Posts tagged coaching services
The make up of a modern day coach
Jan 26th
Qualities of a good coach?
Nov 16th
What do you need to consider when looking for a coach to help you, your employees or your business?
Coaching is a popular concept in the business world and in house and external coaches are used extensively across many different industries. As a result one of the most common questions asked is what qualities should we look for in a coach. There is no simple answer to this question as much depends on the chemistry between the coach and the “coachee”.
Having said that there are a number of qualities that help a great coach stand apart from the rest, that are consistently mentioned when people discuss what are the the qualities of a good coach.
I think the following sums it up for me:
“A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are.”
Ara Parasheghian
Coaching is about having the ability to help people find solutions for themselves for the situations they face. In order to be successful with this, the qualities most often mentioned are;
- Listen effectively to both verbal and non verbal communication
- Help the individual identify specifically what it is they want to achieve
- Ask the questions which help them devise the plan to help them achieve the goal
- Ask the challenging questions which will help stretch the individuals comfort zone
- Display honesty and integrity. You need to be able tell your client what they need to hear rather than what they want to hear.
- Have a passion for what you do.
- Emotional intelligence – an understanding of the impact you can have on others, and how to adapt your style to best suit the individual you are working with.
Two other quotes which I think are relevant to successful coaching outcomes are:
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Maya Angelou
Charles R Swindoll said;
“I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our Attitudes.”
Everyone can benefit from coaching, it’s just a question of finding the coach that will provide the help and support that will best suit your specific needs.
What are the qualities you value?
Coaching takes up too much time!
Feb 13th
UK managers are too busy to coach, according to the latest research.
Nearly half of UK and Irish respondents to an international survey on the effectiveness of coaching say they find coaching employees too time consuming.
And nearly a third said their biggest coaching challenge was that they “didn’t have all the answers”.
Global consulting firm BlessingWhite conducted the survey among 2,041 employees and managers in 17 countries, exploring a number of business issues including the prevalence and effectiveness of coaching.
According to the findings set out in The Coaching Conundrum 2009, 42 per cent of managers in the UK and Ireland said coaching takes them too long and competes with other priorities. Thirty per cent said they didn’t coach because they “didn’t have all the answers”.
As a result, nearly two thirds (61 per cent) of employees in the UK and Ireland who took part in the survey said they received no coaching from their managers.
According to the research, these issues are global. Thirty two per cent of managers around the world cite lack of time as the major obstacle to effective coaching. In the US, the number was slightly lower at 29 per cent and in Asia the number was 38 per cent.
BlessingWhite’s UK MD Tom Barry said: “It can’t be forgotten that employees are a business’s greatest asset, even in the midst of the global financial crisis. Coaching is one of the most effective methods of aligning employees with organisational priorities. It can also boost performance, develop the leadership pipeline, engage employees and improve retention.
“Senior management must work to address this perception [that coaching takes too long], especially at a time of economic difficulty.”
Coaching could become time-consuming if managers got too involved in their subordinates’ work and felt as though they had to solve all the problems: “These managers don’t lack energy and commitment but they do lack focus and a clear understanding of what coaching is, and what it is not.”
Solution: Bring in an external coach to help solve the poblem! 
