“What is coaching…really?” It is probably the most frequently asked question I get. Many of us have to remember back to high school sports to recall a coaching experience. It’s easy to see the value of performance coaching through an athlete’s lens, but unless you are high-powered CEO, or employed by an organization that invests heavily in people development, it is likely that you haven’t experienced coaching since high school.

Coaching is a fast-growing profession and there are coaches who serve every niche. Wealth coaches, relationship coaches, wellness coaches — there are as many niches in coaching as there are people with unique interests, opportunities and challenges. So while the profession has its roots in sports performance, coaching is not about creating competition-ready winners. Rather, coaches help clients create win-win scenarios in the niches they serve.

Coaching empowers individuals to achieve their goals, maximize their potential, and enhance their overall performance. The relationship between coach and client is best described as an alliance, a partnership, that is at once thought-provoking, creative and inspires clients to maximize their personal and professional potential.

As a family business coach who is focused on strengthening relationships between family members in business together, people often ask if I am a therapist. I am not. Let’s explore a few important differences within various helping professionals often confused with coaching.

Therapy vs. Coaching

Therapists explore the past in order the understand the present. Their clients experience varying degrees of dysfunction or disorder and a therapist helps them explore why and develop skills for managing their issues.

Coaches work in the present, supporting clients as they create a vision for their future. Clients are generally well functioning people who partner with a coach to remove blocks — assumptions, false interpretations and self-limiting beliefs — and create action plans to achieve their goals.

Mentors, Friends & Consultants

Most of us are blessed to have mentors and friends in our lives, and if we are in business, we have likely engaged a consultant along the way. How do these groups differ from coaches? Mentors, friends and consultants are advisors.

Mentors share their “been-there-done-that” experiences. Coaches believe that their clients are the experts on their lives and they do not use their personal experiences as a model for the clients’ success. The coach asks empowering questions that surface insights in the client, challenging the client to apply those insights into action plans.

Friends give personal advice, and while they usually have a friend’s best interest at heart, they may also have a biased opinion about how that friend should go about creating success. Coaches, on the other hand, are objective and non-judgmental, trained to challenge their clients while being supportive of how the client wants to pursue their vision for success.

Consultants have an agenda to provide their clients value based on their specialized expertise. In contrast, coaches are experts on the coaching process, and believe clients are the experts on their own lives. As a coach, I believe that every client has the answers they seek within … it’s my job to help a client surface those answers and apply them toward achieving their goal.

Unlock Your Full Potential - Engage a Coach

In a rapidly evolving world, where constant change and challenges prevail, coaching can be the catalyst for a remarkable journey towards self-discovery, self-improvement, and ultimately, self-fulfillment. If you are ready to unleash your full potential, gain clarity and direction, overcome barriers and challenges while enhancing communication -- and you are a generally well-functioning person, coaching may be for you.

Ready to explore? Read my bio and contact me at lisa@lisa-bosse.com, or schedule a free call with me here. I’d love to tell you about Energy Leadership and how you can apply its principles to dramatically improve your life.