyone to define for oneself what is the scope of using a coach. And this is how you are defining the coaching contract.
For me it works as it helps me keep myself and my business objectives on track, as far as follow up is concerned and improve my relationships in a good shape.
So far it helps me with both objectives I mentioned above and I would highly recommend it.
{LION} Executive Career Coaching and Recruiting
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Coaching, like medicine, can be tremendously helpful or even harmful.
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Most top-performing people have a free mentor or a paid coaches. Most tip top performers have multiple coaches.
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A mentor may employ coaching models. Traditionally, a mentor may have some emotional involvement in the relationship while a paid coach tends to be more objective.
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I specialize in CAREER Coaching, but expand beyond that to one-on-one career consulting. There are many types of coaches. For a better understand of career coaching and how it compares to other services, see http://www.executive-impact.com/articlecareercoaching.html
For some example client feedback and testimonials related to their successes, see my recommendations on my LinkedIn profile and those posted on our web site.
President of Red Dream Studios: Website Design / Graphic Design / Multimedia Production: www.reddreamstudios.com
Debra Forman has made an extensive career out of coaching. You should contact her via her website.
CIA Executive and Newfield-Trained Coach
I’ve had both mentors and coaches and there is a real difference. Both are extremely valuable to achieving success. My coach worked with me twice, both times when I had moved into a job of much greater responsibility and span of control.
Over the years I’ve taken a lot of management and leadership training–and read a lot of books–but only with a coach will you get that personal, in-depth, honest look at what your own goals are and what gets in the way of going after them. Just like in athletics, a coach takes training to the next level by working with you on your particular challenges–getting to your personal best.
Senior Sales and Leadership Strategies, Tactics and Techniques Expert Designer
Benefits from coaching???
I have at least 1000, but here are some examples.
I left my job to start my business 13 years ago. I decided to dedicate my life to help sales professionals. I started my coaching business in
I went to Europe and the
I wrote a book, one of the only five about sales coaching. Now editing the 2nd Edition.
I left
I have a beautiful daughter and happily married. …
All of the above are some of the benefits that I have received from being coached and mentored since 1993. And I know that without coaching, none, but none of the above.
Feelings? Well, leaving a job, starting a business, several trips, a lot of clients, a book, almost two, leaving a country, sometimes tension, but it has been worthwhile.
So, when I coach, during those hours, one on one, I know exactly what I’m talking about.
Thought Leader, Speaker, Connector
I work closely with a number of GREAT coaches and am most impressed with how well they work with one another. I can’t go so far as to say that I have learned about "the abundant mindset" from them, but I can tell you it is AWESOME to watch them practice it routinely. Coaches just know that there is more than enough business for everyone and don’t worry about competition. I really admire that.
On a more direct level, Barry Demp shared two incredibly powerful words that continue to drive me…
“MASSIVE ACTION”
Think about putting that to work for you daily. I might as well take massive action in plugging Barry: http://www.linkedin.com/in/barrydemp. I have much love for Preston True too: http://www.linkedin.com/in/prestontrue.
Owner Loving Connections LLC
November 2006 I reconnected with Michael Gardner. One of the questions he asked "Do you have a Coach?" We talked then about why having one is so important.
A year later, after having the opportunity to experience Michael as my Life Coach I realized how true that is. It has inspired me to pay it forward.
To me the best Life Coaches are mentors. I am not clear that there is a difference.
It is when Life Coaches allow their clients to find their own answers through knowing what questions to ask. The Experts I list have been my Life Coaches/Mentors. Two officially and one just simple by being.
I stand in gratitude for all I have learned because of them. I would invite everyone to have the experience of being Coached.
Colleen also suggests these experts on this topic:
Performance Coach , Founder – The Sky Scrapers Academy ++ {LIONESS} ++ shalini-verma@hotmail.com
What can be a better platform than this to thank my Coaches (I have been blessed…..have been coached by a couple of very brilliant ones).
I am a Life Coach myself and I specialize in helping professionals attain their work-life equilibrium.
About my Coaches…..I would like to make a special mention of :
Akash Chander : The
Akash is a vibrant, high energy, positive person that everybody wants to be associated with.I began working with Akash at a stormy point of time personally speaking. Akash helped me learn to look at my life very differently, to rediscover myself, and get passion back in my life. His insight and direct coaching style makes him a wonderful mentor for those serious about personal growth. I have the highest regard for him.
Bjorn Martinoff : President/ CEO & Executive Coaching Legend at F1C International www.Fortune100Coach.com
Bjorn knows how to bring out superior performance in his clients. He is masterful, very enthusiastic and results-driven. Working with Bjorn, I found myself consistently surpassing my own expectations of myself. Our work helped me identify roadblocks to success. Once identified; I was able to acknowledge them, exercise "choice" to move forward and more easily plot a future course of action.
How Coaching benefited me overall: I now find myself setting better goals that motivate me to accomplish tasks, and projects more quickly and efficiently. I am much more effective, influential, and in control of my professional and personal life and I feel that overall I lead a more complete, balanced and satisfying life. To cut it short –
I am now living my dreams.
What does a Coach do? : A Coach creates a safe environment in which people see themselves more clearly; and he does this by listening, asking focused questions, reflecting back, challenging, and acknowledging the client. He takes you from ` where you are` presently to `where you always wanted to be.- your aspirations, dreams and ideal life`.
Based on my experience of Coaching which I would term as helpful, rewarding, motivating, empowering, and ‘development focused,’ I would definitely recommend my coaches, and also the process of Coaching to anybody who wants to make a change in their lives and experience what it is to reach their greatest potential.
Senior Manager, Sales Remuneration at Standard Bank
After my manager identified some issues that were holding back my growth, she arranged for me to have a number of sessions with a coach, as it was seen as the best way to deal with it.
At first I had a session with my manager present in order to set the objective of the coaching.
I started with a session 1.5 hours every two weeks, and then down to 1 hour once a month. This went on for about 7-8 months. The reason for the frequency was that you do not become reliant on the coach.
My biggest concern was that the aim would be to change who I am. The coach, however, explained that she would be providing me with means to look at situations and people differently and also teach me some tools and techniques.
We discussed issue situations and analysed them. We looked at alternative ways to have dealt with it and why I acted in certain ways.
I will definitely say that it was very worth while, and that I did indeed grow on the matters set out as objectives.
Team Leader at Value One Info Tech Pvt. Ltd.
I had/have many coaches and my experience with the coaches is very good. They always provide me a new point of view.
Independent technical documentation professional
The prototypical coach is the sports coach. They watch your performance and are able to tell you what you did wrong and HOW TO IMPROVE IT. This implies a deep and complete understanding of what needs to be done and how to do it.
My golf coach was able to tell me “you’re not shifting your weight to your back foot on your swing”. Then walk me through a slow swing and talk me through the weight shift.
The admittedly few “business coaches” I’ve come in contact with could tell me what I was doing wrong, but couldn’t tell me how to do it right. Doesn’t mean that all coaching is a waste, just that the coaches I met weren’t really qualified.
The best coaches seem to be in sales, since most of them were highly successful salespersons before becoming coaches/trainers.
Coach-Life Transformation/Hope & Serenity/Addictions
I was fortunate enough to work with a great coach several years ago. As well, as a passion, I have coached, and worked with one other coach.
A coach is different from an analyst, a councillor or a therapist. It is the coach’s job to ask questions and provide tools. It is the coach’s job to listen and support, not give the answers. Coaches lead clients to setting their own goals and expectations, then provide a structure to get the best out of the client, make them accountable for progress, and help them see progress and overcome road blocks to the achievement of client outcomes.
Many coaches have specialized training, are certified by accrediting bodies, have had clinical oversight, and bring out real performance from inside a client. Clients find answers and actions inside of themselves they did not think were possible.
In paying my coach, I acted in a far more proactive way than if it was help or direction given by a friend. I felt accountable and it was a coach/performer relationship. Paying recognized my coach as the acknowledged expert to me!
I did get my desired outcome and in a way I had not thought possible. My coaches were experts in two fields: job/career and addictions.
After years of study, and with the help of a book called Half Time by Bob Buford, I have recently committed the rest of my working life to helping others through "Life Coaching". From experience, I believe and am walking the walk. I was lucky. In the past I saw the need, could justify the expense because I owed to myself, and was coached to great outcomes.
In choosing coaching as my life work and passion, I obviously feel there is a huge need for coaches who are strong enough to reach out, are prepared to be honest and make transformational change. We’re all worth it!
Experienced Career Development Coach and Writer
The first coach I had saw who I was and mirrored that back to me. It was a surprise to see how successful I already was and what potential I had. Her objectivity helped me to see my blocks and her insight gave me tools to understand myself better. I can always learn more about who I am and a coach can be the greatest gift in that journey.
Operations, leadership executive, with positive entrepreneurial style.
On coaching and being coached, it all starts with you. Like anything else in life you get out of it what you put into it. I have and still find it very helpful. I compare it like this. Pro golfers; those on the top of their game; still push to surround themselves with good coaches to improve performance; the best of the best believe they need and recognize the value of coaching. Same thing applies in business; recognizing and surrounding yourself with coaching specialties, is an asset when it comes to improving performance; yours and or your teams.
Serial Entrepreneur & Editor in Chief, CareerKnowledge.net (omnidigitalbrain@yahoo.com)
I’ve never had a coach, but since I work as a coach to others, I often look at myself in the mirror while throwing expletives with my hands in the air in the hope of arousing enough anger for me to take the appropriate actions to improve my performance.
But seriously, what I’ve discovered is that everyone CAN be their own coach. Self-coaching is quite powerful. Much cheaper too!
It’s a matter of developing tools and instruments that will FORCE you to be honest. Once you master self-honesty, the sky’s the limit. Most people are not honest not because they willingly lie to themselves or hide the truth from themselves, but because they simply do not have the appropriate instruments to "see" how they truly are and how they are truly performing.
Sure, it’s easier and quicker to hire a coach to tell you what you are (yet) unable to see for yourself. But in the long run, it’s much better to develop self-honesty and the (rather rare) ability to face the truth. What’s important is not to take ourselves too seriously and to go about self-improvement in a light-hearted manner, and to enjoy the process of becoming one’s best self.
Being able to laugh at yourself will open up a huge vortex through which you can easily see areas for improvement, and you will also enjoy the process of improving yourself in those areas.
I notice that people who are really stuck, usually take themselves too seriously or have developed a big attachment to their ego or their past investments.
Oscar Wilde put it best: "Life is not complex. We are complex. Life is simple, and the simple thing is the right thing."
Professional Speaker on Financial Education for Women and Inner City Youth
I have to tell you it was a total couch-scrounge to come up with the money to pay a coach early in my career. I shopped for one for five years until I could afford it. It was totally worth the money to get so many fast-lane tips and to polish off some rough edges.
Open Innovation Practitioner at RTC North
I have been both a coach and coachee in the true sense of the word, as to be a coach one key requirement is that you are authentic, honest and have significant self-knowledge.
As a coachee, I found the process of being challenged about how I view the world a vital component in my rehabilitation following a short but disastrous period on my CV. I worked for an extremely adept psychological bully, which robbed me of my self-confidence and self belief, with subsequent disastrous results on my up to then "high flyer" performance.
It took the best part of a year to go through the process of discussing and dissecting what had happened, my role in it and how my view of the world had contributed to the situation, and my ongoing performance.
The result? I am now back on track having a much better understanding of what makes me tick, and how to get the best out of myself. I am working in a role that maximizes my strengths rather than struggling in vain to compensate for my weaknesses. All in all, a much better and more satisfying place to be, professionally and personally.
As a result I reap benefits daily in terms of both my professional approach and outlook, and my ability to use my coaching skills in the workplace to support my staff and business.
I must acknowledge my deep debt to Rob Hudson of Sentient and Angelique duToit of Sunderland University http://www.sunderland.ac.uk, look up her course "Coaching for Organizational Excellence"), plus colleagues like Richard Boardman and Robert Fordham at Coaching For for all their help and support during my ongoing journey.
- http://www.sentientuk.com
- http://www.coachingfor.com
- http://www.enablingdevelopment.com/template.php?page=people
Communication & PR Consultant /Manager, Web designer, Lawyer
As far as I am concerned, definitions have to be fixed to know what you are talking about.
The coach is someone who helps someone to reach a specific target (personal- make-up, look -, professional, business, sport, diet (can be dangerous if the coach has no medical skills).. etc). Once his/her role has given the expected result, he leaves but can be contacted again for another "mission".
A mentor is someone who gives help or even directions to a starter in his/her job. He is still keep in touch with his/her "ward" … like a godfather/mother for professional issues. The mentor is the one who can learn you how to do a occupation and transfer her/his knowledge/know-how like a father to his son….directly related to the working reality …and the best result is that one day "the disciple rises above the master. "
Program Manager – National Workforce Institute (NWI)
Having never used professional coaching, I’d like to suggest that people seek out mentors first. I can’t see paying for a coach when I am surrounded with experts on nearly any given topic. Besides being beneficial to the person needing mentorship, it is also an opportunity for growth to the mentor.
Identity Theft and Privacy Compliance and Training (TopLinked.com, MyLink500.com, LION, 1,900+)
I have never participated in individualized coaching, however, a good friend of mine, a coach, has offered a complimentary session so I better understand what it is. I should take her up on it sometime. . .
Having said that, I believe I have been coached by some of the greatest people of all time, both living and gone. Their words live on in books, audio and videos. These materials have had a tremendous effect on my personal growth and development.
Add your insights and opinions in the comments section below!
Success Stories are part of my Success Through Balance approach to life. I believe that Success comes from living a balanced life. You can read more about being successful and the skills required here.
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