When people ask me what I do, I tell them I consult in the areas of human resources and organizational development and I’m also a business coach. No one wants to know more about the first two areas, I guess they seem self-explanatory, but almost everyone wants to know more about coaching.

Some never heard of coaching outside the world of sports. Others just don’t buy the whole concept of coaching. Why would anyone need a coach? What can you possibly do for someone that they cannot do on their own?

I love that second question, actually, because for me it’s not a question. It’s the perfect answer: Good coaching can take someone where they cannot take themselves.

Coaching is releasing someone’s potential to maximize their performance and purpose. Coaching is about having someone believe in you and encourage you, about getting valuable honest feedback, about seeing things from new perspectives, about expanding your comfort zone, being held accountable and setting your sights on new horizons.

Coaching is solution and future-focused, client-centered and action-oriented. The process starts with a solid psychometric assessment, benchmark and a personal development plan with SMART goals. It’s followed by a series of coaching sessions and reviews, discovery, learning and transformation.

Is coaching for everyone? I believe that absolutely everyone can hugely benefit from coaching. But no, it’s not for everyone. You have to want to change, improve and learn. You have to commit. You have to be motivated to go further, to be better. You have to be willing to get out of your comfort zone and work really hard. The coach doesn’t do the work for you, you do the work. Oh, and trust me, there is work.

If change and improvement was easy, we would all be perfect. If we could all easily maximize our potential, performance and purpose, why wouldn’t we? No, it’s not a quick fix. A quick fix never works. It’s a systematic process that yields results equal to the amount of effort you put into it.

As a famous American football coach Tom Landry once said:

“A coach is someone who tells you what you don’t want to hear, who has you see what you don’t want to see, so you can be who you always known you could be.”