Types of Coaching

Coaching is used in sports, business, and personal life. The focus and approach of coaching can vary depending on the arena in which it is used. There are several categories or types of coaching:

Sports Coaching
Personal Growth or Life Coaching
Business Coaching
Executive Coaching
Career Coaching

Types of Coaching

Sports Coaching

Sports coaching is what many people think of when they hear the term “coaching.” Sports coaching focuses primarily on particular sports or activities, but may encompass other elements of health and physical fitness such as diet, fitness, exercise, or mental conditioning.

The goal of this type of coaching is to the improve performance of individuals or groups who are engage in a particular sport. The coaching process involves analyzing technique and performance, and then objectively providing feedback on that performance. The coach will instruct the individual or group how to act or perform. Additionally, the coach may focus on the “mental game”, helping individuals with his or her psychological preparation.

Personal Growth or Life Coaching

Personal or life coaching provides support to individuals wishing to make some form of significant change happen within his or her life. The purpose of this type of coaching is to help an individual move forward from their present situation to make their life better, and enable that individual to become the person they wish to become.

Life coaches help individuals to explore what they want in life and how they might achieve their aspirations and fulfil their dreams. Life coaches typically ask questions that will challenge the individual to find answers from within him or herself. Its purpose is to draw out a person’s potential rather than attempt to put knowledge into a person. The process is more reflective than directive. This type of coaching helps the individual to discover answers based on his or her own values, preferences, and perspective.

Business Coaching

Business coaching is a general term used to describe coaching individuals in the business setting. The overall goal of business coaching is to provide support to employees in order to improve his or her effectiveness at completing job tasks. A business coach provides support, feedback, and advice to an individual or team to help improve performance and/or facilitate professional development.

This type of coaching is usually performed by managers or senior members of an organization. The focus is to help people further develop existing skills and learn new skills. It extends learning and performance improvement beyond traditional classroom training. A business coach works with individuals and teams to assess and analyze job performance and provide feedback as he or she is doing the job.

Executive Coaching

Executive coaching is a type of business coaching. It is typically focused on developing senior leaders within an organization to improve his or her leadership skills and personal performance. The theory is that by improving the performance of the leaders within the organization, the overall business results will improve.

Unlike the general business coaching, which is performed by someone from within the organization, executive coaching is often delivered by coaches from outside the organization. These coaches focus on developing leadership skills, formulating strategies, and building relationships.

Career Coaching

Career Coaching is a cross between business coaching and life coaching. Career Coaching focuses on making decisions and changes regarding a person’s career. It is a thought-provoking process that encourages self-discovery and inspires a person to maximize his or her professional potential. The process should lead to increased clarity for the individual and action towards improving his or her current situation.

A career coach utilizes a range of skills and techniques including advising, consulting, and mentoring. They also use various types of psychometric tools to help the individual get additional insight into their career preferences. Psychometric tests include personality profiles, motivation questionnaires, and ability assessments. These tests can help discover values and interests that are fundamental to a person’s overall career satisfaction.

The ultimate goal of a career coach is to improve an individual’s outlook on his or her career by helping them discover and clarify what they want to achieve, and align their goals with their actions.