Bringing the individual into focus - an insight into career coaching

In my many years as a recruiter, I think I have done my fair share of informal career coaching. Coaching people through their changes in their careers; helping them make big life choices about moving from one company to the next; moving up through the ranks in their current company. I’ve sat in front of thousands of candidates, most of whom are at a junction in their professional life and are seeking the right signposts to lead them in the right direction.

Now, having formalised my coaching through the ILM qualification, I can clearly see the real distinction between recruiter and coach. Namely that as a recruiter / headhunter my focus has, and always will remain unwaveringly client focused. I am client led, rather than candidate led. My job is to identify the best individual for the CLIENT – matching skills, competencies, behaviours, personalities with their specific requirements. 

In my capacity as a coach (whether acting specifically as a career coach, or leadership development coach or transition coach), my focus has been allowed shifted entirely. I am now concerned first and foremost with you, the individual. It’s about understanding your goals, aspirations, ambitions and helping to unlock your true potential through self-awareness.

On gaining some of my own self-awareness of my newly formalised role, I considered what my latest post might discuss. I could continue to write a post on the differences and perceived similarities between recruiter and career coach, or perhaps talk about what career coaching IS. But there are already hundreds of articles out there attempting to explain exactly what career coaching – or leadership development coaching is - and whilst some do a damn good job untangling what is undoubtedly a complex and variegated topic (and explaining why coaching is so important on so many levels for so many individuals and teams) – many fail to help the reader understand the true expectations a client should have of me, their career coach.

Leadership development coaching is an industry in its relative infancy. Whilst many of the worlds leading businessmen and women have known and utilized the effectiveness of coaches for many years, its integration as a tool for mainstream businesses, teams and individuals is still sometimes regarded with trepidation.

As a coach, I often find that those who get in touch and require my help are unsure what it is they can and should expect from my time – and whilst talking about what something is ‘not’ could be construed as negative, I think the only way to truly help individuals feel confident and happy using a coach is to demystify questions or commonplace misconceptions.

I won’t be able to cover everything in this post, and there are sure to be those of you who disagree with some of my points, at least on a certain level. There is also a whole other post needed to look at the differences between mentoring and coaching. But for now, here goes.

What career coaches are NOT.

Coaches are NOT trainers

Trainers by their very definition are there to help train or teach specific skills. They often spend an allocated amount of time in front of their “students” and during that time they impart whatever knowledge they have available to them. Training and teaching is very often a case of being brought a question and providing an answer, either directly, or via the means of asking another question back. Coaches take on much more of a facilitator role. They are there to help develop awareness of the self. This may well end with a client recognising the need for specific skills training, but the coach themselves will not (*necessarily*) provide those new skills.

Another distinction I think is important is that often trainers and their ‘pupils’ are often seen as being on two different levels: someone with knowledge and someone without the knowledge. Whereas coaching to develop leaders and future talent only occurs when the coach and client are completely equal partners and work collaboratively.  

Coaches are NOT Counselors

Again, there may be a superficial similarity in that both of these activities can be one-to-one conversations, perhaps even allow an individual to develop that self-awareness mentioned in the above point, but their tone and purpose are very different. The easiest way I can think to describe the difference is that counseling is concerned with the here and now and the PAST. Career coaching is concerned with the here and now and the FUTURE.

Counseling rooted in psychological interventions and is often sought by people having difficulties based on past experience. Coaching is used by people and businesses looking forward: whether they are high achievers, beginners or the executive board. Often it is put in place within organizations as part of a wider development programme for ‘star performers’, high potential managers or as a career accelerator scheme.

Coaches are not there to help you write your CV

Following your coaching sessions, you may well feel more confident about what you can include on your next curriculum vitae and that’s great. But if you’re looking for CV writing tips – there are thousands of articles online which will tell you all you need to know. If you plan to enlist a career coach, understand that they should spend time helping you discover self-awareness. Helping you build confidence to recognize your strengths and weaknesses and allowing you to discover how you can mitigate those weaknesses in the future. Taking the time to reveal your anxieties, stresses and helping you to formulate ideas about how you can change or develop what you are currently doing (or not doing) in order to progress.

Coaching relies on you committing and investing in the process. Your coach is there to challenge you, question you; to hold up an honest reflection of yourself. They can help you identify goals and commit to action to achieve those goals. Deep down you know the answers to your own challenges – your coach will help you mine that self-awareness.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Have you or do you have a career coach? Have you had ‘Outplacement Support’ and would you describe that as coaching? Were you ever given access to a coach as part of leadership development programme? What are your thoughts and opinions on what a coach should and shouldn’t do?

If you’d like to talk to me about our programmes for career coaching, transition coaching, team coaching or leadership development coaching then I’d love to hear from you and to talk further.

Best,

Mark