International Coach Academy

Coach Training School

  • LANGUAGES
    • English
    • Chinese
    • Italian
  • COMMUNITY
    • Africa
    • Australia
    • Canada
    • Egypt
    • France
    • Germany
    • Greece
    • Hong Kong
    • India
    • Italy
    • Japan
    • Jordan
    • Lebanon
    • New Zealand
    • Singapore
    • Switzerland
    • Taiwan
    • Trinidad Tobago
    • UAE
    • UK
    • USA
  • Contact Us
  • OUR SCHOOL
    • Training Methodology
    • Coach Certification
    • Why Choose ICA?
    • Our Story
    • Our Team
    • Our Alumni
  • PROGRAMS
    • Become a Coach
    • Add Coach Skills
    • Advanced (ACP)
    • Professional (CPC)
    • Vocational (VCP)
    • Workplace (WCC)
    • Life Design
    • Bridging Pathways
    • Group Coach
  • STUDENT LIFE
    • Inside the Classroom
    • Study Schedule
    • Coaching Confidence
    • Your Niche and Model
    • Portfolio Creation
    • Unparallaled Support
  • COACH LIFE
    • ICA Coach Alumni
    • Get A Niche
      • Life Coaching
      • Health Wellness Coaching
      • Leadership Coaching
      • Business Coaching
    • Getting Clients
    • Coaching Demonstrations
    • Coaching Tips
    • Day in the Life of a Coach
    • Community Library
  • FLIPIT
    • A Framework for Change
    • Certified Group Coaching (CCE)
      • FlipIt Facilitation License
    • ICA Power Tools
      • Graduate Power Tools
  • BLOG
    • Graduation Yearbooks
    • Coach Portfolio
      • Power Tools
      • Resources
    • Articles
    • Podcasts
  • Join Login
You are here: Home » ARTICLES » Is Coaching a Science or an Art?

Is Coaching a Science or an Art?

2016/09/06

The question that comes up in the module “What is Coaching?” This module is often one of the first that new students start with, and I say often because at ICA you can actually take the modules in any order depending on your interest and schedule. But “What is Coaching?” is often taken at the beginning and yet it is really one of those big philosophical questions and one that coaches are still discussing at the end of their course.

Is coaching an art or a science ?

We need to look at the conventional defining features of both science and art and then comparing these concepts to the coaching process.

So for example the ideas science includes

  • being objective and concerned with facts and measurement rather than beliefs and feelings
  • having a hypothesis before you start
  • repeatable, the idea being that the process or result is repeatable and will yield the same result if and when it is repeated.

And the ideas around art include

  • passion
  • beliefs
  • intuition
  • feelings
  • the journey not the outcome

It is very easy when looking at these lists to say that coaching is more of an art than a science and I won’t go into the detail of that discussion. Instead let’s look at the questions itself. There are 2 problems I see with this question:

Firstly the differences in science and art are not so black and white. It is simply not true that science is not beautiful for example and it is also not true that artists don’t sometimes begin with a provable hypothesis. Like most binaries, dividing these 2 practices into distinct camps doesn’t serve either well. Leonardo DeVinci knew it. He was producing work that belongs in both camps years before our culture decided to separate them.

So that’s the first issue, it is actually not true to say science and art are polar opposites

But the second problem is with the question itself. I see this question a lot, “is coaching a science or an art?” In fact what I think people are asking is – Is there a proven formula I can follow that will give me the same result every time? And can I just rinse and repeat in a detached manner? Or is coaching something that relies on intuition and sensory perception.

And the answer is a bit of both.

Yes there are processes and guidelines to follow that have been tried and tested and we know work better than some others. Having your own coaching model for example is something that we have seen over our twelve year history of teaching coaching that actually works really well. And many coaches do benefit from a structure. An accountability framework and a coaching process. Just coaching in that manner and not ever providing a structure or a framework for your clients to move forward is really just to be involved in an interesting philosophical conversations and clients what more than that they want results and they often want measurable results

But will it work every time and in every situation – no.

Coaching does rely on intuition and sensory perception. I guess the word we would use to describe this state of being is “mindfulness” As a coach you have to be mindful of so many things in the coaching moment. Mindful of your clients environment, of their state of being, mindful of the chatter in your own head. In fact these things are so important that we actively teach you to develop your skills in this area.

We call it coaching from the inside out. We teach our students to first practice their new knowledge and skill on themselves – whether that’s active listening, or asking powerful questions or using one of the power tools like commitment versus trying –  we encourage our coaches to first use the skill or tool on themselves and then try it out with clients. Its like they say, you need to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

To finish up this recap I want to share a quote:

Vision without action is just a dream. 
Action without vision just passes the time. 
Vision with action can change the world.
Joel Barker

The reason I think it’s such a great quote is that it speaks to both the paradigms of science and art and shows how by connecting the two you really can have a powerful impact.

Thinking of Becoming a Coach?Coach Development Plan-70x65

Download our Coach Development Plan.

Related Posts

  • Lucy Romao Vandepol, PCC and ICA TrainerLucy Romao Vandepol, PCC and ICA Trainer
  • Lucrurile mici care fac diferenta MARELucrurile mici care fac diferenta MARE
  • Divya Parekh ICA Coach Training and International Executive Leadership CoachDivya Parekh ICA Coach Training and International Executive Leadership Coach
  • Do You Have To Have A Coach To Be A Good Coach?Do You Have To Have A Coach To Be A Good Coach?
  • The Values behind the Goal – A Must-Know in CoachingThe Values behind the Goal – A Must-Know in Coaching
  • Meet ICA Coach, Mindy J Kaleta (UNITED STATES)Meet ICA Coach, Mindy J Kaleta (UNITED STATES)

Filed Under: ARTICLES Tagged With: ica coach, is coaching a science, is coaching an art, what is coaching

International Coach Academy

Categories

International Office

PO Box 3190 Mentone East,
Melbourne AUSTRALIA, 3194

ABN: 83 094 039 577

Contact Us Online

Ask Us A Question

Click HERE

Terms

Terms and condition
Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 · International Coach Academy ·

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

SAVE & ACCEPT