A few years ago I met a wonderful lady who, at the time, was in training to become a coach. Coach within the context of personal and professional development. This lady went on to become a very good friend after our coaching relationship ended because of the professional understanding and philosophies that we share. Mid-2015 I restarted my coaching conversation with her and have spent much of the year working through a number of situations with her as I have attempted to find both clarity and actions to develop my professional self.
Coaching is described by the International Coaching Federation as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential”. The coach assists their client to find clarity and purpose through self discovery. Coaching has two key underpinning areas – positive psychology and coaching psychology. Coaching as a professional development tool has grown in popularity since the mid 1990’s. Theeboom, Beersma and van Vianen (2013) stated that not a lot of the measurement in regards to the effectiveness of coaching has been undertaken. Research into coaching has focused more upon the frameworks and models in use.
Positive psychology focuses on the key elements of happiness: positive emotions, meaning and engagement. Coaching psychology studies “behavior, cognition and emotion” in a self reflective way. How does this relate to a work environment? Through a study of research literature, Theeboom, Beersma and van Vianen (2013) state the following findings –
- if an individual’s needs are fulfilled – they work better,
- if an individual is healthy (including the effects of psychological wellness) – they have greater work performance,
- coaching can improve levels of resilience, mindfulness and self enhancing qualities,
- coaching can assist employees to reframe their situation and have a different perspective on events,
- coaching can also provide value through employees having clear, action driven, goal specific targets to achieve.
The findings of Theeboom, Beersma and van Vianen (2013) clearly show that executive/professional/organisational coaching can produce many positive effects for an organisation. Their specific findings included positive effects on wellbeing, gains in performance levels, overall increase in effectiveness of individuals.
My personal experience
Coaching for me allows me to reframe the situation, to gain a clearer perspective of what is going on and the ability to step back and see things for what they can be rather than just what they are. My external coach is a person within the same industry but who is removed from my organisation. She knows how the industry works and what is needed to progress but is removed from the politics and brings no bias. Her most wonderful philosophy is that “all the answers are already in the room”, which means the coachee has the solutions to the problems they face and it is her role to help me discover those for myself.
My internal coach is within our organisation and brings a different approach and perspective to my professional development. She watches, observes, calculates and understands what it is that I need to change or alter in order to be a more effective manager. This person is far more direct about what changes I can make as she is closer to the situation at hand and can guide me through whats happening “on the ground”.
Each of these two persons is extremely valuable and I hold both in very high regard. I don’t trust all that many people with everything I am thinking but with these people I can lay it all on the table and they help guide me towards positive solutions.
My experience shows that coaching works. It is effective, has positive outcomes and also produces lasting effects. if you are considering how you could develop yourself more quickly and effectively I absolutely encourage you to find a coach and give it all you’ve got. What’ve you got to lose?
everydaymanager 