Coaching can be an enormously rewarding profession to enter.
Not everyone will be cut out for it. But if you enjoy interacting with other people and helping them find solutions for the problems and situations they face in life, you may enjoy it profoundly.
Many people make the mistake of thinking that coaches must have all the answers. They can also sometimes believe that coaches are superior to the people they coach. Neither of these statements is true. Instead a good coach will be able to draw the solutions to each problem from the person they are coaching.
This process is often one of the main reasons that people go into coaching. They want to be able to help people through specific times in their lives when they might need insight and assistance in reaching conclusions.
It can be very rewarding to watch people developing in a good way, as a result of being coached for a length of time. Some coaches enjoy being able to help people find new ways of coping with problems or issues at work, no matter what those issues might be. It is also nice to give positive encouragement when you see areas in which your coachee (the person you are coaching) is doing particularly well. Coaching is not all about back slapping or criticizing in areas where the coachee is not doing well. It's about finding solutions and giving the client the time and encouragement they need to seek out their own solutions.
Different coaches develop different techniques for helping individuals. This is another way in which they can enhance and improve on their own coaching skills, learning and developing as they go along. Coaching can be a life changing profession, both for those who practice it and for those who seek out the help and knowledge of a coach in the first place.
Derek Good
Managing Director
Rapid Results Limited
www.rapid-results.com
About Derek Good
Since 1994, Derek has been in corporate General Management and is currently the Managing Director of the training and development specialists firm - Rapid Results Limited based in Auckland, New Zealand.