What actually does coaching mean?

Coaching for whom and at what time? 

The word coaching is originally derived from the word coach and roughly translated means leading somebody to somewhere. Coaching is mainly applied for people in executive positions or looked for by freelancers as an optimal form of further education. In a good coaching, however, the coach does not set any solutions, but he elaborates the solutions with the client together. The coach serves as a consultant and gives the feedback to the client. The main tasks of a coach are the support in coping with the problem and the very personal consultation of the client. It is the coach’s job to support the client in such a way to help him better cope with professional requirements. This is often accompanied by a further development of the personality, of course. That’s how now and then a very intensive relationship between the coach and the client develops, which is also a main criterion for the decision whether one should prefer an internal coach oran external coaching. Furthermore, the client can decide whether several employees participate in the coaching or if an individual coaching is preferred. Since a coaching is always a question of costs, an individual coaching, it is mainly chosen by managers in executive positions.

How does the advising activity of the coach look like?
In the coaching field, there are no stipulated objectives which are intended to be achieved in a certain manner. Every personality is different and it is the task of the coach to adapt oneself to the respective personality. Then the coach elaborates an approach together with his client, and systematically gets to the bottom of the reasons for the problems. This is where people are usually not in the position situation to cope with on their own, as there are often unconscious reason which can only be made conscious by the help of an external person. Thus, the coach gives the client a “tool” in this hand and shows him how to use it the best way. This is how the dependency of the coach is avoided and an independent problem solving is possible.

Coaching for whom and at what time?
A coaching is reasonable for all those persons having problems in coping with the tasks in their professional life. A good coaching reveals the causes for the problems, shows approaches and helps in the everyday realisation. This is onlypossible because the coach is a neutral person in an existing network of relationships and demands. The coach gives a neutral judgment. This enables a new target orientation and also new working methods. This neutrality makes the coach so very special, since no colleague, employee or even friend can actually bring neutrality to one.

What is the focus of attention in a coaching?
The actual objective of a coaching is the independence, that is, the client is supposed to learn to recognize his own problems, to elaborate solution options and to realise them with responsibility. By means of the coaching process the client is finally in the position to more consciously deal with situations, to execute a good self-reflection and independently of the advising activity of the coach to better cope with daily life and to further develop accordingly.