Demand for coaching across organisations is on the rise, with more and more businesses seeing the tangible benefits and impact it can have on people, performance and culture. But what exactly is it, and how can it help you?

It’s helpful to define exactly what coaching is, and what it isn't. Coaching focuses on the ‘here and now’, and whilst there are a whole heap of different models one can use in coaching, it’s important to see the coach role as that of a facilitator for learning and behaviour change.

In coaching, the aim is fundamentally to help the individual improve their own performance; teaching them  new ways of working, and challenging habits or thinking patterns that might be holding them back. A great coach believes that each person already has the answers within themselves, and merely needs help to find them. . Whilst coaching isn’t therapy or counselling, it is a relationship that relies on trust, vulnerability and honesty.

Let’s face it, coaching can be quite the investment - which is why it's typically been reserved for executives and senior leaders in organisations.  But what if you flipped this narrative on its head? What if organisations started to ask themselves how they could best reach more people, create more lasting behaviour change, and have this ripple through an organisation from every level?

Democratise coaching, democratise development

Here are some things you can start to do today to support the coaching and development of people across your organisation:

1. Create a coaching culture - this starts from the top. Get your leaders bought into the impact coaching can have, and involved in the messaging around the importance of personal growth and development.

2. Get your managers trained in coaching skills -  every leadership development programme should have a coaching element. Get your managers and leaders coaching in the everyday, with quick tips and guides on coaching conversations.

3. Launch an internal coaching programme - encourage people to sign up to be coached internally, or better still, get individuals trained as coaches. Tip? Explore options using the apprenticeship levy.

4. Get peer coaching off the ground - set pairs up across the organisation depending on coaching needs, hold sessions with them to get them started, and encourage them to meet regularly to focus on each other's goals and development. This builds both accountability, and community.

5. Make feedback non-negotiable - they say feedback is a gift, so make sure it’s given that way. Constructive, actionable, helpful. All great relationships, trust and high performance cultures are centred around tangible and meaningful feedback. It should work both ways, with managers and individual contributors openly sharing what’s working and what can be made even better.

The above strategies are designed to really help you get coaching embedded in  the every day of your organisation. So many people are natural coaches, and so many more just need a few gentle nudges in the right direction.
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Not sure where to start? Here are 6 key questions you can use today:

1. What’s on your mind?

2. What do you want to achieve or change in your life/work/career right now?

3. What actions have you taken so far to work towards your goal?

4. What obstacles or challenges are you facing in reaching your goal?

5. How can you leverage your strengths and skills to overcome these challenges?

6. What specific steps will you take moving forward, and when will you take them?