Just back from a visit to Delhi. Got a chance to introduce ‘Leadership Coaching’ to future managers, executive & leaders, at a B-School.
During the trip had a chat with a friend, who is on a coach training/certification & ICF Credentialing journey. A question on the ‘industry’, prompted me to categorize coaches among the following three categories, levels.
- Non-Coaches : These are ‘non’ category, as they are not trained, certified or credentialed by ICF. They call themselves coaches. They could be a mentor/consultant at a corporate, to a tuition teacher for kids, to a good, old sports coach. While in business, they are mainly into mentoring, based on their vast experience, proven track-record and at times, jugaad/vaasta. In terms of knowledge or skill sets related to coaching, ignorance is bliss here. Of course, part of the blame goes to the client organization & leaders thereof.
- Semi-Coaches: These are coaches who are trained/certified and even credentialed. But they have something else to lean on, such as training/psychometric tests/OD practice or even a skill, such as a story-telling coach. A coach may opt for additional activities for various reasons. But that will most likely influence the coaching style, or Presence.
- Pure Coaches: These are coaches who stick to the classic, unadulterated and pure form of coaching, at a holistic level. They are not only trained & certified, but also (ICF) credentialed. That enables them to operate at the Mastery level, which comes from the total focus, practise (’10K hrs’, as Malcolm Gladwell may add!). That space is where the coach operates with unconditional love, 100% client centric, coach from a state of Being. That is transformational for a coachee, and hence, deeply spiritual.
There is nothing like right or wrong here. It is what each one of us choose to BE. It may help to choose, with awareness. The third one shifts beyond I/Me or We/Our to ‘He’, at divine level. Or, #I2We2He. Bliss guaranteed!