Coaches often speak about coaching in glowing but vague terms. You’re left with the question, “What do coaches do, actually?”
In this article, we’ll answer that question. We’ll look at the large menu of services that coaches offer, with each coach offering her own subset of them.
Master list of coaching services
Though this list isn’t exhaustive, it covers the majority of coaching services. Each category has a link where you can learn more.
Clarity
The coach helps you understand yourself, what you want, what works for you, by:
- listening
- asking provocative questions
- asking clarifying questions
- questioning assumptions
- hearing what you’re not saying
- seeing what you’re missing in a situation
- going to deep, scary places with you
- sharing her opinions and assessments of you and your situation
Strategy
The coach helps you craft a strategy to achieve a goal by:
- having a strategy discussion in the first place
- asking fundamental questions
- brainstorming
- serving as a sounding board
- creative problem-solving
- helping you design your life
- being a devil’s advocate
- using her natural talent to fashion a plan
- sharing deep knowledge of a field
Support
The coach supports your mind, heart, and spirit by:
- understanding you, believing in you, being on your side
- being with you on the journey
- giving you encouragement
- being a cheerleader for you
- offering a shoulder to cry on
- celebrating the little and big things with you
Guidance
The coach helps guide you by:
- giving advice
- being a role model
- acting like a partner in your business or project
- role-playing
- skills training
- sharing wisdom/acting as a guru
Emotions and mindset
Coaches help you with emotions and mindset using:
- deep questioning
- the Work by Byron Katie
- testing and research
- shifting focus to the positive aspects of the situation
- suggesting other ways to view the situation
- Emotional Freedom Technique and other energy work
- feeling feelings
- helping you change your situation so it no longer evokes unpleasant emotions
- affirmations
- hypnosis
- visualization
- focusing and other techniques to welcome, respect, and understand emotions
- breathwork, like deep breathing or square breathing
Getting into action
The coach helps you get into action by:
- creating actions plans with you
- giving you assignments
- holding you accountable for doing your assignments
- helping you overcome procrastination
What’s next?
Next, we’ll take a more in depth view of each category of services coaches provide, starting with clarity coaching. Or you may want to look at another approach to understanding what coaching is by reading about the different roles a coach plays.