As part of my professional development and perhaps a future career move, I have recently started an Executive Coaching Certification program. Executive Coaching Certificationat INCAE. The first module was an intense but motivating week at the Nicaragua Campus, which was especially exciting for me because it meant returning 36 years after graduating from my Master's Degree, to those same classrooms to begin a new learning experience.
While I receive my certification in June 2018, I will love to share with you some ideas of what I am learning in this wonderful process, I have a whole notebook full of notes, but I want to start with the basics, clarify what coaching really is, because, I must confess, it has been even in my first class when it has been clear to me what it is and I guess there will be many who might be in the same situation.
Although the historical antecedents of coaching can be traced back to the time of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, in our time it began to be applied in the mid 70's, when Timothy Gallwey (professor of literature and captain of the tennis team at Harvard University) realized that the main brake of an athlete is not in his body, but in his mind.
Gallwey created a method called "The Inner Game" (of which he later wrote a book), based on this idea: "In every human activity there are two arenas: the external and the internal. The outer game is played in an external setting to overcome external obstacles to achieve an external goal. The inner game is played within the mind of the player and is played against various obstacles such as fear, doubt, lapses of attention and limited concepts or assumptions. The inner game is played to overcome self-imposed obstacles that prevent the individual or team from accessing their full potential."
Coaches or instructors usually work on the technical part of the action, Gallwey worked on the brain and the heart, the emotions. Later, John Whitmore (pilot, businessman and coach) took Gallwey's method to the English business environment with great success, becoming the precursor of Business Coaching, Executive Coaching and Personal Coaching.
The implicit principle is that the individual has all the answers for his or her own life and coaching helps to unlock them. Therefore, the goal of coaching is to unleash a person's potential to maximize his or her performance. Achieving goals with a sense of well-being and personal talent development. If my well-being improves, so does my performance.
Coaching is not training, mentoring, psychological therapy or consulting. Training is transferring knowledge and/or skills. Consulting is when an expert in a subject offers solutions. A mentor gives advice, guidance. A therapy focuses on feelings and not on achieving goals. Coaching, on the other hand, is a method of helping people to achieve their goals by making use of their own capabilities . Helping them to learn, rather than teaching them. Coaching focuses on the future, not the past.
The International Coaching Federation, the world's largest association of coaches (from which I will be certified), offers this definition: "Professional coaching is an ongoing professional relationship that helps people achieve extraordinary results in their lives, careers, companies or businesses. Through the coaching process, the client deepens their knowledge, increases their performance and improves their quality of life".
I end with the great conclusion of the end of our first day of classes: "Learning, unlearning and relearning is a key skill in the 21st Century".
* ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE GRAPHIC PRESS, BY ANA MARÍA HERRARTE / COUNTRY PRESIDENT OF IPSOS HERRARTE.
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Become a top coach leader with our Executive Coaching Certification, a program that will allow you to clarify your vision, values, beliefs and goals, and improve your influence and leadership skills. Double accreditation INCAE - ACSTH/ICF (International Coach Federation).
Next edition: March 5, 2018. Costa Rica.
