When Arjuna was battling with his inner self on how he couldfight his own, it was with Krishna’s constant urging and guidance that he wasable to make a decision. The key element here is not that he fought with hiscousins or that he came out a winner, but that it was HIS decision, somethingthat he owned and was completely convinced about.
This dialogue between Krishnaand Arjuna symbolizes the very essence of Coaching.Coaching has traditionally been associated with sports. Whydo we talk about Coaches in Sports and not Teachers? It is because the role ofa Coach is far more than that of just teaching a skill.
It is about guiding,encouraging, enabling and empowering an individual to realize his/her truepotential. Coaching as defined by Oxford dictionary is “The process of training somebody to play a sport, to do a job betteror to improve a skill”. In the context of organizations, it obviouslyimplies the last two meanings.Why is Coaching needed? In today’s workplace, one size does not fitall, you literally have four generations working in certain organizations; whatsuits one does not suit another.
Coaching thus addresses this need and providesa more personalized approach than your off-the-rack learning programmes. Itcaters to an individual’s needs rather than the needs of the organization andhence resonates strongly with ones’ selfish motives of self-development. Who needs it? While it is often believed that Coaching is meantfor the senior leadership, I personally believe that it is relevant for alllevels of hierarchy especially as it gears towards bringing about a fundamentalchange in the way we perceive approach and thereby handle situations. As suchthe sooner one gets the opportunity to get “coached”, the sooner s/he will be ableto realize her/his potential.When is the right time? Coaching cannot be task related or timebound.
It does not result in someone getting a coveted position in theorganization; rather it prepares and enables him/her to perform the role to thebest of him/her abilities. So, a Coach will actually help someone to add valueto their existing roles or prepare them for the next higher role. How to be a good Coach? Coaching efforts will be successfulonly if the Coach is able to correctly understand three aspects: Who they arecoaching? What their individual beliefs are? How to channel the individuals’potential to achieve the desired outcome? All of these help him to “understand the individual and identify theenablers”. It can never beprescriptive. In simple terms it will fundamentally change your “way ofworking”. And I will in fact say that successful coaching will actually helpyou to become the best “version” of yourself.
As author Timothy Gallwey rightly mentions “Coaching isunlocking a persons’ potential to maximize their own performance. It is helpingthem learn rather than teaching them”