Benefits of Coaching
Coaching and Mentoring are in fact the most effective methods of adult development. This applies in particular to more experienced people, both in life and at work. I will present it below, also by sharing the results of various studies. It is very clearly visible in relation to our work as well as the competencies and skills necessary in the business environment of the 21st century and the famous VUCA times.
In addition, other studies have shown that in the case of participation in training, 80% of the acquired knowledge disappears completely within 90 days after the training (if you are more interested in this topic, for example, search for the phrase Eibbighaus Curve on the Internet). That is why it is so important to choose 1-3 specific skills or behaviors on which we want to work and consciously practice their change after the training. And even in this case, coaching can be extremely helpful, because by its nature it will help us consistently and consciously implement change.
Depending on what coaching we use (e.g. business coaching or life coaching), the benefits of coaching may vary. But I believe there is a common part that comes from a deep coaching philosophy.
Therefore, the summary of benefits presented below is broken down into 3 sections:
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the benefits that originate from the essence of the coaching method
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the benefits of Business Coaching
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the benefits of Life Coaching
In addition, you will also find a fairly long list of specific situations or signals indicating that finding a good coach would bring you very tangible benefits.
1. Benefits of Coaching as a Method of Personal Development
So let's take a look at exactly what lies at the heart of the benefits of coaching. Let's also see what specific benefits can be derived from business and personal coaching and what signals indicate that coaching would be a good choice for us. Let's also analyze how these benefits change with the development of our work environment.
Coaching broadens awareness.
Let us first define the term "consciousness" and, in particular, what it differs from knowledge. Knowledge is information obtained. Awareness is an analyzed, worked experience. Raising Coachee's awareness is the essence of coaching. Thanks to this, coachees can begin to look at themselves and their surroundings differently. And therefore, to see opportunities and options that Coachee has not noticed so far.
Coaching teaches you to think.
In any school, have you learned how to think about what you think or what you feel? Do you have clarity on what it means: is the emotion the result of a thought, or is the thought the result of an emotion? Coaching enables you to successively learn about your thinking, in particular discovering the beliefs you follow. This gives you, first of all, a chance to consider whether the belief is valid, but also to decide if that belief serves you.
Coaching opens the heart and gives a chance to connect it with the mind.
And therefore, it gives you a chance to combine these often separate and longing for each other parts into one harmonious whole. How often have you been told that showing emotions at work is unprofessional? How much do you divide yourself into "work-self" and "life-self"? How often do you say that authenticity is very important and yet you can't be yourself in certain situations?
Coaching gives you the chance to make a proper and lasting change.
What else is the result of the coaching process if not a change? Changing beliefs, changing the way you think about yourself, changing the way you think about your role at work, about what is really important to you in life, about other people - and ultimately setting new goals for yourself and their consistent and flexible implementation. However, change is all about being appropriate and long-lasting.
What does it mean appropriate? The best answer to this question is this metaphor: Before you start climbing a ladder, make sure you put it against the correct wall. The durability of the change does not need any explanation. This is supposed to be a new version of you. From now to the future and the next change.
Coaching teaches listening and tolerance.
So much today is said about "diversity & inclusion". So much is said about leadership. And I would just quote one sentence: be a good listener, your ears (as opposed to your mouth) won't get you in trouble. By working with a good Coach, you start to notice how much you can hear in your own words. As you work with a Coach, you begin to realize how much what you say shows how you think. So you start to get more and listen better. First yourself, then others. And you also begin to realize how multidimensional person a man is, how difficult it is sometimes to change yourself, and how much harm can be done by drawing too hasty conclusions in relation to others. Besides, if you just talk, you repeat what you already know. And only by listening you can learn something new 😊
2. Benefits of Business Coaching
Here, I am going to present the specific benefits of business coaching that support leaders and managers at work. At the end of this section, you will also find links to the results of various studies and reports on the effectiveness of business coaching.
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Become aware of your natural talents and strengths
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Designing an appropriate career path based on your strengths
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Developing communication skills
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Building a leadership style based on authenticity
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Manage stress and pressure better at work
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Much better dealing with "difficult employees"
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"Read other people" faster and more accurately
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Better and more effective management of your boss
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Acquiring the skill of mature assertiveness
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Overcoming fears and worries that hold you back
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Increasing the effectiveness of your actions and influence on others
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Working through the state of burnout and changing the approach to work
And finally, I will add one more extra benefit. Working with a Coach, you also have the opportunity to create your own Coaching Management Style. And it's not just a skill. It's a way of being.
By using business coaching, you can not only develop yourself as a supervisor but also change yourself as a human being and significantly improve the comfort of your whole life.
Sources:
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The famous article by Daniel Goleman (author of the best-selling book "Emotional Intelligence") entitled "What makes a leader?" published in 1998 in the Harvard Business Review
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In 2019, the Coaching Institute reports that over 70% of coaching users benefited in the areas of work efficiency, relationships, and communication skills. In addition, as many as 86% of companies believe that their investment in coaching has returned
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The report from 2021 informs about the positive impact of coaching on the "well-being" of employees who had to face the "lockdown" due to the Covid-SARS-2 pandemic International Journal of Evidence-Based Coaching and Mentoring 2021, Vol. 19 (1),
3. Benefits of Life Coaching
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Full clarity about professed values and goals
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Realizing your personal "why?"
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Getting to know yourself better, in particular getting to know your shadows and strengths
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The ability to ask yourself questions, also the difficult ones
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Capacity to independently solve various problems
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The ability to make decisions and take responsibility for them
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Acquiring the skill of not succumbing to failure
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Increase in self-confidence and your abilities
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Understanding and skillfully applying the principles of healthy assertiveness
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Being able to resolve conflicts or remain in a conflict without feeling guilty
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Being able to simplify matters that seem complicated at first
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A sense of agency in your life
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Improving the comfort and quality of life
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Often a sense of the "lightness of existence" 😊
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Ultimately: the feeling of being the owner of your life
4. Signs that you would benefit from coaching
Here are examples of situations or signals that indicate that it is worth using coaching. This list is of course not exhaustive. However, it shows when it is worth taking advantage of coaching and in what situations, problems and challenges coaching can help a lot and bring you measurable benefits. More detailed information on when and which coaching to choose can be found on our subpages discussing individual types of coaching.
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You can't name at least 3 of your talents and 5 of your strengths (there's a difference between natural talent and a strength!)
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You are a Highly Sensitive Person and you are overwhelmed by today's world
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You have trouble enumerating at least 5 qualities for which you value or like yourself
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You know what you don't want, but you don't know what you want or need
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You feel stuck at work
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On Sunday afternoon you feel anxious or stressed at the thought of Monday's work, or already on Wednesday you are looking forward to the weekend
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You would like to develop professionally, but you don't know which way to go
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You would like to find an idea for yourself. You feel like you're out of place
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You are at a difficult moment in your life, privately or professionally. You don't know how to deal with it
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A big change awaits you. You're afraid you won't be able to handle it
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You have trouble with your work relationships. For example, you are struggling with your boss
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You feel that you are not using your professional potential, but you do not know how or you cannot break through. You feel unappreciated
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You take on too much, whether at work or in your personal life. You're already overwhelmed by it all, but you can't say "NO"
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Everything seems to be OK, but you lack the joy of life and spontaneity. You want less and less
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You don't believe in yourself. Even despite the positive opinions of people who know you well
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You feel the increasing loneliness in remote work
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More and more often you can't deal with emotions and you don't really know what causes them or you don't know how to change it
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You have recently been promoted to your first management position. You're afraid you won't make it
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You have been promoted at work to a much more responsible position. More and more often you think that it was a mistake and that it is beyond you
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You are in a management position. Would you like to develop your team management skills or develop your authentic leadership style?
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You are in a management position. Would you like to learn a coaching style of management or situational leadership skills?
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You are in a management position. In your opinion, you have a problem with the involvement of your team
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Work drains you. You devote so much attention and effort to it that you have practically no strength left for anything else
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You feel lost. You feel like you're running, but you don't really know where. For what?
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You work in an international environment. You have trouble getting along with colleagues of other nationalities or cultures
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You've been getting negative feedback at work for some time, despite the fact that you're trying hard and want to change this perception
5. Development of coaching and its benefits in the workplace
In an organizational environment, coaching and mentoring have traditionally been part of the role played by supervisors or more experienced employees who showed less experienced colleagues how to competently perform a given activity or set of activities.
It is by default part of a cyclical process of developing an individual's skills led by the supervisor: assessing its performance, assessing progress, and planning development. If the supervisor does not coach personally, he will organize such coaching (mainly for an experienced employee) and usually in the same team as the coached person. In this context, coaching is actually the teaching of certain skills and competences until the skill is permanently acquired and can be consistently carried out on its own and in accordance with the required standard.
Although most of this type of coaching and mentoring is provided by more experienced people, it is not always the case that they are older. As often the mentor explains or demonstrates a certain skill or process, the mentor may also be a younger person, e.g. fluent in new technologies. But it's always someone who is able to pass on their skills to others. So, in addition to substantive knowledge, it must have highly developed competence in transferring knowledge and communication,
Today you can still see the traditional roles of Mentors and Coaches. However, many organizations and most business sectors have undergone significant changes. The main changes concerned broadening the scope of coaching approaches and combining mentoring and coaching into one approach, generally known as coaching.
Despite the best efforts of some academics and management gurus, senior managers in some organizations, associations of professional coaches and mentors, and human resource purists, the terms Mentor and Coaches are now used interchangeably in many business sectors.
The main reason for this is that individuals are demanding and expect a wide range of skills from the mentor-coach that encompass the best qualities of both categories. Many organizations also create mentoring and coaching systems that also combine the best practices of both roles. As a result, these terms are increasingly synonymous, and that is what one person or organization would call a Mentor, another would name a Coach.
In addition, many individuals arrange to work with a personal coach, whose role is a combination of a mentor and a coach. This is similar to the relationship between an athlete and a personal trainer, as well as between individuals and their personal trainer. In the world of business and professional development, the result is the hybrid of mentoring and coaching that most people, especially in the US, now refer to as personal coaching.
6. What should be the ideal Business Coach?
An ideal coach is a person who has been trained in coaching techniques, has extensive experience and maturity, understands today's business activities, trends and challenges, and understands how the career and professional development of an individual should be tailored to the needs of the organization in order to help this person. in achieving professional success and in achieving your development goals.
7. What should be an ideal Business Mentor?
An ideal mentor is someone who has been trained in mentoring techniques and has the relevant work experience, knowledge, and qualifications in the area that the mentee needs. Also has general business knowledge and it is very important that the Mentor is a person who has enthusiasm, if not passion, to help others develop, realize their potential and achieve their own and organizational goals.
8. Summary of the benefits of coaching and mentoring for the individual
For individuals, the benefits can be many, including:
help in avoiding making previous mistakes in professional or personal life; greater professional efficiency (achieving more in less time); greater job satisfaction; less stress; easier resolution of current problems; effective preparation for potential difficulties; a flexible combination of work and personal life; being happier in your personal life and more fulfilled in your professional life; effective achievement of goals related to career or personal development; a conscious change of career or career direction; being more effective and influential in all walks of life; being more attractive to others in their career and professional development and/or personal life.
9. Summary of the benefits of coaching and mentoring for the organization
For the organization, the benefits are similar. These include: learning effectively from a person with a wide range of knowledge; obtaining independent, impartial, objective advice and guidance; obtaining improvements in productivity, quality levels, customer satisfaction, and shareholder value; increasing the commitment and satisfaction of operating and management staff; improving staff retention; supporting other training and development activities; visible evidence that the organization is committed to development and improvement; creating an effective process of organizational development, more and more often changing the organizational culture.
