Next to Information Technology, Professional and Life coaching is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. This field is exploding at a time when millions are in need of personal and professional growth and development.

The loss of jobs, career transitions and the regular changes of life have opened a door for coaches to come along side of clients to make a real difference and to impact their lives in profound and positive ways.

This new paradigm of training and learning opens the door to an array of coaching fields and services. However, it’s important to understand what coaching is, and what it is not. This will help you navigate the landscape and see where you can best fit as a coach or as a client.

While many may confuse coaching with counseling or another type of support, the difference between the two is very clear. Coaching is designed to offer support in getting clients to a particular goal or destination. A coach will help their clients identify their goals, create a plan and take action to accomplish those goals. While past distress and issues may emerge in the coaching process, the focus is on looking forward vs. looking back as in therapeutic counseling.

Personal Growth and Development Coaching helps clients maximize their own strength to produce the results they want to produce. It’s a partnership where both the coach and the client contribute. The coach provides leadership and guidance, while the client provides the action and focus. In a successful partnership the client gains extraordinary results as an outcome of working with a coach.

Coach

As a Coach, you understand the power of helping your clients think differently or reframe their experience to produce the positive results they desire.

Reframe

Many times a problem or challenge can be changed by shifting the focus or perspective of an issue. An Administrative Assistant who has worked for large corporations for most of her career is suddenly downsized because of the economy and company restructuring. She seeks to find a new position that will be financially viable and utilize her experience and skills. After months of searching, she’s still without a job. She meets with a Personal Development Coach to help her get clear on what she really wants and identify her options. The Coach helps her to reframe her focus and introduces the concept of becoming a Virtual Assistant.

Redirect

Virtual Assistants are in high demand as a result of the same economic landscape that caused the Administrative Assistant to lose her job. Companies are not able to afford someone to do full time administrative work, but they will hire a Virtual Assistant who will work on a project by project basis for a set amount of hours at an agreed upon rate.

Suddenly, this Administrative Assistant finds herself in high demand and at the forefront of a growing industry. She’s able to find work that exceeds her previous salary and utilizes her skills in new and exciting ways. Working with her Coach, she’s able to create action plans as a VA that propel her to new levels of success.

Reset

The Coach helps clients reset their goals and to take measurable action steps to produce successful outcomes.

Abundance

Every business owner has something they can help others with. Adding Coaching to your services will help you stand out in the business crowd and make deeper, more meaningful connections to your customers. With the growth of the Personal Development Industry the possibilities are limitless for the Coach and the Client.

Jordan Mercedes is the Host and Producer of Thrive Connect Radio and ThriveInBalance.Com. She's a Certified Compass Representative who is passionate about creating supportive connections for growth and development.