What distinguishes the work of a coach?

A summary of the differences between the work of coaches and that of other specialized profiles.

Coaching is a field of work that addresses many kinds of problems and needs both inside and outside companies. For this reason, it is not uncommon to confuse coaching with other disciplines, such as psychology or consulting.

In this article we are going to see briefly what are the most important differences between coaches, psychologists and consultants..

What are the differences between coaches and psychologists?

The first difference has to do with training. Psychologists, to become psychologists, need to finish a 4 or 5 year university degree, depending on the country; this path includes the completion of internships and several exams in each of the courses.

On the other hand, it is not necessary to have a university degree to become a coach, and degrees and certificates can be issued by organizations that are not part of the university world. Of course, it is possible to be a psychologist and a coach, and in fact it is becoming more and more common.

Moreover, sociologically, the teaching staff of coaching training centers tends to be more closely linked to business and private practice than to research in the sciences. than to the field of scientific research, the latter being much more common in the university environment.

The second difference has to do with the objective of each discipline. Although psychology is a science with an enormous and varied field of application and research, it has historically been linked to the prevention and treatment of mental health problems and forms of discomfort derived from personal relationships or from an inability to achieve good living conditions in a given context (e.g., learning problems, arguments at home, etc.).

Coaching, on the other hand, is positioned more as a tool not oriented to solve or prevent severe problems that damage people's quality of life, but rather to harnessing people's potential to promote satisfaction and well-being where there may be much more to be achieved..

Two of its main focuses are the realization of personal projects with meaning for the person, on the one hand, and the promotion of professional careers and teamwork dynamics, on the other. Thus, the work of coaches can be divided into two fronts: personal coaching on the one hand, and business or executive coaching on the other (or career coaching, if the objective is to reorient a person's career by looking beyond a specific organization). (or career coaching, if the objective is to reorient a person's career by looking beyond a particular organization).

Of course, these two domains can overlap, and in fact it is very common: think, for example, of the case of an elite athlete who needs to learn theoretical and practical principles of self-motivation and discipline.

What are the differences between coaches and consultants?

We come to another focus of frequent confusion: the line that separates coaches from consultants. To address this distinction, we are going to talk only about business coaching, since this is the one that can be confused with the work of consultants.

In this case, it must be kept in mind that a consultant is above all a person with a very specialized training and who helps companies to perform a series of specific tasks, which are important to carry out projects or to satisfy the demands of their clients on a day-to-day basis. to carry out a series of specific tasks, which are important to carry out projects or to satisfy the demands of their clients on a daily basis. No specific training is required to be a consultant, beyond the training in the subject from which you help the contracting party: accounting, law, translation, etc.

Thus, the usefulness and effectiveness of consultants can usually be quantitatively measured in the short or medium term (although, since they have technical knowledge that the contracting company does not understand, it is sometimes difficult to know if the investment really pays off, since they lack the criteria to know if progress is being made or not).

If the consultants provide information and experience related to the content of the work, coaches provide information and experience regarding how work is done and in what direction it should be oriented, taking into account the company's philosophy and what is the direction in which this work should be oriented, taking into account the philosophy of the company and the needs and motivational factors that influence the workers.

That is why, communication dynamics, conflict resolution and leadership in general are part of the main topics of coaching, while consultants focus on the dynamics of the company's philosophy and the needs and motivational factors that influence employees.whereas consultants focus more on the technical, on what needs to be worked on.

Do you want to train in coaching?

If you want to specialize and train in coaching, you may be interested in the Online Executive Coaching Certification Program organized by the European School of Coaching. It is a 100% online training program of 194 hours duration, divided into two cycles and includes live classes in synchronous classroom, as well as theoretical and practical content, technical and academic support at all times, and whose completion will allow you to obtain a coaching degree from the International Coach Federation and Executive Coach by EEC.

For more information, you can contact the center or go to the Escuela Europea de Coaching website.