In a professional context, a personal coach supports an individual by working with them on situations, decisions or ways of behaving that they wish to understand better or change.
The coach does not take the client’s place in analysing the situation or making choices: they create the conditions for the client to view their situation from a different perspective, to challenge some of their ways of understanding it, and to develop their own responses.
The term ‘individual coach’ refers to the professional; ‘individual coaching’ refers to the form that coaching takes when a coach works with a single person. It forms part of the broader field of professional coaching and can be applied in various contexts of professional development.
What does «individual» mean in «individual coaching»?»
«Individual» means that a single person is directly supported by the coach, as opposed to a team or a group. This does not mean that the work focuses solely on the individual or their personality. The situations addressed may involve their manager, their team, their peers, their role, the constraints of their organisation or the corporate culture in which they operate. Depending on their approach, the coach may therefore take these interactions and this context into account in their work. ‘Individual’ thus primarily describes the form of the coaching, rather than the topics covered. These may relate to taking on responsibilities, leadership, interpersonal relationships, decision-making, management or career development.
What is the role of a personal coach?
The value of coaching lies less in an answer provided from outside than in the quality of the work it enables the individual to do on a situation which they are unable to resolve on their own in the same way. Take, for example, a manager who is convinced that their team «lacks autonomy». The coach does not necessarily accept this assessment at face value, nor do they immediately suggest a method of delegation.
It can help him focus on what is actually happening: at what points does he intervene?
What does he do when a colleague hesitates?
What exactly does he expect from his team?
Are there any other ways of looking at the situation?
This work may also lead her to reflect on her leadership and the way in which her own actions either foster or limit her team’s autonomy. A manager may also have been putting off a conversation with her line manager for several weeks. The work may then involve clarifying what is making this exchange difficult, distinguishing between the facts and what they are anticipating, and considering different strategies for approaching the conversation. Depending on their working style and the situation, the coach may ask powerful questions, rephrase points, provide regular feedback, suggest a role-play or challenge a particular perspective. However, the person being coached retains responsibility for their decisions and actions.
Coach, consultant, mentor or trainer: what’s the difference?
These professionals may deal with similar issues, but they do not offer the same kind of support.
Consultant
A consultant is sought out, in particular, for their expertise, analysis or recommendations.
Mentor
A mentor can share the experience they have gained throughout their own journey. Mentoring therefore focuses on the sharing of experience.
Trainer
A trainer primarily imparts knowledge, methods or skills that have been defined in advance, following a more structured and top-down approach than coaching, and aims to help participants acquire specific skills.
Coach
Coaching relies more on working with the individual based on their specific situation. The boundaries are not entirely rigid: coaches may offer feedback or suggest an exercise. However, their role does not primarily involve providing a solution or telling the individual how they themselves would act.
Coaching also has its limits. A coach must be able to recognise when a request falls outside their area of expertise and, if necessary, refer the client to another professional rather than attempting to deal with everything within the coaching process.
What does a one-to-one coaching session involve?
Coaching involves objectives and a framework, but there is no single approach that applies to everyone and every situation.
It can take place in person or in the form of online coaching, depending on the context and the agreed arrangements.
A coach does not operate like a robot, applying the same protocol from one session to the next. The coaching techniques used also vary depending on the coach’s training and approach, for example a systemic approach or transactional analysis. Clarifying what will be worked on The start of the coaching process provides an opportunity to clarify the client’s request and the change they are seeking.
The objective may be relatively clear: settling into a new role, preparing for a difficult decision, working through a relationship that has become strained, or dealing with a conflict management situation. It may also relate to motivation, personal development or professional performance, provided that it is made clear what these terms actually mean for the individual. It may also stem from a more vague difficulty: «I can no longer delegate», «I’m struggling to find my footing with my manager» or «something isn’t working in the way I manage».
This process then helps to clarify what is truly worth exploring. The objectives provide direction for the coaching, but they do not necessarily constitute a fixed roadmap: they may be refined as the coaching process leads to a different understanding of the situation. They do not necessarily take the form of SMART objectives: depending on the client’s needs, some objectives may remain more qualitative or evolve over the course of the coaching process. These objectives may relate to a one-off situation or form part of a broader professional development agenda. Starting with real-life professional situations Sessions may be based on a meeting that went badly, a decision that has been put off, a conversation that needs preparing, or an unexpected reaction from a team member.
Depending on the situation and her approach, the coach can help to examine in more detail what happened, how it was interpreted, and what options for action are available. A session can also be used to prepare for a conversation in a different way or to try out a new approach before the next meeting.
What happens next in real life then becomes, in turn, the subject of our work:
What has changed?
What didn’t go as planned? What does this tell us?
Coaching therefore rarely proceeds as a mechanical sequence of steps. It is built around the situations encountered and what gradually emerges through the process. When a request relates primarily to a career change, a move to a new role or a choice of career path, it may fall more specifically within the scope of career coaching. Skills assessments can provide a different form of support when the request centres mainly on a structured review of one’s career path.
Confidentiality and objectives: what framework should coaching follow?
For one-to-one coaching to be truly effective, the ground rules must be made clear from the outset: objectives, each person’s role, confidentiality and, where the company is funding the coaching, what information may be shared.
Confidentiality of discussions: The framework for confidentiality and any limitations must be clarified at the start of the coaching process, rather than left to be implied. This confidentiality enables coachees to address topics they might not necessarily wish to explore in the same way with their manager, colleagues or HR manager: doubts about taking up a new role, a conflictual relationship, a decision they are hesitant to make, or their own contribution to a problem.
Confidentiality does not prevent us from setting objectives or planning milestones. It enables us to distinguish between work carried out during sessions and information that can be shared with other stakeholders.
When the company funds coaching: who knows what? When the company funds coaching, the coachee, the coach and a sponsor – for example, a manager or someone from HR – may all be involved in the process.
Before the coaching programme begins, the coaching agreement or contract must specify what may be shared with the sponsor and what remains confidential. The terms and conditions may vary depending on the organisation and the specific arrangements. Above all, they must be understood and accepted by all those involved. The sponsor may be involved in defining the overall objectives of the coaching. The coachee must be able to understand, discuss and take ownership of these objectives: coaching is not about the coach imposing a transformation decided unilaterally by the organisation. The content of the sessions remains confidential.
If three-way discussions are planned, the rules regarding what can be shared and by whom must be established in advance. The aim is to balance two requirements: enabling the organisation to give meaning to the support it funds, whilst maintaining a framework within which the coachee can work with sufficient freedom.
How do you choose a personal trainer?
No single criterion, taken on its own, guarantees that a coach will be suitable for a particular person or situation. Nevertheless, there are a few pointers that can help with an initial assessment of their approach to coaching.
Checking their training and the accreditations they claim to hold can help to confirm this initial impression. Specific coaching training Experience as a manager or subject-matter expert does not, in itself, constitute training for the role of coach. A clear framework
Coaches must be able to explain how they work, what coaching techniques they can use, how objectives are set, what confidentiality rules apply, and what they do when a request falls outside their remit.
The coach’s website can provide an initial insight into their approach and working methods, which can then be discussed in more detail during the first meeting.
Professional benchmarks: Adherence to codes of ethics, professional accreditation or ICF certification, membership of organisations such as the EMCC or SFCoach, as well as regular supervision (a space where coaches refine their own practice with a qualified supervisor), can provide useful insights into how they carry out their work. None of these factors alone guarantees the quality of the coaching. Relevant experience A good understanding of how businesses operate can be useful in professional coaching. Such experience can enhance an understanding of the context without turning the relationship into mentoring. However, the coach does not need to have held exactly the same job or worked in the same sector as their client. Working relationship Finally, the initial discussion allows one to assess whether a relationship of trust can be established and whether the proposed coaching arrangement seems clear enough to begin the work. The question is not merely whether one «feels at ease», but whether one believes they can speak frankly with this coach, understand their approach, express disagreement and be genuinely challenged without feeling judged. The initial discussion should therefore serve to assess the proposed framework, the coach’s working style and the possibility of establishing a relationship in which the coachee can speak openly and genuinely work on the issues that have led them to seek coaching.
Further reading: for those wishing to explore the professional and ethical framework of coaching in greater depth, three key reference sources are particularly worth consulting:
· International Coaching Federation (ICF), standards and accreditations
· EMCC France, Code of Ethics
· France Compétences, standards relating to the profession of professional coach