Coaching vs. Therapy

Dear Howard,

Thank you for this important question. I am a leadership coach not a therapist, although I’ve spent a lot of time with therapists over the years. I definitely believe in the value of therapy. However, it’s distinct from coaching.

Probably the best explanation I heard is that with therapy the goal is for you to feel better about yourself. With coaching, it’s for you to get better as perceived by both you and others. The therapist helps the client deal with the past. The coach helps the client change to create a better future. Therapy can include elements of coaching and coaching can have a therapeutic effect, yet they are still fundamentally different.

Whether you are a coach looking for a methodology to adopt or you’re a leader looking to improve, I highly recommend that you select a coach and methodology that demonstrate rigor, discipline, evaluation, and results measurement.

Before I became a certified Stakeholder Centered Coach, I investigated other coaching systems and shadowed other coaches. I found a wide variance. Some coaches are more like therapists by a different name. They create safe spaces for their clients to express themselves, but there’s no serious emphasis on positive behavior change. By contrast, the Stakeholder Centered Coaching process is hardwired for results.

Marshall Goldsmith will tell you that he’s not the world’s greatest executive leadership coach, even though he’s repeatedly been acknowledged as such. He’ll also tell you that the late Chris Coffey was a better coach.

Where Marshall is truly worldclass is as coach of coaches who use the methodology he developed, and which you can learn more about here and here. Marshall’s system insists on humility, courage and discipline – from both coach and coachee.

Although it’s the only system I use, I’m not suggesting that Stakeholder Centered Coaching is the only viable system. Here’s my main point for people contemplating getting a coach or contemplating becoming a coach: Make sure the methodology possesses the following:

• A thorough 360-degree assessment.
• A clear goal with a specific behavior-based action plan.
• Ongoing support for the coachee from both coach and stakeholders (people vested in the goal and willing to help.)
• Continual check-ins and assessment measures to ensure progress as perceived by coach, coachee, stakeholders and others.

Best,

Jathan

Jathan Janove is a Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching Master Coach and Practice Leader. You can learn more about him here. If you have a question you’d like him to address, please email us at AsktheCoach@mgscc.net.