What is coaching?

In its simplest form coaching is a conversation, usually between two people, where the Coach works with the Client to support their development. Virtually always this is a process of forward momentum creating a change.
Coaching is not mentoring. Mentors provide information and expertise which is based on their personal experience and tell the Client what they need to do.
Coaches do not tell, they question, listen and seek to understand, reflect back to the Client and they prompt them to consider their options, resources and potential actions and outcomes.
A huge industry has grown up around Coaching with many different practises and theories prompting particular approaches.
I’m a bit of a “keep it simple” fan preferring to use the GROW model (Goal, Reality, Options and Will) during the coaching session and prefer the Solution Focussed approach as a methodology for change.
Whilst I don’t want to write an academic article it is worth clarifying what I mean by Solution Focussed approach. As a Coach I work from the positive premise that the Client is the expert in their own life and work. They are capable of solving their own problems and already have what they need to create their solutions. The role of the Coach is to help them uncover those solutions and construct a plan to achieve the goal or change they want to accomplish. This may mean exploring how they might do things differently, supporting the cessation of things that are counterproductive or engaging creativity to do something completely new.
Once this has occurred the real change takes place by the Client’s actions outside of the coaching session.
So how does this work in the coaching process?
It is my practice to hold an initial telephone briefing prior to starting the coaching. The telephone briefing is valuable in that it enables me to explain what coaching is, what they the Client can expect from me and what they the Client are required to contribute to the process. This conversation enables the Client to assess whether coaching is the right intervention for them. If agreement is reached then the Client will complete a Client Profile which helps me to understand some of the drivers of the Client and to consider whether there are any areas that require further exploration.
At the first coaching session the Client and I will contract for coaching. For this I use a model that I have developed “Contracting for Coaching Wheel” which allows for thorough coverage of all relevant areas prior to the start of the coaching programme. Generally at this stage goals are explored and described
Each coaching session comprises three stages, a review of key points and outcomes from the previous session to include progress on agreed actions, further coaching to develop the process and finally a review of agreed actions.
An Action Plan is agreed and updated to ensure the Client and I are in agreement.
I hope by this stage it has become clear that the process is forward moving. It looks to the future without delving into the past to establish the root cause of the problem, conducting archaeology if you like; knowing how the problem came about does not necessarily provide an answer to fix it. In fact I think if too much time is spent look backward it can inhibit free thinking and creativity and slow up forward movement.
So my goal is to help the Client understand and describe the goal/s they want to achieve and then identify the simplest and easiest route to achieving the outcome that is most satisfying to them.
What kind of example might this work with?
If we take a work place relationship where the Client does not feel that they are getting the best from the interactions, it might be that this is becoming stressful for them; it might be that it is stopping them from achieving a goal or target and so is taking up a great deal of energy.
I would work with the Client to consider and describe what a better and healthier working relationship might look and sound like to others and also feel like to them.
They would also think about the kind of behaviours, thoughts, feelings and actions that might be present in a more constructive relationship.
We would then work together to consider how they might achieve these changes, what resources they might need  to support this and what factors would need to exist for them to know that they have made progress toward their goal.
As the coaching journey progresses then I will support the Client to think about what they might need to do to ensure that the change is maintained and how to spot if it needs further effort from the client to be sustainable.
So in conclusion I agree with the view expressed that Solution Focussed Coaching has two main purposes to ‘change the viewing’ and ‘change the doing’ (O’Hanlon & Beadle 1996). It is an approach that sits well with me, fits with my values and always feels constructive.  But more importantly it works for my Clients; they feedback to me that it is empowering and creates a healthy level of self-reflection and personal learning.