The transformative benefits of coaching

Most people wouldn't think of coaching as a necessity for this job in the way it is for an athlete. But on Christmas day of 1993, instead of calling friends or family, President Bill Clinton called Tony Robbins. Under enormous strain and plummeting approval rates, he realized that, like any top athlete, he needed a coach to lift his game.

Robbins agreed to take the job, and through their sessions, President Clinton’s approval rating grew from a low of 36% to a high of 73% in his 6 year term.¹ 

This is the power of personal coaching. It's also why life coaches, business coaches, and qualified coaches of all stripes are in demand now more than ever.² 

As a leader of in-person and AI coaching, we have written this article to shed light on the benefits of coaching and help you level up your individual performance.

Benefits of coaching

If you're serious about being the best you can be in your career, coaching is a must. Regular feedback, motivation, and coaching programs are crucial tools for any career-focused individual. 

In the words of professional coach and author Timothy Gallwey: 

‘Coaching is unlocking a person's potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them.’³

But approaches to coaching vary depending on the needs of an individual. We've broken down the types of coaching to explain the differences and outline the unique benefits of each.

One-on-one coaching

One-on-one coaching offers a highly personalized and focused experience, providing clients with targeted attention on specific needs and goals. These are often quite intimate interactions, where clients share details about their personal life, goals, personal challenges and perceived limits.

Given the nature of one-on-one coaching, it can be expensive

Group coaching

Sometimes called team coaching, the benefit of group coaching is the sense of camaraderie felt among participants. Sharing professional goals with colleagues can be empowering and sometimes has the effect of making individual goals common goals.

Though some people aren't comfortable sharing, for others, team coaching is an excellent team building exercise that creates a feeling of community. However, depending on your budget, hiring a workplace coach to come in on a regular basis may be out of the question.

Online coaching

An increasingly common option in the Zoom and remote work era is online coaching. This can be offered through human, or AI-driven coaching platforms. The key difference is that these sessions are conducted virtually.

Online coaching is great for the budget-conscious, as well as remote teams. These sessions can be one-on-one, or group sessions, and have the benefits of both, only with the flexibility of remote delivery. 

Now that we have the coaching modalities covered, let's dive into the benefits for individuals and organizations.

Coaching for individuals

If you're looking to hire a coach privately, or as an individual (not through your organization) here are the different types of coaching that are available.

Life coaching

While career concerns can, and often do come up, life coaching is more all encompassing. Life coaches take a holistic approach tackling every aspect of a client’s life to maximize results. 

Life coaches support clients to achieve the 'work life balance' that many of us strive for. They provide powerful tools to help clients with:

• personal growth
• communication skills
• time management
• mental health
• life satisfaction
• growth mindset.

Health coaching

As the name suggests, health coaches support clients to optimize their health and wellbeing. Instead of hiring both a nutritionist and a personal trainer, your health coach has you covered! 

A typical health coach empowers clients to build good habits when it comes to:

• sleep
• fitness
• wellness
• yoga, meditation
• nutrition
• personal development.

Career coaching

Career coaches are experts in supporting clients to find their career purpose, set achievable professional development goals and develop action plans. During the coaching process they support clients to:

• develop soft skills
• get into the mindset for continuous learning
• become better leaders
• identify opportunities for career growth
• increase their job satisfaction
• identify and capitalize on career development opportunities
• build strategies for long-term success
• develop strategies for career development.

In short, a career coach is a one stop shop for all things professional growth.

Coaching for organizations

In many cases, organizations offer professional coaching to empower both c-suite level and employees to optimize their job performance. Like coaches for individuals, how this works, and what options there are, varies.

Business coaching

For business owners or leaders, a business coach can advise on anything related to running a business. In many cases, these coaches are former or current business owners and coaching methods are similar to those in a mentor-mentee relationship.

A business coach can help with:

• strategic planning
• employee engagement
• leadership coaching
• increasing revenue growth and financial management
• strategies for improving team performance.

Essentially, if it has anything to do with setting up for business success, a business coach has you covered. 

Leadership coaching

Strong and effective leadership has been shown to have a positive impact on everything from employee retention rates to revenue.⁴ The problem is that strong leaders are in short supply. 

The phrase ‘born leader’ has made the rounds in popular culture, but with the expectations placed on modern leaders, nobody is born with such a wide range of skills.

Today, effective leaders need to:

• have effective communication skills
• be excellent listeners (sometimes called active listening skills)
• have the ability to offer constructive feedback for employee development
• develop coaching relationships with followers
• be adept at building trust
• foster a positive work culture
• have coaching skills to foster employee performance
• build strategies for long-term success
• foster a culture of growth
• be motivational, and always positive even under pressure.

This is a tall order for anybody and so leadership development is necessary. To reap the benefits of coaching, organizations should invest and prioritize their leaders. 

Sales coaching

While workplace coaching is becoming more common overall, sales coaching has been around for a long time. Sales is a challenging career path, and without strategies for sales-related skill development, it can be even more so! A sales coach helps clients:

• develop prospecting techniques
• build rapport and solid relationships
• learn techniques for closing deals
• develop effective negotiation skills
• build long-term partnerships
• handle rejections and stay motivated.

Executive coaching

Executive coaches are specifically for corporate structures, catering to the executive level.

These positions require high levels of focus, communication skills, stress management, and the ability to make crucial decisions in uncertain conditions. Executive coaches often take a holistic approach, they are a life coach, health coach and business coach all in one.

The investment in coaching of this variety is on the higher end, and while the initial outlay is significant, the return on investment is usually worth it.

Being coached: What to expect

With the types of coaching and benefits now clear, you might be wondering what it's actually like to be coached. Let's return to our first example, one of the most famous and well-documented examples of coaching in popular culture: when Tony Robbins coached Bill Clinton.

Tough Love: Tony Robbins and Bill Clinton

Famous for his no-nonsense approach to coaching, Robbins was upfront with Clinton from their very first conversation. He told the President, "I'd be happy to do it, I'd be privileged to serve you, but I want you to know I'm not a fan." 

While this is probably not what President Clinton wanted to hear, he knew that changing the tide would involve radical honesty. Undeterred, the President agreed, and the rest is history. 

Together, they drilled deep. What were the problems, where were the opportunities, and how could they make things better?  Robbins and the President met regularly during his time in the White House. During these meetings Robbins would ask probing questions that cut straight to the core, leaving Clinton no option but to confront the most challenging questions.

By the end of Clinton's tenure, not only did he improve his performance as President, but Robbins, like many other Americans, grew to respect Clinton as a leader, and a human being.

Personable and supportive: An F4S coaching client

Of course, if you're simply looking to spend more time with your kids or be more effective at work, having your coach tell you that they're ‘not a fan’ may be a little extreme. 

The truth is, there are many different coaching styles and methods. Sometimes, though certainly not always, tough love can be involved. Here is a testimonial from one of F4S's coaching clients describing their experience of coaching.

‘Coaching helps identify one's blindspots, or imbalances, as I like to call them. I started coaching back in 2018 and have experienced great results. The journey is not always easy, with many ups and downs; however, now I am in a position to be of service to others which is incredibly fulfilling. Very grateful for the journey. I personally love optimizing for peak performance and helping my team achieve high performance. I am always looking to further develop my own potential and evolution and that's what makes it such a great journey.’ 

What is the future of the coaching industry? 

While the benefits of successful coaching are clear, for many it is cost-prohibitive. But, with the rise of AI,  access to coaching, and its benefits, have improved.

According to the CEO and Founder of F4S, Michelle Duvall:

‘The truth is that everybody can benefit from coaching, but until now, only a handful of people could afford it. That's the power of AI coaching: it makes all the benefits of a professional coach available to everyone.’

Ready to jump-start your coaching journey? 

In this rapidly changing world, getting ahead is a process of constantly upskilling and developing, but you don't need to break the bank to get ahead. That's where F4S comes in. With all the benefits of a human coach, we can help you set and achieve your personal development and career goals, or help your team with theirs.

It all begins with a fun, free and easy assessment.