What is coaching?
How is coaching different from Therapy?
How is Coaching Different from Consulting?
Distinctions among coaching, therapy, and consulting.
What is the basic philosophy of coaching?
Who hires a coach and why?
What happens when you hire a coach?
Does the coach work on personal goals or business/professional goals?
Where does the coach focus with an average client?
Why does coaching work?
Why does phone coaching work so well?
Why is coaching becoming so popular?
What about people who are already doing great in their lives. Why would they need a coach?
Can a dependency be created between coach and client?
Can coaching hurt someone?
Can I hire a coach just for a short-term, special project?
What qualifies a Coach?

What is coaching?
Coaches:
• Help people set better goals and then reach those goals.
• Ask their clients to do more than they would have done on their own.
• Focus their clients better to more quickly produce results.
• Provide the tools, support and structure to accomplish more.

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How is coaching different from Therapy?
In an article by C.J. Hayden & Laura Whitworth (Co-Founder of the Coaches Training Institute), the differences are explained clearly:

Therapy and Professional Coaching have several aspects in common. To an outside observer, they may look similar. Both professions are based on an ongoing, confidential, one-to-one relationship between the therapist or Coach and their client. Clients come to therapy or Coaching wanting change, and both professions assume that significant change will only occur over time. Within the therapy or coaching relationship, regular sessions are scheduled, during which conversations occur. Other similarities of practice exist.

However, therapy and Coaching are radically different in the context of the relationship, condition of the client, and content of the sessions.

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How is Coaching Different from Consulting?
Consulting and Coaching differ greatly. Consulting requires that the consultant have expertise in the area that the client seeks advice, where as Coaching is not advising the client at all, but rather holds the client as Creative, Resourceful and Whole. In a consulting relationship the consultant holds the power in the relationship, in coaching the PARTNERSHIP holds the power.

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Distinctions among coaching, therapy, and consulting.

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What is the basic philosophy of coaching?
Simply put, that we humans are great, that we're all discovering what we really want and that we get can get what we want faster and easier by having a coach who's been there and who can help us.

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Who hires a coach and why?
People hire a coach because
· They want more.
· They want to grow.
· They want it easier.
It's as simple as that. Coaches help a client get all three. Quickly.

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What happens when you hire a coach?
Many things, but the most important are:
• You take yourself more seriously.
• You take more effective and focused actions immediately.
• You stop putting up with what is dragging you down.
• You create momentum so it's easier to get results.
• You set better goals that you might not have without the coach.

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Does the coach work on personal goals or business/professional goals?
Both, actually. And, with the line between personal and business life blurring nowadays, the coach is the only professional trained to work with all aspects of you.

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Where does the coach focus with an average client?
We focus where the client needs us most. And, we tend to weave in the following discussions:
• Getting the client's Personal Foundation strengthened.
• Helping the client beef up their Reserve.
• Helping the client set goals based on their Personal Values.
By including these with what the client wants from us, we help the client have fewer problems and focus on what's going to make them the most successful. We've found that clients really enjoy this approach.

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Why does coaching work?
Coaching works for several reasons:
• Synergy between the coach and client creates momentum.
• Better goals are set -- ones that naturally pull the client toward the goal rather than goals that require the client to push themselves to the goal.
• The client develops new skills, and these skills translate into more success.

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Why does phone coaching work so well?
Coaching on the telephone is the industry standard, with well over 90% of all coaching sessions occurring via phone. Clients experience many benefits including:
• Convenience: coaching via phone allows for no travel time to get to appointments, ensuring that the sessions start on time. Busy clients will only need to block out for their actual session time vs. travel time etc.
• Focus: when coaching on the phone, clients notice an increased focus, as if the distance between the coach and client allow the client to take more responsibility for their experience and for the session.
• Flexibility: coaching over the phone means a client can access their coach from anywhere: their home, office, the beach-you name it!

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Why is coaching becoming so popular?
Coaching is becoming popular for several reasons:
1. Many people are tired of doing what they "should" do and are ready to do something special and meaningful for the rest of their lives. Problem is, many can't see it, or if they can, they can't see a way to reorient their life around it. A coach can help them do both.

2. People are realizing how simple it can be to accomplish something that several years ago might have felt out of reach or like a pipedream. A coach is not a miracle worker (well, they are, sometimes) but a coach does have a large tool kit to help the Big Idea become a Reality. Fortunately, people now have time and resources to invest in themselves in this kind of growth.

3. Spirituality. If you've tracked the phenomenal success of James Redfield's Celestine Prophecy on the NY Times best-seller list during 1994, you get a sense of just how many people are willing to look at, and consider, the notion of spirituality. Wow. Many coaches are spiritually based -- even the ones who coach IBM and AT&T. America is getting more spiritual - connected with self and others - quickly.

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What about people who are already doing great in their lives. Why would they need a coach?
They might not need a coach. But it is helpful to find out: Are they doing what they most enjoy? Are they tolerating anything? Is life easy? Are they going to be financially independent within the next 15 years? Do they have what they most want? We've discovered that, often, people need to expect more out of their lives. A coach can help in this process.

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Can a dependency be created between coach and client?
Not really. The client may "need" the coach in order to maximize an opportunity or accelerate their growth, yet not be "dependent" on the coach. Anyone who's up to something "needs" structure, advice, support and a place to brag, so in that sense, the coach is necessary. But an emotional, psychological dependency is not created. The coach works with people who are just fine and strong enough on their own. Remember, we're not resolving issues here. The coach is helping the client to create a better future: More success, more money, and a higher quality of life.

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Can coaching hurt someone?
No. How? We aren't doing psychological work. We're not trying to control the client's thinking. We're not cattle prods; we're partners.

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Can I hire a coach just for a short-term, special project?
Yes. Some clients hire a coach to help them accomplish specific goals or projects. Usually, however, the client keeps working with the coach after that because there are even more interesting things to accomplish.

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What qualifies a Coach?
A coach is a trained professional who is certified by a coaching institution that is approved by the International Coach Federation (ICF) which governs the standards, practices, ethics and guidelines of the coaching profession. All Electric Kites coaches are certified through The Coaches Training Institue, an ICF accreditated institution.

*Excerpted, in part, from The International Coaching Federation and The Coaches Training Institute.

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