I have recently been asking myself if it is possible to be an authentic coach.
The CIPD defines coaching as “developing a person’s skills and
knowledge so that their job performance improves, leading to the
achievement of organisational objectives. It targets high performance
and improvement at work, although it may also have an impact on an
individual’s private life.” http://bit.ly/ei0PI
I
agree with the CIPD definition but would add the worlds of business and
life are never separate, they always overlap and coaching will have an
overlapping impact. Coaching should not become counselling but you have
to take the persons life as a whole life into account.
Coaches are trained to be non judgemental and respectful of others
models of the world. To enable this clean language is used and coaches
keep their opinions and personal models out of the coaching session.
I
define being an authentic coach by being true to who you think you
should be coaching and why. It also means giving an opinion when asked,
and that might be uncomfortable for the person being coached to hear.
There is also an element of allowing your own life story to become part of the dynamic, within reason. After all storytelling and metaphor are powerful methods of enabling change when used respectfully.
If you are interested in developing your leadership or creating more effective teams we would love to have a conversation.
