It's a bit difficult, because of the different ideas behind "Life Coaching". For example, Tony Robbins calls himself a life coach; and we see some really strange things going on in the name of Life Coaching on TV!
"Proper" Life Coaching - that is, the skill that is taught at Life Coaching schools and has come about after much research, development and invention - has, at its core, an active listening component.
Now, active listening is hardly new, but Life Coaching takes it to a whole new plane. It also borrows a few pointers from NLP, and adds a few methods of its own.
Life Coaching starts by assuming (as NLP does) that the client already has all the resources. It also assumes that the client has all the answers (but just doesn't realise it).
It goes on to draw out, in a way that to this day leaves me amazed every time it happens, the answers from the client.
Life Coaching had a huge boost when Sir John Whitmore and W Timothy Gallwey had a coaching school for tennis players and skiers. They were using this "new" form of coaching that had been developed. When they ran out of tennis players one day, they dressed their ski instructors (who knew nothing about tennis) in tennis clothes, gave them each a tennis racket, and told them under no circumstances to try to hit the ball!
They had a massive surprise. The tennis players improved hugely under the coaching of the ski instructors, way beyond what the tennis coaches had been achieving.
It didn't take long before business in America found that this "new" way of coaching worked not only for sport, but also in improving the efficiency of executives. Thus was born "Life Coaching" for executives, then for business people in general, and, of course for individuals (after all, an executive is but an individual).
The "life coaching" that you see on TV - even by qualified life coaches - is nothing whatsoever like formal Life Coaching, and it makes me laugh whenever I see it on TV.
Nancy Kline did some amazing research into why sometimes kids would be creative and have fantastic insights, yet other times the same kids would be dull and uninspired. She wrote the results in her book Time to Think. It introduces her concepts in a fantastic way, and IMO is a "must read" for parents, spouses and teachers (among others). Although it's not Life Coaching, Kline has had a direct effect on its development. This is one of my all-time favourite books.
Last edited by John_Guanzon; 12/13/06 03:03 PM.
