The two represent opposite ends of a spectrum when it comes to the power dynamic, and coaching (outside of sports) seems to fall somewhere on there.
It’s “Shut up and do the reps” versus “Let’s explore those feelings”.
It can be (and has been!) argued that coaching is distinctly its own thing, with little to nothing to do with sports coaching OR psychotherapists. And thus such comparisons are readily resisted by practitioners, decried as unfairly reductionist. Yet have ten laypersons listen to a coaching session. Each will have little trouble fingering roughly where on that spectrum that session lies, and do so in general agreement with the other nine.
In broad strokes:
- The psychotherapist way of being is indulgent and accommodating of whatever the client would like.
- The sports coach way of being is decidedly not1That is, once coach and client have agreed on what client is committed to (and thus aligned on what winning looks like)..
Be clear on where you fall (or wish to fall) on this spectrum. For so much of how you operate and how you should present yourself is determined directly downstream of that choice.
CoachAccountable Action planning and Metrics tracking let you unambiguously create a game plan for your clients to move forward, and clear measures and targets of what winning looks like.
When you do this, you can hold them accountable, and do so in a way that is supportive and consistent with what they themselves want.
It’s powerful and it works.
Notes:
- 1That is, once coach and client have agreed on what client is committed to (and thus aligned on what winning looks like).
