What Coaching Is (And What It Isn’t)
Coaching is one of those words that gets thrown around so much it starts to lose meaning, like leadership or synergy or artisanally curated small-batch consulting. People think they know what coaching is—until they realize they don’t. They lump it in with therapy, mentoring, consulting, and a dozen other things that sound similar but function very differently.
So let’s clear this up.
Coaching is not someone giving you a step-by-step manual for your life. It’s not therapy, where we explore your unresolved childhood wounds. It’s not consulting, where an expert hands you a PowerPoint and tells you exactly what to do. And it’s not mentoring, where a wise sage imparts their hard-earned wisdom like a monk on a mountaintop.
Coaching is about unlocking your potential. It’s about asking the right questions, helping you see blind spots, and creating the space for you to discover the solutions that already exist inside you. A good coach doesn’t give you theiranswers—they help you find your own.
What Coaching ISN’T
1. Coaching is NOT Therapy
If you need to unpack deep emotional wounds, process past trauma, or work through clinical mental health struggles, a therapist is what you need. Therapy is about healing. Coaching is about forward momentum. While we might touch on past experiences, coaching is primarily focused on where you’re going, not where you’ve been.
2. Coaching is NOT Consulting
Consultants give you a detailed roadmap. They analyze, strategize, and tell you exactly what to do. Coaching? Coaching helps you figure out the roadmap yourself. Why? Because if someone hands you a one-size-fits-all blueprint, chances are it won’t actually fit you. Coaching empowers you to make your own decisions—ones that align with your goals, values, and personal style.
3. Coaching is NOT Mentoring
Mentors are seasoned guides who have walked the path before you and can tell you exactly what worked for them. Coaching isn’t about giving advice from our experience—it’s about helping you navigate your experience. A mentor tells you what worked for them. A coach helps you figure out what will work for you.
What Coaching IS
1. Coaching is About Unlocking Potential
A coach sees what you might be missing. They help you challenge assumptions, break through limiting beliefs, and push past obstacles. Coaching is about clarity, action, and results. The goal isn’t just to talk—it’s to move forward.
2. Coaching is Future-Focused
We’re not here to endlessly analyze the past. Coaching is about where you want to go and how to get there. It’s about creating actionable steps and building the momentum to reach your goals. If therapy is about understanding, coaching is about executing.
3. Coaching is a Collaborative Process
Coaching isn’t a guru handing down wisdom from on high. It’s a partnership. A coach provides the structure, asks the right questions, and challenges you to think differently—but the growth? The transformation? That’s yours.
Who Coaching is For
If you feel stuck, if you have big goals but no clear strategy, if you know you’re capable of more but don’t know how to break through the ceiling that keeps you where you are—coaching is for you. It’s for leaders, business owners, creatives, professionals, and anyone who refuses to settle for just getting by.
Coaching is about maximizing your potential—not by giving you someone else’s plan, but by helping you build the best plan for yourself.
So if you’re ready to move forward—not just think about moving forward—coaching might be exactly what you need.