Sep
30
Written by:
richard
30/09/2010 10:51
It is a question that has cropped up on a number of occasions recently, and one that could be answered in many different ways, whether considering business coaching or personal coaching?
Coaches come in many types and with potentially wide ranging approaches, however, in my experience there are two fundamental measures that start you on the road to answering this question.
RESULTS - typically someone is using a coach to help them achieve different results in some aspect of their work or life. Whilst nothing guarantees success in a coaching relationship, a great starting point is considering if progress is being made in achieving the identified results or outcomes.
OWNERSHIP - a more subtle test is to consider where the ownership is sitting within the relationship. A very common trap that many coaches fall into is taking far too much ownership of the issues and potential solutions/actions. This is frequently an accidental side effect of great intention. In their willingness to 'help' and to share their experience coaches inadvertently, or in some cases deliberately, generate a dependency which is really defeating the whole purpose of coaching in the first place: helping people learn and develop themselves.