What is Coaching to You?
In many ways, executive coaching is no different than our common experiences in school where athletic coaches encouraged us, taught us and cheered us as we learned new skills, worked hard toward the team goal and grew confident in our abilities. That same methodology translates well into today's work environment, which is filled with similar challenges, goals and recognition. So why does it seem so much more complicated and difficult now? Likely because we've forgotten the fundamentals of what it is to be coached.
Many organizations hire expensive consultants to swoop in and save the day, when in reality they often gorge themselves on resources, distract teams and resolve little, leaving organizations frustrated and discouraged. Coaching is personal. Coaching is hands-on, in-the-trenches action where the actual learning occurs in a real-life setting. When learning occurs in this atmosphere, changes are permanent, not temporary. The student becomes the practitioner and eventually the expert through practice, study and application.
Coaching adapts to each individual's or group's personality, history and patterns of behavior and—if done correctly—can bring about dramatic change. Coaching is about your challenges, and how to help you learn to resolve them and move forward. This is why coaching has much more far-reaching and penetrating effectiveness than a one-way-flow of one-size-fits-all consulting. In the context of today's over-processed work environment, coaching works.
Think how coaching can be applied to you and your daily efforts. How do you see coaching helping you learn and grow as a professional when consultant-style approaches have failed in the past? Can you be an effective coach to others? Check out the PTP Resource Center for tips on how coaching can be applied by you for your team, or contact Ed at 508.400.1774 to get your own customized, personal coaching started today. 
