Coaching is a popular word. You read about interior coaches, body coaches, nutrition coaches, sports coaches, you name it. Although coaching is indeed a term borrowed from the world of sport, it has no other link with it whatsoever.
Sports coaching focuses on the technical performance of a sport by athletes, with the aim of improving personal or team results. Increasingly, sports coaching also makes use of coaching proper - often called Sport Mental Coaching - in which a professional coach defines the opportunities for personal development, based on strengths and capacities. Particularly in sports that involve great mental pressure, such as tennis and golf, mental coaching is an important foundation.
Professional coaching on the other hand focuses on reaching a goal, working out an outcome or result, and working on personal change. It really does differ from other supportive professions:
Therapy focuses on healing psychological pain or conflict with yourself or others. The focus is often on resolving difficulties that arose in the past and that hinder emotional functioning in the present. The aim is then to improve general psychological functioning and to deal with the present in an emotionally healthier way. Coaching, by contrast, supports personal and professional growth. The individual takes the initiative for change in order to achieve a specific result. Those results are linked to personal or professional success. Coaching is future-oriented and can bring about positive feelings and emotions. Even so, the main focus is on achieving a specific goal in your personal or professional life. Key words are action, responsibility and change.
Consulting is used by individuals or organisations for a specific expertise. The approach varies, but in general a consultant will diagnose a problem and propose solutions. In coaching we assume that individuals or teams are capable of developing their own solutions, with the coach playing a guiding role through development- and discovery-oriented methods and models.
Mentoring is an expertise centred on offering wisdom and guidance based on your own experience. It can be a mixture of advice, counselling (pedagogical, psychological and social support) and coaching.
Training is a linear learning path with a specific objective, following a predetermined programme set by a trainer with expertise in the subject. Coaching is also focused on objectives, but the learning path is not linear and is not fixed in advance.
Coaching is a relatively young discipline. In 1995 the International Coaching Federation was founded to support the profession. For a long time coaching was a taboo for people. Today coaching has become a matter of course for people and companies who want to develop themselves and their potential and achieve goals - of whatever kind.
