Coaching comes from way out
Crisis, cramp, family fever: Shortly before burnout, it's high time for coaching - both very fashionable. Those who have benefited from coaching often train to become coaches themselves. After all, retraining also helps against inner emptiness. Is coaching just expensive jabber, or does it really bring something?
80 percent of all Xing users declare coaching as one of their services in their profile: From dog and brand coaching to hypnosis, health, charisma, beauty, stress and patient coaching to holistic coaching, it's all there. Coaching seems to be a panacea for bad manners, declining brand power, insomnia, wrinkles, too much work and various other aches and pains. However, the inflationary use of the term for any kind of consulting does not generate trust, but rather a pronounced distrust of anything called coaching.
"The fact that coaching is considered a universal drug does not suit the subject," said Reinhard Vissa during a presentation for the IAA Young Professionals. Vissa is a MAS Master of Coaching in Organizations ZHAW. That also sounds pretty much like empty words, but Vissa, who has worked as an advertiser, marketer and manager for a long time, seems to know something about putting people and organizations back on track. "Coaching usually reflects a person's professional situation, rarely their personal situation," Vissa explains. "The area of concern and the specific issue at hand are determined by the coach and coachee during the first session. The goal of coaching is to improve learning and performance, support professional happiness and avoid professional suffering."
Profession and psyche
The most important tool in coaching is dialog. "But the coach is not merely a conversation partner and listener to whom the coachee can get his worries off his chest because he has no one else to talk to," Vissa emphasizes. "A coach leads the dialogue and applies professional questioning and analysis methods that make it easier for his client to get to the bottom of his difficulties and overcome them himself." Structured conversation management also includes a clear introduction and conclusion at each session, as well as tasks or questions for the client to think about until the next session.
If someone has psychological difficulties or even a tendency to depression, they better go to a psychiatrist or psychotherapist. Doctor and therapist explicitly tell their patient what he has to do to get well again. In coaching, the client plays himself free, the coach is "only" his trainer. Before Vissa accepts a client, he checks to see if the client is receiving other supports, such as training programs or even psychological support. "If so, it is important that this support is compatible with coaching," the expert stresses. "It may make sense to postpone coaching until a later date."
The boundaries between the tasks of a coach and a psychotherapist or psychiatrist are fluid, because the path from high performance to burnout and depression is short. Moreover, the five pillars of human identity - body and corporeality, network of relationships, work and performance, material security, and values and norms - are intimately intertwined: If someone is not healthy, they cannot work full time and subsequently suffer from material insecurity. If someone suffers from material insecurity, their relationship network gets holes and their value system starts to crumble. And that makes people ill. The best way to distinguish between coaching and the treatment of the psyche is as follows: Coaching refers to the professional context, psychotherapy to the private. Coaching tries to solve difficulties and conflicts at work, psychotherapy treats trauma, depression and addictions.
Helping with dialog
Coaching is consulting without advice. And that is a good thing. Because many coachees seek help because they are completely overwhelmed with social and professional processes and the organization of their resources. They are under enormous pressure, their energy reserves are at zero. Good advice or recipes for happiness would only build up more pressure. That would be counterproductive. That's why a good coach helps his client to find his own way out of the jam. If the client makes decisions on his own initiative and sets deadlines by which he wants to have implemented his plans, he is more likely to persevere. The prerequisite for successful coaching is that the person being coached really wants help and is willing to work out the solution himself, flanked by his consultant. Although this misconception is persistent: The coach does not deliver the solution to the problem on a silver platter like a doctor delivers a few pills.
Because the client's participation is so important to the success of a coaching session, Vissa reacts skeptically when a boss sends his employee or even an entire team to him. "An employee who is sent to coaching by the boss is usually very passive during the sessions and not necessarily willing to cooperate," says the coach. Clearly. Those who are prescribed self-help from above bring the buck to the first session right away. "And if a boss sends his team over without coming along himself, he's usually the one who needs counseling," adds Vissa. Every now and then, he has the unpleasant task of pointing out this error in thinking to the head of a company.
Typically, coaching needs arise during mergers, management buyouts, the sale of a company or succession management. Whenever possible, Vissa does not conduct his individual and team coaching sessions or mediations within the company. "A certain distance from the environment that needs to be clarified is important," he stresses.
Define roles
Most of the coaching sessions are about personality development, specific leadership tasks, clarifying role conflicts, self-management, burnout prevention, team or career development, communication problems between employees or technical coaching. "Professional competence and organizational structure are rarely a topic in my sessions," Vissa says. "Most of the time, it's about difficulties with work organization and dealing with conflict or coworkers. I look at where my client is losing energies and where he could pick them up again. And then together we try to reorganize resources."
Role conflicts and problems with self-management are Vissa's daily bread: "It often happens that employees are not clear about their role in the company," the coach explains. "They don't know exactly what their tasks are, what they are responsible for, and what roles their colleagues fill." This creates high tension between the employee's expectations of his or her work and his or her performance for the company.
Older executives in particular are candidates for this problem: They have often passed through several stations in the company, feel responsible for everything and are asked for advice and support from many sides. In the process, they can no longer set priorities, get bogged down, wear themselves out between the various stakeholders, and at some point can no longer manage their own work. When Vissa asks such clients, "What would it take for you to be comfortable at work again?" they often don't know the answer. In this situation, it is the coach's job to work with the client to find the ideal situation. Because if you don't know what the (working) world should be like in which you would feel comfortable, you can't change the actual state in this direction. Vissa: "My goal is to make my coachee fly again."
Coaching in self-experimentation
The self-experiment proves: Coaching really does the trick. If you catch a good coach, you get the chance to untangle your thoughts, desires and feelings with a borrowed brush and to style a pretty hairstyle again that will withstand the wind of the future. The idea is not to blindly follow advice from a stranger, but to find out what you actually want yourself by asking the coach specific questions. The solution is usually already in the coached person's head, stomach or heart.
But how do you find a good trainer? Optimally by recommendation. If a person with whom you get along well recommends a coach, it is relatively likely that you yourself will also be satisfied with that coach. There is no fear that the coach will share details from the session with the person you know, because coaches have a duty of confidentiality. If you don't know anyone who knows you, it's best to choose a coach who is registered with the "BSO Berufsverband für Supervision, Organisationsberatung und Coaching" (BSO Professional Association for Supervision, Organizational Consulting and Coaching), advises Reinhard Vissa: "There's a right uncontrolled proliferation of professional trainings. If you want to be sure, choose a coach registered in an association - because associations check professional qualifications before accepting a new member."
If you want to be coached, you have to be prepared for surprises. Because it can happen that you find out more about yourself and your behavior than you would like. This does not necessarily mean that you are a new person after coaching. On the contrary: Often you are back to your old self. A surprise can be, for example, that an uncomplicated way can be found to cope better with a situation with which one had previously struggled. In other words, not a big departure, not everything new - but simply a different way of dealing with what has been. Which nevertheless feels like a new beginning.
Anne-Friederike Wilhelm
"The fact that coaching is considered a universal drug does not suit the subject," said Reinhard Vissa during a presentation for the IAA Young Professionals. Vissa is a MAS Master of Coaching in Organizations ZHAW. That also sounds pretty much like empty words, but Vissa, who has worked as an advertiser, marketer and manager for a long time, seems to know something about putting people and organizations back on track. "Coaching usually reflects a person's professional situation, rarely their personal situation," Vissa explains. "The area of concern and the specific issue at hand are determined by the coach and coachee during the first session. The goal of coaching is to improve learning and performance, support professional happiness and avoid professional suffering."
Profession and psyche
The most important tool in coaching is dialog. "But the coach is not merely a conversation partner and listener to whom the coachee can get his worries off his chest because he has no one else to talk to," Vissa emphasizes. "A coach leads the dialogue and applies professional questioning and analysis methods that make it easier for his client to get to the bottom of his difficulties and overcome them himself." Structured conversation management also includes a clear introduction and conclusion at each session, as well as tasks or questions for the client to think about until the next session.
If someone has psychological difficulties or even a tendency to depression, they better go to a psychiatrist or psychotherapist. Doctor and therapist explicitly tell their patient what he has to do to get well again. In coaching, the client plays himself free, the coach is "only" his trainer. Before Vissa accepts a client, he checks to see if the client is receiving other supports, such as training programs or even psychological support. "If so, it is important that this support is compatible with coaching," the expert stresses. "It may make sense to postpone coaching until a later date."
The boundaries between the tasks of a coach and a psychotherapist or psychiatrist are fluid, because the path from high performance to burnout and depression is short. Moreover, the five pillars of human identity - body and corporeality, network of relationships, work and performance, material security, and values and norms - are intimately intertwined: If someone is not healthy, they cannot work full time and subsequently suffer from material insecurity. If someone suffers from material insecurity, their relationship network gets holes and their value system starts to crumble. And that makes people ill. The best way to distinguish between coaching and the treatment of the psyche is as follows: Coaching refers to the professional context, psychotherapy to the private. Coaching tries to solve difficulties and conflicts at work, psychotherapy treats trauma, depression and addictions.
Helping with dialog
Coaching is consulting without advice. And that is a good thing. Because many coachees seek help because they are completely overwhelmed with social and professional processes and the organization of their resources. They are under enormous pressure, their energy reserves are at zero. Good advice or recipes for happiness would only build up more pressure. That would be counterproductive. That's why a good coach helps his client to find his own way out of the jam. If the client makes decisions on his own initiative and sets deadlines by which he wants to have implemented his plans, he is more likely to persevere. The prerequisite for successful coaching is that the person being coached really wants help and is willing to work out the solution himself, flanked by his consultant. Although this misconception is persistent: The coach does not deliver the solution to the problem on a silver platter like a doctor delivers a few pills.
Because the client's participation is so important to the success of a coaching session, Vissa reacts skeptically when a boss sends his employee or even an entire team to him. "An employee who is sent to coaching by the boss is usually very passive during the sessions and not necessarily willing to cooperate," says the coach. Clearly. Those who are prescribed self-help from above bring the buck to the first session right away. "And if a boss sends his team over without coming along himself, he's usually the one who needs counseling," adds Vissa. Every now and then, he has the unpleasant task of pointing out this error in thinking to the head of a company.
Typically, coaching needs arise during mergers, management buyouts, the sale of a company or succession management. Whenever possible, Vissa does not conduct his individual and team coaching sessions or mediations within the company. "A certain distance from the environment that needs to be clarified is important," he stresses.
Define roles
Most of the coaching sessions are about personality development, specific leadership tasks, clarifying role conflicts, self-management, burnout prevention, team or career development, communication problems between employees or technical coaching. "Professional competence and organizational structure are rarely a topic in my sessions," Vissa says. "Most of the time, it's about difficulties with work organization and dealing with conflict or coworkers. I look at where my client is losing energies and where he could pick them up again. And then together we try to reorganize resources."
Role conflicts and problems with self-management are Vissa's daily bread: "It often happens that employees are not clear about their role in the company," the coach explains. "They don't know exactly what their tasks are, what they are responsible for, and what roles their colleagues fill." This creates high tension between the employee's expectations of his or her work and his or her performance for the company.
Older executives in particular are candidates for this problem: They have often passed through several stations in the company, feel responsible for everything and are asked for advice and support from many sides. In the process, they can no longer set priorities, get bogged down, wear themselves out between the various stakeholders, and at some point can no longer manage their own work. When Vissa asks such clients, "What would it take for you to be comfortable at work again?" they often don't know the answer. In this situation, it is the coach's job to work with the client to find the ideal situation. Because if you don't know what the (working) world should be like in which you would feel comfortable, you can't change the actual state in this direction. Vissa: "My goal is to make my coachee fly again."
Coaching in self-experimentation
The self-experiment proves: Coaching really does the trick. If you catch a good coach, you get the chance to untangle your thoughts, desires and feelings with a borrowed brush and to style a pretty hairstyle again that will withstand the wind of the future. The idea is not to blindly follow advice from a stranger, but to find out what you actually want yourself by asking the coach specific questions. The solution is usually already in the coached person's head, stomach or heart.
But how do you find a good trainer? Optimally by recommendation. If a person with whom you get along well recommends a coach, it is relatively likely that you yourself will also be satisfied with that coach. There is no fear that the coach will share details from the session with the person you know, because coaches have a duty of confidentiality. If you don't know anyone who knows you, it's best to choose a coach who is registered with the "BSO Berufsverband für Supervision, Organisationsberatung und Coaching" (BSO Professional Association for Supervision, Organizational Consulting and Coaching), advises Reinhard Vissa: "There's a right uncontrolled proliferation of professional trainings. If you want to be sure, choose a coach registered in an association - because associations check professional qualifications before accepting a new member."
If you want to be coached, you have to be prepared for surprises. Because it can happen that you find out more about yourself and your behavior than you would like. This does not necessarily mean that you are a new person after coaching. On the contrary: Often you are back to your old self. A surprise can be, for example, that an uncomplicated way can be found to cope better with a situation with which one had previously struggled. In other words, not a big departure, not everything new - but simply a different way of dealing with what has been. Which nevertheless feels like a new beginning.
Anne-Friederike Wilhelm
