Definitions

A useful glossary of terms

360 degree feedback:

An evaluation method that incorporates a full circle of confidential reviews (i.e. feedback from the client/employee, his/her peers, superiors, subordinates, and customers) to provide information on performance from multiple perspectives. This feedback enables the client to set goals for self-development which will advance their career and benefit the organisation.

Appreciative coaching:

An approach to coaching, based on the work of David Cooperrider and colleagues, which emphasises that individuals, executives and organisations do not need to "be fixed". Rather, if focuses on accessing existing strengths and distinctive competencies, reaffirming these and bringing them more into play to move the individual or organisation forward.

Assessment:

Measuring behaviour and performance and documenting it in such a way that highlights both strengths and areas for growth and development. Assessment might include coaching needs analyses, structured interviews, profiles and/or self-reports.

Behavioural coaching:

A structured, process-driven relationship between a trained professional coach and an individual or team that includes assessment, examining values and motivation, setting measurable goals, defining action plans and using validated tools and techniques to develop competencies and remove blocks in order to achieve valuable and sustainable changes in both the professional and personal spheres. The process includes behavioural feedback and monitoring of both the coachee and coach.

Brief coaching

A type of solution-focused coaching in which coaches use a specialised conversation to enable their clients to achieve their goals with a brief period of time.

Business coaching:

Generally, this refers to external coaches who work with individuals or organisations on operational mastery skills, such as organisational restructuring, developing change initiatives and working with groups in transition. Business coaches also work with start-up businesses, entrepreneurs and other businesses to grow and expand their services.

Coaching culture:

The climate within an organisation that embraces learning and development in a context of coaching competencies and an attitude or philosophy of coaching.

Coaching needs analysis:

A method to determine an organisation's specific coaching needs by reviewing tasks, identifying job performance criteria, assessing gaps in learning and development programmes, establishing organisational goals and objectives and defining potential coaching areas.

Cognitive coaching:

A method of coaching based on the understanding that metacognition (or being aware of one's own thinking processes) fosters independent learning by providing insights into one's own thinking processes. Objectives are to enhance confidence in thinking skills and improve conceptual thinking and decision making.

Corporate Governance:

Corporate governance relates to the internal means by which corporations are operated and controlled. While governments play a central role in shaping the legal, institutional and regulatory climate within which individual corporate governance systems are developed, the main responsibility lies with the private sector. ("OECD Principles of Corporate Governance", 1999).

Corporate social responsibility/ corporate responsibility (CSR):

An approach by which a company:

- recognises that its activities have a wider impact on the society in which it operates; and that developments in society in turn impact on its ability to pursue its business successfully;
- actively manages the economic, social, environmental and human rights impact of its activities across the world, basing these on principles which reflect international values, reaping benefits both for its own operations and reputation as well as for the communities in which it operates;
- seeks to achieve these benefits by working closely with other groups and organisations - local communities, civil society, other businesses and home and host governments.

This approach is derived from principles of sustainable development.

Emotional intelligence:

Refers to the individual's capacity to perceive emotion, to integrate it with thought, to understand it and to manage or regulate it. Also know as emotional effectiveness.

Executive coaching:

A one-on-one relationship between a coach and a leader or executive to help develop and enhance the individual's professional effectiveness and work performance. It can involve coaching for skills, coaching for performance, coaching for development and coaching for the executive's agenda.

Existentialism:

A way of approaching things; a 'stance' or a 'posture'. It generally postulates that the absence of a transcendent force (such as God) means that the individual is entirely free, and therefore ultimately responsible. Existentialism assumes that it is up to humans to create an ethos of self responsibility outside any branded system and it is our choices, not our personality, that define us.


Feedback:

Occurs when a coach, coachee, colleagues or group report back honestly and objectively regarding an incident, a situation or behaviours relevant to the progress of a coaching intervention.

Gestalt therapy:

Led by Fritz Perls in the 1950s and 1960s, this type of therapy focuses on increasing the individual's self-awareness in the present by drawing on past experiences, memories, emotional states and bodily sensations. It emphasises taking responsibility for one's choices.

Group or team coaching:

This type of coaching usually entails working with clients in a series of workshop-type sessions over a period of several weeks or months. Group coaching focuses on a group or individuals who share a common issue. Team coaches work with individuals who are part of a team, such as a project team or a brand team.

GROW model:

Developed by Graham Alexander in 1984, the GROW model (goals, reality, options, wrap-up) has been employed, although unacknowledged, by several authors on coaching and remains one of the most popular coaching models for life coaches.

Hard skills:

Technical, operational or position skills. These can include delegation skills, negotiation skills, strategic planning skills and introducing organisational change. Hard skills frequently contain a component of soft skills.

Humanism:

A movement that espouses a belief in the individual's capacity for self-growth, self determination and autonomy. Human beings are not simply pawns in a game, but can make a difference to the world.

Intangible risk:

A risk that has a 100% probability of occurring but is ignored by the organisation due to a lack of identification ability. For example, knowledge risk occurs when deficient knowledge is applied. Relationship risk occurs when collaboration ineffectiveness occurs. Process-engagement risk occurs when operational ineffectiveness occurs. These risks directly reduce the productivity of workers, decrease cost effectiveness, profitability, service, quality, reputation, brand value, and earnings quality.

Leadership coaching:

A coaching process which develops leadership competencies to help individuals cope with the multitude of demands placed on them.

Learning:

A relatively permanent change in a person's behaviour due to experience.

Life (personal) coaching:

A structured process of examining values and setting goals and action plans to help individuals remove blocks and achieve measurable changes and benefits in all aspects of their lives.

Linguistic coaching:

An approach to coaching based on a system of conversational analysis and communication developed by Fernando Flores and colleagues. It involves cognitive challenging, which is underpinned by the premise that we cannot communicate effectively if we are unable to distinguish between fact and interpretation.

Mediation:

In accelerated learning it refers to the individual's ability to "stand between" the old and new behaviours and to sort out the differences between them.

Mentoring:

Sometimes confused with coaching. Mentors tend to be recognised experts within a particular field or industry. They assist the individual on the career ladder, advise and draw heavily upon their own experiences and tend to represent the standards, values and vision of the organisation.

Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI):

A tool that assesses an individual's personality profile in sixteen categories based on preferences along four dimensions: orientation to life (extraverted/introverted); perception (sensing/intuitive); decision making (thinking/feeling); and attitude to the outside world (judging/perceiving). Of these dimensions, the individual's preferred orientation to life and perception are particularly relevant to his or her learning style.

Neurolinguistic programming (NLP):

The study of the structure of subjective experience. The word 'neuro' refers to an understanding of the brain and its functioning. 'Linguistic' relates to the communication aspects (both verbal and non-verbal) of our information processing. 'Programming' refers to the behavioural thinking patterns we all go through. There is a relationship between perceptions, thinking and behaviour that is neuro-linguistic in nature. NLP consists of a set of models, skills and techniques to organise ideas and actions for improved communication, positive change and personal and professional growth.

Observational coaching:

Sometimes used synonymously with 'live coaching', it involves the coach collecting data by directly observing or shadowing the individual as she or he performs certain tasks (phase one). At phase two, data is analysed in order to clarity the coaching issues and goals. At phase three, strategies and action plans are put in place to achieve the stated goals. Observation is undertaken throughout the entire coaching process.

Organisation behavioural coaching:

The science (see behavioural coaching) of facilitating the performance, learning and development of the individual or team, which in turn will assist the growth of the individual and the organisation.

Passive-aggression:

A pattern of aggressive behaviour whereby the individual indirectly or unassertively expresses hostility toward others. It sometimes takes the form of over-compliance, obstructionism, pedantry or procrastination.

Peer coaching:

Colleagues coach and support each other in a non-threatening, egalitarian relationship in order to achieve mutual growth and personal and professional development. Teachers in particular benefit from peer coaching to enhance their teaching skills and general professional development.

Performance coaching:

The coachee fully applies the newly acquired skills in the workplace. There is ongoing measurement and feedback on the coachee's execution of the skills.

Reflective coaching:

Where the coach introduces a hypothetical future scenario or the coachee is asked to take the observer's perspective on his or her situation. The coachee is encouraged to mobilise his or her own problem-solving resources; the coach acts more as a guide by triggering reflexive activity and using effective questions rather than instructions or commands to raise awareness and responsibility.

Reframing situations:

A technique that helps us to redefine unpleasant situations or events, thereby making them easier to manage.

Reinforcement:

An event that, when presented following a behaviour, causes the behaviour to increase or decrease in frequency. Positive reinforcement, synonymous with reward, increases the likelihood of the behaviour occurring again. Negative reinforcement is the removal of an unpleasant event, such as stress or craving. It also increases the likelihood of the behaviour recurring.

Responsible business:

Business that incorporates an awareness of social, environmental and ethical issues (i.e. the principles of corporate social responsibility / corporate responsibility).

Responsible entrepreneurs:

Dynamic and open minded business people in any size or stage of a company, dedicated to making 'responsible business' a reality.

Risk management:

The process of measuring or assessing risk and developing strategies to manage it. Strategies include transferring the risk to another party, avoiding the risk, reducing the negative effect of the risk, and accepting some or all of the consequences of a particular risk.

ROE:

'Return on Expectations' involves the coach, client and coachee identifying and agreeing on expectations, including the "critical success factors" that the coaching programme will meet.

ROI:

'Return on Investment', or putting monetary value against the benefits of coaching, is a method of evaluating a coaching programme. Because of its high time demands and the difficulty of measuring intangible benefits of coaching, many coaches prefer to conduct a return on expectations (ROE).

Self-actualisation:

The final level of development that individuals can reach, according to Abaham Maslow's theory of personality. Some qualities associated with this stage include independence, autonomy, few but deep friendships, a philosophical sense of humour and a resistance to external pressures.

Self-coaching:

The ultimate goal of coaching is for a coachee to be able to self-coach; that is, to be self-managing and self-regulating. As well as insuring that the coachee has learned new methods of problem solving, techniques to manage beliefs and emotions and "hard skills", the coach and coachee establish maintenance strategies so that the coachee does not revert to earlier behaviours and there is ongoing support for the coachee.

Solution-focused coaching:

This type of coaching works more on finding answers and less on untangling problems. It enables people to access and use the wealth of experience, skills, expertise and intuition that we all have. It allows people to find individual and creative solutions to the situations they find themselves in, both at work and in their personal lives.

Self-limiting beliefs:

Any assumptions, perspectives or convictions that are holding an individual back from reaching his or her full potential. They can also include 'fixed ideas' where a thought functions as a 'truth' that the person automatically acts upon.

Self-monitoring or self-observation:

Systematically observing one's own behaviour over time, on several occasions in an ongoing manner.

Self-regulation:

The individual's ability to recognise, direct and modulate her or his own thoughts, feelings and behaviour. Enhancing a coachee's self-regulation skills is a critical component of behavioural coaching.

Skills coaching:

An essential part of any coaching programme rather than a specific type of coaching. All coaching involves coachees acquiring new skills or enhancing current ones.

SMART goals:

Goals that are - specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time limited.

Soft skills:

Includes a broad range of personal skills or behaviours such as self-awareness, emotional effectiveness, interpersonal competencies, insight and creativity.

Systems coaching:

Involves recognising, aligning, and working with the concerns and goals of key stakeholders, key business units or departments in a public or private organisation. A systems approach demands that an executive coach understands the executive's role in the system as well as the coach's own place in it.

Technique:

The 'art' and form by which coaches employ coaching tools such as assessment, managing emotions and overcoming resistance.

Transactional analysis (TA):

Developed by Eric Berne, TA is a type of psychotherapy that focuses on what people say and do to themselves and to each other. It assumes that we make current decisions based on past premises that my no longer be valid. Our life scripts or personal life plans, which include parental injunctions, are created early in life. Nevertheless, we can transcend our early programming by understanding past decisions and making new choices.

Transfer of learning:

The extent to which the knowledge, skills and abilities acquired in the coaching situation are applied, generalizes and maintained over some time in the work or personal environment.

Values:

A person's values give individuals a reason to prefer one action, thing or behaviour over another. There are three types of values: experiential, creative and attitudinal.