What is the definition of coaching?  Coaching is about results.  Whether you are a career coach, or another type of coach, the definition of coaching is directly related to the results your clients receive and your evolution as a coach. To make the definition of coaching more tangible it is necessary to explain it in terms of the four traits of a master career coach.

Career Coach Traits Help to Illustrate the Definition of Coaching

1.  Outstanding results:

A master career coach consistently produces outstanding results.  Results are key within the definition of coaching.  Master career coaches stand out from the crowd when coaching clients in their area of practice.

2.  Effortless Results:

Master career coaches perform and make it look effortless to create situations that seem impossible for other coaches.  They expend little effort.  This is one of the reasons the “free session” is so much more valuable than simply telling prospective clients what the definition of coaching means.  Many people won’t understand what coaching is all about until they actually experience it.

3.  Total Freedom and Power.

A master career coach has the ability to wield their coaching skills in any direction and in increasingly powerful ways creating results without limits.  A master career coach can get results with anyone.  The definition of coaching may seem a little vague because, even within a niche practice there are endless results you can achieve.  There are just so many areas in which you can coach during a single coaching session that it can be difficult to narrow down the definition of coaching.

4.  Their Identity is Coaching:

Career coaches are their craft.  They become one with their coaching; a distinction between the individual and the coach no longer exists. When you think of Michael Jordan you think of basketball.  When you’re a career coach, you’re always a coach.  If something goes wrong in a casual situation, the coach inside comes out.  In this way, the definition of coaching is similar to the definition of a being a doctor.  Doctors do not slump into their seats when there is an emergency on an airplane they take action; they become a doctor.

Results Are Key to the Definition of Coaching

In any definition of coaching, the key is results.  When looking at a tangible example of a master career coach you see that coaching is not just about what you help others to accomplish; it’s about who you and your clients become in the process.

Colette Seymann

JTS Advisors Designated Accountability Coach