Some of the top questions about coaching answered!

Q. What is a coach?

The International Coaching Federation defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.

Q. Coach vs Consultant?

Consultants come up with answers to questions, suggesting discrete solutions. 

Coaches ask powerful questions so individuals can discover their own answers, empowering people to repeatedly develop solutions of their own.

I’m drawing on my corporate, consulting and MBA experience to better connect with and understand her clients' lives and situations and utilizing positive psychology-based coaching tools to help them navigate and get the right resources as a coach.

Q. Coach vs Therapist & Psychologists?

Therapists and psychologists are trained to diagnose and treat behavioral and emotional disorders using talk therapy, seeking to resolve the deeper underlying issues that are the cause of serious problems like poor motivation, low self-esteem and poor job performance. It is advisable to seek treatment from a psychologist if you are experiencing intensely negative emotions, persistent sadness, anxiety, guilt, feelings of worthlessness, trauma, addictive behaviors and traumatic issues relating to the past – and you do not possess the fortitude to move forward at this time.

Coaching is a collaborative partnership with clients focused on improving their present and future with demonstrable change and results within specific time-scales. While even a certified coach is no substitute for licensed psychologists, a coach can help you if you are strong enough to move forward despite your depression or anxiety.  A combination of therapy and coaching can be a powerful combination.

Q. Why coaching?

We're in a time when the field and practice of coaching is both growing and evolving. The demand for coaching came into being when stressed out executives started seeking help in coping with their professional and personal lives. In addition, as companies started downsizing and outplacing, and baby boomers started turning 50, coaches were hired to ease traumatic transitions and to help people get back on track. Since then the profession of coaching has continued to grow and expand to focus on individuals of all ages and stages of life. Why? Quite simply, because it works!

Kaptivate is proud to be a member of, and coach to the standards of, the International Coaching Federation, the leading global organization dedicated to advancing the coaching profession by setting high standards, providing independent certification and building a worldwide network of trained coaching professionals.

A 2014 Global Coaching Client Study conducted on behalf of the International Coach Federation found that of those individuals who had received coaching:

• 80% saw improved self-confidence

• 73% saw improved relationships

• 72% saw improved communication skills

• 70% saw improved work performance

• 61% saw improved business management

• 57% saw improved time management

• 51% saw improved team performance

And of those surveyed: 

• 99% indicated that there were “somewhat or fully satisfied with their coaching experience”

• 96% said they would do it again

When you think about it, at any one time, the lives of about 10% of the population are being negatively impacted by mental illness and issues from their past which need to be resolved to move forward. The rest of the population (90%) for whom psychotherapy is not indicated, can benefit from the holistic, strength based approach of coaching which supports them to create more rewarding, fulfilling lives, to find and achieve their dreams. And as mentioned in "Q coach vs therapist," a combination of approaches can also be helpful.

Q. Are coaches licensed or credentialed? Is Coach Kate?

While coaching hasn't reached the level of licensure requirements that therapists go through, for over a decade, the International Coach Federation has been leading the development of professional coaching. More than 20,000 coaches have participated in one of ICF’s three credentials, gaining coaching expertise and professional fulfillment. With an ICF Credential, coaches demonstrate not only knowledge and skill, but also a commitment to high professional standards and a strong code of ethics.

I have also completed a 125-hour certification program and exams through MentorCoach, an International Coaching Federation accredited school, to receive my Certified MentorCoach credential. MentorCoach's program combines the foundational core competencies required for every coach with their founder's positive psychology background, creating a unique coaching certification program at the intersection of art and science. Kate also has her ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential.

In addition, she continues to put to work all of the knowledge and experiences she gained while running corporate communications and engagement programs, designing human-centered physical and digital experiences, and learning how to healthily manage her own high-functioning anxiety and depression with art, therapist and coach support.

Why Coaching Works

Studies on the Impacts of Coaching

• Companies that have used professional coaching for business reasons have seen a median return on their investment of 7 times their initial investment, according to a study commissioned by ICF, and conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Association Resource Centre Inc. (ICF Global Coaching Client Study, 2009)

• A study commissioned by a professional services firm, and performed by MatrixGlobal showed that the ROI on coaching was 6.8x the initial investment. (The Business Impact of Leadership Coaching at a Professional Services Firm, Merrill C. Anderson, PhD, 2006)

• Three stock portfolios comprised only of companies that spend aggressively on employee development each outperformed the S&P 500 by 17-35% during 2003. (How’s Your Return on People? Harvard Business Review, Laurie Bassi and Daniel McMurrer, 2004)

• Employees at Nortel Networks estimate that their coaching programs earned the company a 5.2x return on investment and significant intangible benefits to the business, according to calculations prepared by Merrill C. Anderson, a professor of clinical education at Drake University.  Including the financial benefits from employee retention boosted the returns to 7.8x the initial investment. (Coaching the Coaches, Psychology Today, 2004, and Case Study on the Return on Investment of Executive Coaching, Merrill C. Anderson, PhD, 2001)

• According to a study of senior level executives at Fortune 1000 companies who received developmental coaching, the average return from the programs was nearly 5.7 times the initial investment. (Maximizing the Impact of Executive Coaching, The Manchester Review, Volume 6, Number 1, Joy McGovern, et.al., 2001).