A Brief Word on ‘Client Centered Coaching’

By Mike O’Halloran, MA., BA., MLBCAI, MIAHIP, MIACP.

The following article was published in the Journal of the Chartered Institute for Personnel & Development in 2006.

Coaching is becoming increasingly recognised as a key part of the managerial role. Yet very few managers are trained to coach, and the unregulated nature of Coaching means there are still quite a few misconceptions about what Coaching is and what it can achieve in the workplace.

One key feature of successful Coaching in my experience is that it needs to be ‘Client Centered.’ In other words that for a Coaching process to be successful either with an employee, manager, or private individual (the latter often referred to as Life Coaching), then the person who is being coached needs to buy into the process. He or she needs to generate their own learning goals and agree with the Coach how success will be measured. If this element of client centeredness is lacking, or if the manager/coach lacks the skilfulness to get the Client to engage willingly, then the coaching won’t work.

Another aspect of client centeredness in Coaching is the forming of a ‘Working Alliance’ between the Coach and the Client. In a way this is the other side of the coin. The Coach needs the ability to get the Client to see him or her as someone who is on their side, who by posing skilful questions can help the Client to generate their own goals and keep the momentum to stay on track while they put them into practice. Equally, for Coaching to work, the client needs the psychological strength to enter quickly into the ‘Working Alliance,’ and view the Coach realistically as someone who can help, but who won’t supply the Client with the answers or the solutions.

There’s a lot more to professional Coaching than the above. But for Coaching to work it must be Client Centered, and the person receiving it must engage in the process willingly.

Mike O’Halloran is Joint Director of Coach Institute of Ireland. He can be reached through www.coachinstitute.ie or 086-8391756