Put Me In Coach: How Life Coaching Works For You

This is a guest post by Barrie Davenport of Bloom Life and Career Coaching.  I asked Barrie to write this post to help us understand life and career coaching.

When you think about a coach, who comes to mind? Don Shula? Tommy Lasorda?

When people talk about coaching, they usually refer to someone in the world of sports. Most serious athletes have one or several coaches.

The coach helps bring out the best in them. He or she motivates the athlete, stretches them to exceed limitations, holds them accountable, and cheers them on. Without committed, passionate coaches, the world of sports might meander along in mediocrity. It certainly wouldn’t be populated with the superstars we have today.

So what if you had a life coach?

Not to improve your golf game or your tennis swing, but to bring out your best and to help you create the life of your dreams? What if there was someone who partnered with you, helping you grow and extend yourself personally or professionally? Believe it or not, there is such a creature, and I’m one of them. I’m a life and career coach.

Coaches work with regular people who have one thing in common.

They want to seize life by the horns and make things happen. They want to be in the game in a big way. They just need the self-knowledge, focus, strategy and accountability to get there. That’s where coaching comes in. It may sound somewhat self-indulgent or excessive. Why pay for something you could do on you own? With a coach you stretch yourself farther and reach your goals faster and with better results. Millions of people and businesses use coaches regularly with remarkable results.

Here’s how coaching works for an individual.

I recently had a client contact me because she feels trapped by her job, completely unfulfilled, and totally confused by what to do next. A skilled coach spends most of the time listening intently and intuitively and asking probing questions that bring answers to the surface for the client.

With my client, we spent time discovering who she is.

We looked at her personality, values, passions, motivations and skills. Knowing yourself well is more than half the battle. We used a few assessment tests and had many coaching conversations to help her have a deeper understanding of herself.

The next step was learning what she wanted to achieve.

Using her newly expanded self-awareness, she took the tools of her passions, values, skills and motivations and began to form the outline for a new career. Then she began to fill in the blanks by answering targeted questions, by doing weekly “homework” that she created, and by digging until she had the “ah ha” moment. She knew what she wanted to do! Energy and excitement carried her to the next step.

How to get there is the easy part.

Once you discover who you are and what you really want, getting there requires the practical steps of creating a strategy. The coach’s role here is to keep the client on track and accountable for taking the needed actions and to keep the client motivated even if they hit a roadblock. If you’ve ever worked with a personal trainer, you know you will run faster or push harder when the trainer is standing by your side. That’s the way it is with coaching. If you stick to the plan with your coach beside you, you’ll get amazing results.

There are many types of coaches for all situations.

In addition to life and career coaches, there are a myriad of coaching specialties. Business coaches, executive coaches, relationship coaches, writing coaches – you name it, there’s probably a coach for it! Just do your research to ensure your coach has been trained by a reputable coaching school (preferably one accredited by the ICF, International Coaching Federation) and be sure to get client references. Most coaches offer a complimentary session to determine whether or not you’re a match with the coach.

Coaching can happen anywhere, anytime.

Coaching conversations can take place either over the telephone from anywhere in the world or in person during sessions that are between 30 minutes to an hour. Because coaching is a process that builds on momentum and accountability, it’s best to commit to several months of regular coaching session (3-4 times a month) depending on the coaching scenario.

Coaching is neither therapy nor consulting. Advice is not offered, and you are never told what to do. It’s a partnership in self-discovery and success where you do the work with the coach’s support. If you are ready to boldly participate in the game of life and excel beyond your wildest expectations, then consider having a coach on your team!

Barrie Davenport has more than 25 years’ experience as a public relations and marketing professional. She has recently discovered her true passion of helping people find their own career and life passions. She is working toward her master coach certification with Coach U, the world’s leading accredited coach training institute, with specialized training in career coaching. 

Photo by Mart1n

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