This article is written for coaches and people involved in managing change. We have all adapted to change Humans are oddly ambiguous creatures. On the one hand, we are among the most adaptable of creatures. Before we had developed writing, humans had settled in almost every corner of the globe. We were living in harsh deserts, in tropical rain forests, in the icy and treeless plains of the frozen north, on high mountains and idyllic islands in the [...]

This article explores how to assess client progress in coaching and is mainly written for people who are new to coaching (as well as old hands). I will be considering how to assess client progress in coaching by referring to one of the 11 Core Competencies outlined by the International Coach Federation (ICF). This is also reflected in the Competence Framework outlined by the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC). How do you measure progress? So, you coach [...]

Anxiety Have you ever thought of how clients feel before that first coaching session they have with you? Some might be excited and really looking forward to it, but others might be slightly anxious about it. Anxiety isn’t a helpful emotion in coaching so in this article we are going to consider some practical steps you can take to reduce those unwanted feelings of anxiety. Before we look at those steps, let’s first consider why your clients might [...]

The backlash A few months ago, while talking with an experienced coach, I made the comment that coaching is a form of education. That statement encountered an immediate backlash. According to this person, coaching and education are quite different. So, why do I claim that coaching is a form of education? Education as category As a category, education is very broad, and I believe that coaching finds its place within that broad category. But we first should understand [...]