What Is Coaching?

Over the years I’ve learned that when people ask me what I do for a living, they always have a follow up question that immediately springs to mind. For some, it’s how to deal with *that* coworker or boss- managing conflict within a team, what to do when you report to several people, and so on. For others, it’s how to reach that next level in the workplace- seeking a promotion, finding a new job, or beginning to think about, like some of my Gen-X clients are, how to start the succession planning process.

But more often than not, I get the same question- “What IS coaching, anyway?” I love this question, because it lets me share the story of how I discovered coaching (hint: like many of my clients, it was when I needed to get out of a stuck place!) and my process for working with clients now.

A lot of these questions take much longer than a cocktail-party reply to answer, because while I love the work I do, I’m not gonna be able to solve your succession planning problem or help you figure out if you want to quit your job over a single glass of wine, friends. You’re going to want to find – wait for it- A COACH!

Whether you’re looking for an executive coach, small business coach, life coach, team training coach (and the list goes on), knowing what you can expect to gain from the experience is critical to the success you’ll have with a coach.

Here’s my quick thoughts on what coaching is, how you can find it, and why I think it’s an awesome choice for anyone! Check out the video above to hear more!

After you’ve checked out the video, won’t you head down to the comments section? We want to hear from you! Have you worked with a coach? You can make a real difference for someone else when you share your story. So don’t be shy about leaving a comment. Every little bit of wisdom helps!

Also, in the video, I talk about the International Coaching Federation, which is the credentialing program I’m proud to be part of. If you’re looking for a coach, make sure your search starts there!

Listen to this video as a podcast!

Video Transcript:- Hey there, friend, it’s Stefanie Krievins with the Pro Troublemaker Nation where I share tips and encouragement so you can fix your hot messes! And today, I wanna answer the question for you, what is coaching? Before I get there, I wanna share with you why I chose coaching and how I came to find coaching. So six years ago, a little over six years ago, I was in a job where my soul threatened to jump out of its body if I continued to do that work.

There was nothing wrong with the organization. It was me, I was not in the right place and I didn’t know what the right place was for me moving forward, both in the world and in a career and I didn’t know how to find that answer. I had a friend who had just gotten his coaching certification and I went to him and I was like, dude, I know I don’t need therapy, but I need help. Could you help me out? And within three sessions, he was able to get me to a point of clarity where I could say, I never wanna work for anyone ever again. I have a vision for how I want my life to be and how I want the world to be and I need to make that happen for myself.

And then he helped me realize that my role and my soul was meant to do coaching. Friends, he helped me gain awareness, clarity, and then have accountability for following through on my dreams and I am forever grateful and what I learned from him was the transformative power of coaching and so, six years ago, I became a trained coach and I bring these gifts to the world now too. So what is coaching? So coaching is like architecture, right. Therapy is like archeology, so in therapy, you’re going to dig up the past to discover why you have what you have today. In coaching, when you’re working with a really good coach, you are going to be able to design your future, to build what you want moving forward.

That’s how you know when you’re with a really great coach is that you’re talking about the future virtually all of the time. If you’re talking about the past, it’s about what’s made you successful in the past, how can you build on that, and take it with you into the years ahead. So a great coach, a trained coach, is going to help you gain awareness, clarity, and accountability to your goals. They’re not gonna set the goals for you. You’re gonna set the goals and then they’re gonna help you have accountability and follow-through to actually make it happen.

So if you’re looking for a coach, one, of course, I would love if you’d consider one of my teammates or me from the Pro Troublemaker Nation, but if you’re looking for a coach that has the right credentials, I encourage you, go to coachfederation.org to find coaches that have been trained at a minimum level of acceptance and credibility, as well as they adhere to a set of, what’s the word, competencies in order to say this is what makes a good coach.

I belong to the International Coach Federation because those competencies and that credibility is really, really important for me to bring to my clients. So when you’re looking for an executive coach, look for a coach that has a process, a defined process, so you know exactly what the steps are. Look for a coach that has worked with people like you before so they understand the habits, the mindsets, the problems that you’re facing.

Look for a coach that, this is an investment of time and money, so you need someone that, one, you really click with, that you have rapport with, that you feel comfortable with, but then also someone that is going to push you and make sure that you are getting the most for your time together. So if you’re in a coaching session where it feels like, “Oh, we’re kinda like friends “and they’re maybe talking more than I am,” friends, you’re with the wrong coach.

A coach is going to be focused on you virtually the entire time because this is about you, this is about you reaching your goals. Friends, I hope you look into executive coaching as a resource for your professional and personal development. Coaching certainly has had an amazing impact on my life. I’ve seen the impact in my clients’ lives, how they’ve been propelled to success in their organizations because they invested in themselves and I want that for you.

Now, friends, it’s time to get off the internet. Let’s get the real work done that Pro Troublemakers get done in this world and I’ll see ya next time.