What Is a Coach? What Coaching Is and What It Is Not

“What is a coach?” is a very common question, and the answer is simple: a coach is a person who does coaching. Coaching, in general, is a process or method that helps people get things done (call them dreams, goals or objectives).

Now that we know what a coach is, how do you become one, and where do you study coaching? Since almost everyone calls themselves a coach these days, it helps to say first what coaching is not.

What coaching is not

Coaching is not…	Because…
Training	A trainer teaches a skill. A coach asks questions so you find your own answers.
Therapy (psychology or psychiatry)	Therapy treats difficulties of the mind. Coaching looks at where you want to go.
Consulting	A consultant gives expert solutions. A coach does not hand out the solution.
Mentoring	A mentor shares their experience. A coach does not need to have walked your road.

If someone offers you any of these, bear in mind that you are not being sold pure coaching. You are being sold some other service mixed with coaching. It is like buying a strawberry yoghurt and being told it is strawberries: everyone knows there is more yoghurt than strawberries. That is life, but it is good to know.

Be careful: a lot of yoghurt is sold at strawberry prices.

How to tell what you are being offered

Ask how a session works. In coaching, most of the talking should be yours, and the coach mostly asks questions.
Ask what the first goal would be. A coach works towards something you define, not a programme they own.
Check whether they have lived it. A coach who has been through a good coaching process explains it better. See how to explain what coaching is.

Next steps

Now that you know what a coach is, see examples of our work in the best coaching exercises and tools. Unfamiliar words? The coaching glossary explains them, and the 12 good coaching conversations show what a session looks like.