Generally, the overall purpose of coaching is usually to achieve any or all of the following objectives:

1. The facilitation of professional and/or technical expertise

The idea here is that you already have technical knowledge, as well as certain professional skills in your area(s) of core competence. The professional coach understands that, and therefore does not attempt to teach you what you already know. Rather, the coach works with you to enhance those skills through structured processes, in turning your strength to excellence.

Turning your strength to excellence in this regard is all about supporting you to be the best “you”, as you are supported to confidently manifest your unique knowledge, technical wisdom and professional genius. For example, if you desire to enhance your professional skills by engaging your internal resources to unlock new and bigger possibilities, coaching is definitely for you. 

2. Assistance to set and achieve desired outcomes

The central theme of coaching is facilitating the achievement of specific goals and/or outcomes, and without such defined outcomes there would be no need for coaching. As a result, the very first few questions that must be addressed in the process of coaching are: “What is/are the goal(s) that you want to achieve”? The process of coaching thereafter ensures that these are “SMART” goals. They are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound.

The coach not only holds you accountable for achieving the goals, but supports you to access all the internal and external resources that you may need to achieve your desired outcomes. This is especially if you’re a team leader, manager and supervisor, since you often need to work with and through other people, relying on their personalities, abilities, knowledge, skills and support to ensure your success. You may in fact go beyond being coached, to being a coach to others.

3. Promotion of development in desired areas of change

The fundamental beliefs that drive coaching are rooted in the understanding that inside of a person resides unbelievable resources, which when unlocked and unleashed bring about great transformation. This is the same whether coaching is applied to personal development, team leadership, business building or organisational performance.

Do you want more for yourself? Do you truly believe that there’s more for you? Are you willing to do what it takes to attain greater heights in life, business and career? If your answer is yes, then coaching is for you. It is all about uncovering hidden personal, business and organisational wealth bound in latent talents, resources, knowledge, and untapped powers.

What therefore makes coaching such a powerful transformational and success-activating process is its philosophy of supporting individuals, businesses and organisations to turn their strengths to excellence, while at the same time supporting them to mitigate areas of discernible weaknesses. An experienced professional coach or coaching organisation must have such an approach as one of its operational principles.

For example, there is a simple approach, which ensures that clients’ goals are perfectly aligned with their abilities, opportunities and resources. The approach in this regard adapts a uniquely developed 6-Step actions (6D’s), which is tailor-made for the clients as follows:

• Dream: What you want to achieve – Your goals, objectives, aims, outcomes

• Desire: Why you want to achieve the goal(s) – Your personal motivations, inspirations

• Discovery: Awareness – Your abilities, potentials, knowledge, needs, opportunities

• Development: Capacity-building – Your belief, knowledge, skill, resilience, energy, trust

• Distinction: Your personal conviction, commitment and consistency for excellence
• Delivery: Sustainable actions through inspiration, destiny and cause

From the general and broad purposes of coaching, which have been highlighted above, the question of who needs coaching can be safely answered. The answer is that virtually everyone needs coaching.

Most of us wish to be the best in our careers or at what we do professionally. Most of us also have certain goals and desires that we wish to achieve. And, most of us desire change in certain areas of our personal and professional lives. What most of us need to actualise all of these desires and goals is someone that can support, encourage, motivate, inspire, challenge and advise us.

We all need someone who will be there for, and with us in high and low tides. We all need someone that will be a capable, reliable and experienced sounding board who will be confidential and non-judgmental in offering us guidance and support along the journey to goal achievement and actualisation of desires.