Read time: 4 minutes
If you search the internet for the definition of transformational coaching, you will find a different definition on every website that pops up. One definition we stumbled upon raised our eyebrows: Life coaches improve what you do, whereas transformational coaches improve who you are.
To make a distinction between transformational coaching and any other kind of coaching just doesn’t make sense.
Consider this, when you are hired by a coaching client, a shift has already occurred in who they are. Something has compelled them to expand a boundary and engage a coach. The transformational process has already begun. A coach, any coach should want to know “Why are you hiring a coach?” “Why now?” “What’s going on?”
Defining transformational coaching as separate from life coaching, performance coaching, and any other type of coaching puts every coach at a disadvantage for several reasons:
- You will be unprepared for the inevitable. Clients can, and usually do experience a significant ah-ha moment whether you are prepared to handle it or not. The coach’s intention may be to improve performance and not explore beliefs or values but in the process of coaching, it is not uncommon for a client to uncover a truth about themselves that causes a shift in who they are. We know, it happened to us when we were starting out.
Fortunately, we began using a coaching process that promoted and supported client transformation and quickly learned we were unprepared for the major life changes it provoked in our clients. This is what led us to the work we do today. - Transactional or performance coaching is fleeting. As corporate coaches, we were hired to improve individual and group performance. Our clients wanted one thing, RESULTS! A transactional approach can produce results in the short term, but those results are not sustainable without intentional, internal change. To achieve sustainable change the client must have a transformational moment, a shift in what they believe, and proceed to do when you are not there. A transformational coach anticipates and recognizes when this moment takes place and makes sure the client realizes it too. Together, they figure out what the implications are for the client moving forward.
- You can come dangerously close to owning your client’s performance. Too often clients expect the coach to provide all the answers and suggest what steps the client should take. When coaches comply, results are short-lived because the client isn’t invested in the solutions and outcomes. What happens when results aren’t sustained? You guessed it, the responsibility lands with the coach who provided all the answers in the first place.
Coaches who believe in the importance of sustained performance improvement don’t allow this to happen. They build the coaching relationship on shared responsibility guiding the client through the process of uncovering the reasons for the performance gap and the solutions to close it. This process requires a transformation of attitude and action and results in the client taking responsibility for sustained improvement. The coach is the catalyst for this dramatic change.
Clients who start the coaching process feeling at a loss for answers discover that they do have all the answers and with the help of their coach, they become willing and capable of managing their destiny. - Suggesting performance coaching isn’t transformational implies that transformational coaching is irrelevant. Clients want results; if they don’t get results, you won’t have clients. Transformational coaches are just as vested in getting results. They are coaches who understand that sustained performance improvement is only possible given some level of client transformation and they know how to anticipate, recognize, and help manage the transformational experience with the client. They also know that when the client is truly engaged in performance improvement, they quite naturally use a combined skills/mindset approach to improving performance and to success in general. You cannot achieve these levels of coaching results without this combination. It is dynamite and anything but irrelevant.
Every coach working with a client, no matter how they choose to differentiate themselves, can be a transformational coach. The skilled transformational coach anticipates moments of transformation.. They recognize when the moment occurs and learn how to help the client successfully capitalize on their transformation. Ask yourself, “What happens if my client is ready for a transformational moment, and I am not ready to support them?”
We can help you get and build the transformational skills you need to help your client produce sustained improvement in any area of their life. Start by reading our free eBook: The Little Book of BIG Coaching Secrets which contains the 12 Principles of Transformational Coaching and you will be well on your way!
This month, our weekly articles will focus on the process and skills required for transformational coaching based on our 40+ years of coaching experience. Watch for more thought-provoking content in August.
Additional Resources:
If you are interested in performance sustainability check out this HBR article: Creating Sustainable Performance. Read it with an eye to imagining how transformational coaching skills contribute to what individuals need to sustain performance improvement and exceed expectations.
