Life coach: what he does and why to turn to him

We hear more and more about life coaching, but what exactly is it? And, most importantly, who is the life coach, what does he or she do, and why can turning to this professional figure bring benefits, both in private and work life?

Let’s address these questions one at a time.

According to the definition of the UNI 11601:2015 Standard, “Il Coaching è un processo di partnership finalizzato al raggiungimento degli obiettivi definiti con il Coachee (Cliente) e si basa su una relazione strutturata di reciproca fiducia. […]” (“Coaching is a partnership process aimed at achieving defined goals with the Coachee (Client) and is based on a structured relationship of mutual trust. […]”).

The importance of the Life Coaching tool in helping people bridge the gap between where they are and where they would like to be in life is clear from this definition.

Starting again from the UNI 11601:2015 Standard, “L’agire professionale del Coach facilita il Coachee nel migliorare le prestazioni professionali e personali mediante la valorizzazione e il potenziamento delle sue risorse, capacità personali e competenze. Queste influenzano il potenziamento dei risultati e più in generale del benessere del Coachee”. (“The professional action of the Coach facilitates the Coachee in improving professional and personal performance through the enhancement and strengthening of his or her resources, personal skills, and competencies. These influence the enhancement of the Coachee’s results and more generally the Coachee’s well-being.”)

We can therefore say that a Life Coach accompanies the Coachee to support him/her in gaining clarity on different aspects of his/her life-private and professional-by setting clear goals together and finding ways to achieve them. Life Coaching thus represents a maieutic path, which rarely starts from a clear awareness of the problems to be solved: more often one turns to a Life Coach at the moment one feels stuck, unable to overcome a situation or repeatedly facing the same problems without making progress. Life Coaching allows you to find out what challenges you face and what tools you have to do it best.

It is important to emphasize that the goals set in a Life Coaching course can change over time, as personal transformation takes place along the way-a phenomenon that should not be viewed as a setback, but simply as the natural result of developing greater awareness in the area of one’s personal growth. When we change, in fact, our beliefs, needs and priorities also change, helping us to live more in line with who we are and our unwavering values.

Reflection is one of the most important factors in becoming more self-aware, and it is precisely in this that a Life Coach can prove a valuable ally: the Life Coach does not provide any solutions, but through questions helps the Coachee to reflect on himself, to gain clarity about his beliefs, and to consciously choose what is needed to achieve the desired future.

A life coach, therefore, is a professional who helps people improve the quality of their lives in various areas by making use of a variety of tools, used during coaching sessions. In this regard, it is good not to confuse life coaches with other mental health professionals, and in fact, coaching is not considered a medical treatment. A therapist, for example, can help in managing mental health problems and healing from past traumas, while a counselor in solving a specific problem that has arisen in the workplace.

Most people turn to a life coach because they feel stuck in life or career, because they are dealing with emotions that are difficult to manage, or because they are going through a transition in their lives. The reasons why a person seeks the help of a coach can thus be many and range from transition or career change to a lack of fulfillment in their current job, from feeling stuck in work concerning a specific project to perceiving themselves as less creative, from the desire to be a more effective leader or manager to the difficulty in making a complex life or career decision. And again, from the intention to start one’s own business to the lack of motivation to pursue one’s goals to the desire to increase one’s income or improve one’s financial stability.

Turning to a life coach moved by one or several of these reasons can lead to results that will have a positive impact on one’s private and professional life. First, following a life coaching course allows one to gain more confidence in oneself and one’s abilities. Second, with the help of a life coach one can change one’s mindset, looking at one’s life from a different perspective, so that one can face the many daily challenges with greater awareness. Directly related to this, another important benefit of turning to a life coach is improved self-awareness: life coaching is thus a useful pathway to reflect on one’s progress and one’s level of self-awareness. A Life Coach also helps to improve relationships and communication skills, aspects that are fundamental not only in private life, but also at work, so much so that they result in increased professional performance. A Life Coaching course, moreover, allows one to have greater clarity about one’s goals, increasing the perception that one’s life has purpose and meaning, which also has as a consequence an improvement in general well-being, because where one feels important one also feels better about oneself and others. Turning to a life coach also helps to reduce stress levels and thus have better resilience.

In conclusion, the Life Coach is a very important professional figure, capable of offering much more than just an outside perspective or the comforting presence one normally looks for in a friend: from career coaching to help in dealing with more personal problems, including at work, Life Coaches have proven methods and tools that can bring concrete results, regardless of the difficulty of the situation in which people who choose to turn to this figure find themselves. Life coaching sessions poissibi therefore constitute a valuable aid in defining one’s personal or professional goals, the obstacles that stand in the way of their achievement and the ways to overcome them.

Starting from these considerations, doing a Life Coaching course represents an important step to seek not only a concrete solution to one’s problems but also to improve one’s perception of oneself and one’s place in the world, bringing out from one’s inner self those skills and tools to face any challenge that life presents.