by Tina Leigh McDonald (UK)
With the coaching world becoming saturated with coaches and the journey to becoming a coach being very different with online coaches and coaches training new coaches, it can be hard to know what to use and what tools are actually out there. Some coaches have had no real experience, no qualification, remember in the UK and other places, there’s no requirement or regulation for being qualified.
People are calling themselves coaches because they help other people achieve goals or meet targets and yes coaching is all about helping other people to see their true potential, many and I say many, not all, are not actually familiar with real coaching techniques and often I see coaches who are actually mentors. They will be able to offer support, guidance and advice and many of them are actually pretty good at what they do, some are amazing, great leaders. I have also met many ‘qualified’ coaches who are questionable, they have no real idea of what they are doing and generally they don’t stick around for long, so I’m not suggesting being qualified defines a good/bad coach, but when you work through the qualification process you are exposed to lots of different tools and techniques to help you find your favourite tools.
Now I am not dissing the GROW model, it’s not my favourite I have to say, but it is often the only one people know and there are lots more you can use, OSCAR, FUEL, The Rule of Three, 3D model, Peak Moments, Jelly Babies Tree, Wheel of life/work and so many more the list goes on, however if you use any search engine to look for tools you will find yourself with GROW (and more recently FUEL) and pretty much nothing else. If you look for Leadership models, then yes, you will find a whole host of other options that can be developed into coaching tools, but coaching tools are limited and so many come and go.
Source: iCN Issue 21 (Business Coaching); pages 8-10
About Tina McDonald
Tina supports businesses by training leadership and soft skills training, time management, and presentation skills. She also visit schools and provides career coaching and support to their year 12 & 13 year olds to help them make informed choices when leaving school.
Tina is an optimistic person who sees the good in just about everything and can usually be trusted to find something positive in every situation.
