Coaches: Partners in action

By Chris O'Brien

      Got a craving for a new career, but can't seem to get a break? Have a pothole that needs patching in a relationship road or a business that's pulling you in 15 directions at once? It may be time to get a coach. We're not talking Little League and football-this coach is a strategic partner whose mission is to help you find and take the right actions to achieve your goals, manage transitions and improve your lifestyle.

      The International Coach Federation (ICF), a non-profit organization, offers this definition: "Professional coaches provide an ongoing partnership designed to help clients produce fulfilling results in their personal and professional lives. Coaches help people improve performance and enhance the quality of their lives."

      Coaches are neither mentors nor therapists, although coaching has some of its roots in these professions. A coach will not tell you what to do, as a mentor might. Rather, his or her role is to help you define your true goals and passions, and then assist you in creating a step-by-step plan to achieve them. Nor will a coach provide moral support for life crises, like a therapist-few coaches encourage whining, and the better ones expect you to be motivated and determined to achieve your stated goals.

      "An experienced coach will be listening for whether or not someone is willing to get into action," says Judy Feld, MCC, president of CoachNet and co-author of Smart Match Alliances (Jumping Jack Publications, 2002). "Sometimes people need to complain a little. I'll use a five-minute rule-go ahead and vent, then let's get on with the action plan. A coach concentrates on the client's strengths-this is not a process for remedying weaknesses."

      Coaches work with all kinds of human problems, in areas ranging from business and personal relationships to elder care and grief management. However, they're often divided into two categories: business coaches, and life (or personal) coaches. Business coaches, obviously, work with businesses, and may specialize in small business, corporate executives, entrepreneurs and so forth. Life coaches usually deal primarily with personal or family issues, including primary relationships, child-raising challenges, elder care, transitions and unexpected changes such as death or divorce.

      Of the thousands of coaches in the United States , each tends towards a specialty, but most also have skills to accommodate the overlapping and interrelated needs of clients. For example, a client may want to improve his or her work performance and reduce job-related stress, but that may be partly about career success and partly about creating more family time and improving the spousal relationship. A single coach can generally facilitate all of these objectives.

      Coaching, as it is practiced today, is about 20 years old, and was birthed from the consulting professions. The grandfather of modern coaching is Thomas Leonard, a financial advisor from San Francisco . Leonard found that many of his clients wanted to discuss life issues outside of investments, including careers and personal challenges. His gift for guiding people to their own conclusions, without telling them what to do, led him to coaching. He founded Coach University , an international training program with more than 7,000 coaches in 38 countries, in 1992, and went on to found ICF in 1994. In 1998, he started TeleClass.com, a virtual coach university, and has authored 28 personal and professional development programs. Leonard, who passed away in February, 2003, is credited with ultimately validating the coaching industry.

      One of Leonard's contributions was to establish compensation standards. Currently, coaches are typically paid on a type of retainer at the beginning of every month for a predetermined number of coaching sessions. The fees range dramatically. On the middle to low end, a coach will charge $250 to $300 a month for three to four 30 or 45 minute sessions and emergency calls. Business executive coaches may get $500 to $1000 a month, and up to $1000 a session.

      The coaching profession is not federally regulated, and several certification programs are available from training centers around the world. As one of the largest non-profit coaching organizations, ICF is seeking to establish a certification standard in the industry. Their program has three levels of certification: associate certified coach (ACC), professional certified coach (PCC) and master certified coach (MCC), each based on the number of training and active coaching hours completed. The ICF has also established a coaching code of ethics including a coaching philosophy and objectives, as well as standards of ethical conduct, such as guidelines for professionalism, confidentiality and conflicts of interest.

      Finding the right coach is a matter of honing in on what you want to accomplish and in what style. Do you need a business or life coach? Are telephone sessions okay, or do you want to meet in person? You can begin with web resources such as the Coach Referral Service at ICF or CoachVille's referral site. Word of mouth works too. Ask around. Find people who have used coaches and get their reaction to the process. Most coaches will be happy to talk to you free of charge to determine if there's a match.

      How long you spend with your coach really depends on your goals and needs. Someone starting a small business may secure a coach for several years while he or she navigates the many challenges of getting up and running. Coaching for a career change may only take a few months. If you think you could benefit from a coach, or would just like to find out more about their services, check out some of these resources:

. www.CoachFederation.com includes an overview of coaching, code of ethics, certification, referral search and more

. www.CoachVille.com includes a question and answer resource, training, referrals and more; also see ThomasLeonard.com

. www.CoachNet.com includes "coaching approach," "types of clients," "format and fees," and more

. www.Bubblingwell.com includes "what is coaching," "coaching services" and more

. www.TodaysCoach.com includes news, helpful articles and background information