Coaching is one of the fastest growing new professions. What is the appeal? Recent issues of FHM, Cosmopolitan, and even the Sunday Times urge people to avail themselves of the services of a personal coach. Why?

We all know that dedicated athletes use coaches to increase their focus and to provide support, structure, and ongoing accountability to prepare them for competitions. Organisations and individuals who hire coaches are interested in doing the best they can with what they have available. As the pace of 21st century life speeds up, it sometimes feels like we have to run to stand still. We humans have a deep need to grow and develop, to actualise our potential. We want to "go for the gold" in the game of life. As the Romans had it "carpe diem", seize the day! Imagine having someone in your corner, totally focused on your success, encouraging you every step of the way? And what’s more, now you can have that level of success too, just give us a call on 08707 570292 for your FREE consultation and Coaching session, to find it if Coaching is for you!

Or, if you want to help others yourself, why not train to become a coach? Just click on the NLP Practitioner Certification on the left to discover more.

What specifically is coaching?

The Personal and Professional Coaches Association defines coaching as "an ongoing relationship which focuses on clients taking action toward the realisation of their vision, goals or desires. Coaching uses a process of enquiry and personal discovery to build the client's level of awareness and responsibility, and provides the client with structure, support and feedback." How is that different from existing professions? Like counselling, it is client-centred and individual. Like consulting, it is outcome oriented, dealing in visions and actions.

The major difference between masterful training, counselling, therapy, consulting or mentoring and masterful coaching can be described quite simply. The coach does not have answers. The coach does not provide expertise. A coach operates from the pre-supposition that the client has all the resources, including the ability to discover and utilise internal resources, perhaps ones that have been unavailable or ‘hidden’ in the recent past.

How does coaching work?

Most coaching begins with an initial intake appointment of two to three hours in which the coach and client design an alliance. Momentum and focus are maintained with regular, often weekly half-hour appointments. The client determines the agenda for the weekly session. Many of the clients I work with approach their weekly call with written notes that may include what they want to focus on, what they want to be held accountable for, and what they want to explore.

Most coaching is conducted over the telephone, so it is well suited to professionals' busy lives. Some coaches also use e-mail or fax, and some work in person. Often the coach doesn't live in the same community or even the same part of the country as the client. To many, this is seen as an advantage. It puts the coach well outside the system within which the client lives and works, and provides a sense of distance, objectivity and perspective.


NLP and Coaching

NLP presuppositions, skills, and models serve the coach in many ways. Several of the presuppositions of NLP are particularly useful in establishing the coaching frame. In reading this, you may have noticed some of them.

• Everyone has all the internal resources he or she needs
• The worth of an individual is constant, while the behaviour can change
• The map is not the territory. We respond to our models of the world, not to any "objective" reality
• It is better to have choices than not to have choices. Behavioural flexibility is more useful than having limited behavioural choices
• Every behaviour has a positive intent
• There is no failure, only feedback

These presuppositions balance responsibility with no judgement, and allow the client to evaluate without being self- deprecating.

By living these presuppositions, experienced NLP Practitioners naturally embody the attitudes of great coaches. Both assume that the client is capable. Both have experience exploring underlying mental frameworks that either support or inhibit growth. They are less likely to get distracted by "the story," the surface structure. They assist clients in finding the deep structure of their experience, where profound change takes place.

NLP skills assist the coach in every session. Since much of coaching takes place on the phone, an NLP coach uses sensory acuity to listen to the client's voice tone and tempo. In addition, the coach knows how to listen at different levels, to the client's message and to the meta-message. The NLP coach listens for familiar language patterns that indicate a client's self-imposed limits, and he/she knows how to generate powerful questions in response to those patterns. The NLP coach can introduce the idea of multiple perspectives through skillful questioning. "What might your future self suggest?" "Is this the critic? What does the dreamer have to say?"

An understanding of NLP models enriches the abilities of a coach. I often begin coaching with outcome specification questions. Eliciting a well-formed outcome helps clients define their vague dreams and set up evidence procedures. In many cases, just specifying an outcome generates movement toward it.

I also use a belief & values audit with clients. The belief audit provides questions that help the client examine blocks or challenges. These questions often facilitate breakthroughs. Exploring underlying beliefs is an important aspect of coaching. Beliefs change naturally and organically as people align with their goals and values.

These and other NLP models generate powerful questions, particularly timelines, reframing, perceptual positions, the meta-model, and logical levels.

NLP practitioners often develop an unconscious sensitivity to the use of language that informs their intuition. Frequently, the most powerful questions in a coaching session come spontaneously from the coach's intuition.

The Paradox

There is a paradox inherent in coaching. I often come away from a call with my own coach sensing that the coach seemed somehow unnecessary; I had all the answers; (precisely), I did all the work. (Yes, I did.) Fortunately, I have had the privilege of working with masterful coaches. Who merely by asking the right question, move me effortlessly to where I want to go, and so can you.

Since using a Life Coach, I've learned to ask for what I want. I've taken actions and changed beliefs. It feels like it has been my own doing. It has been. My coaches have not created change for me, rather, they have been confident in my ability to create it for myself. They've urged me to trust my own process. And they have held the expectation that I will fulfil my own dreams.

Now it’s your turn. Call Gary now on 08707 570292 to book your FREE no obligation, consultation and FREE initial Coaching session and take that first step on your journey. We’re waiting to say YES! to your call.