Of Coaches, Trainers, Mentors and Consultants...and important distinctions...

Of Coaches, Trainers, Mentors and Consultants...and important distinctions...

 

I’ve been giving  some of my contacts a heads up about Coaching Advocates, https://www.coachingadvocates.com, a terrific organisation relatively new on the scene, that provides coaching across the world for lawyers and executives by a team of legal people who are certified coaches.

 

I have an affiliation with Coaching Advocates because our service offerings to lawyers are complementary...and, in particular, our “By lawyers, for Lawyers” fundamental positioning.

 

One reaction I’ve had, which I probably should have anticipated, is to the effect of, “But Rob isn’t coaching lawyers what you’ve been doing for decades”?

 

If you’d asked me that a year or more ago, I would have answered with a very strong, “Yes”.

 

However, in discussions with the Directors of Coaching Advocates where we canvassed what I do for lawyers that they don’t, it became very clear to me that coaching, mentoring, and consulting have very different purposes and methodologies.

 

I’ll let Lara Wentworth, one of the Founders of CA, explain.

 

“At Coaching Advocates, we’re passionate about helping individuals and organisations think differently and do better. 

As lawyers coaching lawyers (and executives), our mission is to modernise the way law firms and corporates work, creating a more sustainable and healthy work environment for staff without compromising on the bottom line. 

We show our clients how they can achieve success and high performance without having to sacrifice personal happiness, health, and fulfilment. 

We help our clients create supportive teams and coach individuals to increase their self-awareness, express their individual talents and styles, and become more effective leaders and team members. 

The end result? A work force of professionals who enjoy successful careers, make valuable contributions to their organisations, and lead fulfilling lives both inside and outside the office.

 

Where coaching differs most from the consulting work with lawyers that Rob has been doing for more than three decades is that coaching is about helping individuals and teams identify their internal obstacles and learn how to manage and overcome them. So, in that sense the coach does not “instruct” or “advise” a person on what to do, but rather, they use proven techniques to elicit a person’s own strengths and resources, so that the person can define the direction and map out the best way forward. 

 

Knowing and believing in the power of collaboration, the Founders set out to bring together a global community of like-minded professional coaches and trainers dedicated to helping organisations and individuals:

 

·       challenge the effectiveness of traditional practices;

·       reframe limiting mindsets;

·       and implement necessary change.

 

We established CA in 2020 and are now a global team comprised of 12 lawyers turned professional coaches spread across 5 continents and 7 countries. Each of our coaches is, or has practised as, a lawyer or within the legal industry, working across multiple practice areas and industries, and in various countries around the globe.

 

We have an intricate understanding of your world and the pressures imposed on you both professionally and personally. 

 

Each of our coaches has completed rigorous training programmes across a variety of coaching methodologies and specialities, including: ontological coaching; neuro-linguistic programming; Positive Intelligence; Whole Person coaching; Positive Psychology; team coaching; high-performance coaching; and Enneagram coaching”.