Coaching is a method of guiding a person toward professional and personal growth. Many people also define coaching as the processes involved in freeing up and developing an individual’s potential (Hargrove 2000, Whitmore 2000, Whitworth 1998). Based on this idea we can say that coaching is a process-oriented method, aimed at achieving goals both on the career ladder and in the personal sphere.

The starting point for coaching, to guide a person through this process toward personal growth, is that the coachee – the person being coached – has the answers, but that the coach (the coacher, the person doing the coaching), has the questions. In this sense it is up to the coach to ask the questions, with the result that the coachee becomes aware of his or her strengths and weaknesses. The questions are styled to inspire reflection about what the coachee wants, and what is keeping him or her from attaining their goals.

Coaching is highly result-oriented and action-oriented in processes where goal-achievement is the purpose, and the key issue for coaching in more general forms is therefore: what is it that causes people to act? My experience is that, if you ask an individual or a company what is required to reach a goal, then they know the answer. So why don’t they act in accordance with this knowledge?

In their book ”The Knowing-Doing Gap”, authors Pfeffer, J. and Sutten (2000) make a case for their belief that leaders in general are more concerned about knowledge than action. Often much time is expended on meetings and planning, and little on action and follow-up. Most people probably agree that it is the ability to act on the basis of knowledge that will bring results, not the knowledge in itself.

In the same way, individuals often have considerable knowledge about what it will take to achieve their personal goals. In many cases action is lacking, despite this knowledge. It is in these contexts that a coach can help facilitate a process that challenges the individual to create results and implement actions to reach their goals. The coach, during the process, will act as a combination of guide, catalyst and whip.

The reasons that the coaching industry has grown so vibrantly in recent years are manifold. Rapid changes are taking place in society, and competition is rifer than ever. Due to technological advance, most companies are competing not simply on a local and national stage, but also internationally. For businesses this means a need to be change-willing and flexible – and so as to achieve that, many companies have pared down the number of managers, while at the same time giving the remainder a role that is more in the nature of guiding and coaching. This means that people have to know more about human motivation, and this is probably one of the reasons that courses and education in coaching are in demand.

Reorganisations have also brought many individuals to new responsibilities, while others have received altered task-sets, and others again have received golden-handshakes. Having a professional discussion partner and driving force in such a process can be a comfort. There are also clear tendencies in society, where individuals are looking for greater awareness and stronger self-realisation. Many people who enjoy high living standards have perhaps discovered that there is not quite as much satisfaction in this as anticipated. As a result more and more people are preoccupied with the meaning of life and concerned about visions and values, to an extent previously unseen.

With all this as the starting point – including both the professional imperative and the private need – coaching can be an ideal approach in many connections. It may be a case of a constructive partner, for a person caught up in a process, to attain a goal and results at the workplace; or a matter of resolving conflicts or going through a career change. It can just as importantly be a question of striking a good balance between work and private life, or improving a person’s health and quality of life.

Jessica Jarvis of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has made a detailed analysis of thirty companies in the United Kingdom. She presented her results at a conference in London. Her report starts by establishing the following: CIPD’s research shows that coaching at the present time is growing far in excess of what would be expected if it were just a new Human Resources fad. Coaching is expanding slowly and surely among UK organisations and is in the process of becoming a valuable and valued part of a learning and development strategy.

Coaching is the discipline that is growing fastest within HR and we know today how coaching should be nurtured in business organisations. It appears that the popularity of coaching has come further in the UK than in Norway, and the CIPD figures show that 9 of 10 responding member companies used coaching within their line management. Two of three used external coaches (HR Norge, 22nd September 2005).

In a survey at Boston University, interviews of 75 leaders were conducted, with the conclusion that coaching can provide an effective tool, both to improve results in a company, and also to develop leaders. The survey showed that leaders had achieved, through coaching: greater self-awareness, new insights of new perspectives, were more adaptable, and recorded a greater degree of goal-attainment (Hall 1999).

Article by: Turid Torbergsen, Managing Director of  TCI - The Coaching Institute, and author of the books ”Coaching – en kraftfull metode til forandring og vekst” (Coaching – a powerful method for change and growth) and ”Coaching og SQ” (Coaching and SQ).

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