A: Coaching is a supportive relationship with a trained professional that enhances a client’s ability to learn, make desired changes, solve problems, and achieve goals. Coaches work with their clients individually or in small groups, face-to-face or by telephone, typically in a series of regularly scheduled and agreed-upon sessions.

A: Coaching clients experience a sense of partnership and support in achieving their goals, that is often not available elsewhere in their lives. Regular coaching sessions provide clients with dedicated time to focus on what they truly want and what must happen to create it. Coaches help their clients design action steps to meet their goals, then hold them accountable to their own stated desires, providing perspective, feedback, and smart questions along the way. As a result, clients stay motivated, make significant changes, and achieve more than they may have thought possible.

A: Coaching differs from consulting because the coach's primary role is not to give advice to or design solutions for the client. Coaches ask questions that guide clients to discover their own unique answers and choose their own path. A coach may provide ideas and skill-building techniques, but will not solve a client’s problems for them, nor tell them what to do. Coaching differs from teaching in that the coach doesn't determine what the client will learn, nor provide a curriculum to be followed. The client decides what he or she needs to know or learn, and the coach then facilitates that learning by providing thought-provoking questions, feedback, accountability, or additional resources. Coaching differs from therapy because coaching sessions are primarily focused on learning and achievement, rather than healing or resolution. Coaches help clients to make changes in their lives by observing present conditions, visualizing future goals, and determining action steps. Analyzing past events or determining recessed causes of a client's behavior are typically not addressed in coaching.

A: To achieve significant results, most coaches ask that clients commit to work with them for a minimum of three months. The investment for group coaching may be less per person, depending on the program design.

A: A typical coaching client is someone who wants to make changes in his or her life, and is ready to take action. You might hire a coach for yourself when you are looking for a new job, needing to improve your management skills or leadership abilities, wanting to increase profits in your business, launching an ambitious new project, planning your retirement, or dissatisfied with some of the conditions in your life and seeking a new direction. You might hire a coach for your organization when you want to improve productivity, increase teamwork, implement new ways of working, or adjust to changing work cultures. Coaching clients are men and women, of all ages, professions, and income brackets. What they have in common is a desire for partnership, support, and strategic guidance in solving problems and achieving goals that are personally important to them.

A: The best coaches are those who excel at listening, communicating, questioning, action planning, and creating accountability, and have the ability to hold the client's agenda rather than follow their own. Coaches come from a wide variety of backgrounds, including business, counseling, consulting, training, and sports. There are no standard educational or licensing requirements for coaching. Many coaches have completed formal training programs or earned a credential from a training school, university, or professional association. Others have built their coaching abilities through substantial career or life experience. To determine the qualifications of a coach, in addition to asking the coach about his or her background, ask for references from former clients about the coach's capabilities. Satisfied clients are often the best measure of how well-qualified a coach is to help clients achieve results.

A: First, determine what you want to accomplish. Most coaches specialize in a particular kind of coaching, for example. Interview two or three possible coaches for comparison. Ask about their background and the type of results they typically help clients achieve. The personal fit between client and coach is an important factor. In your initial conversation, assess not only the coach's ability to assist you in reaching your goals but how comfortable you feel interacting with him or her. Some coaches also offer complimentary coaching sessions for prospective clients so you can experience what it would be like to work with them. You should also ask to speak with two or three references.

A: A litigation attorney found a new career as a chef. By learning to communicate better with team members, an executive improved job satisfaction and productivity in her department. A small business owner tripled his bottom line. An overworked accountant found a business partner and learned to slow down. A major corporation merged employees from two different cultures into cooperative work teams.

A: To get the most from a coaching relationship, clients need to be willing to learn new ways of doing things and make changes in their attitudes and behavior. Anyone who is open to hearing new perspectives, willing to question how they are currently acting, and ready to take on new challenges in their life or career can benefit from a working with a coach.