Today, many professionals consider self-coaching to be a key component of personal growth and development. As corporate and personal budgets tighten, independent performance coaches are not always feasible. Instead, more people are beginning to research ways to coach and develop themselves without outside assistance.
A simple definition of self-coaching refers to using questions or analysis tools independently rather than in partnership with an external coach. Professional coaches typically focus on motives and methodology of decision making or other key development goals. As part of the coaching process, someone external to the person being coached provides neutral opinions of the behaviors and actions taken by the recipient of the coaching. In self-coaching, a professional must ask these questions and perform neutral analysis on their own behaviors and actions.
In self-coaching, one can leverage numerous exercises and activities designed to uncover underlying motives or perceptions influencing thoughts and decisions. Often, unconscious factors have a significant impact and the process of self-coaching can increase awareness of those factors.
A challenge with self-coaching thus revolves around the ability to separate oneself from the behaviors and actions without skewing perceptions. Achieving the neutrality required for this often requires someone truly committed to self-coaching to be able to coach others and apply those skills and knowledge to themselves. It also requires the ability to consistently self-question and self-analyze to truly reap benefits similar to those provided by an independent coach or mentor.
Despite the challenges, many professionals find benefit in self-coaching. The exercise of removing oneself from the process and evaluating the actions and behaviors leading to decisions or strategies can provide a valuable perspective. Regardless of whether one can be completely neutral, the act of questioning and reviewing one’s activities or behaviors often offers helpful insight into how personal motivations or perceptions can influence decisions or thought processes. While self-coaching is difficult, it is well worth the time investment.