“Balance feels like that
impossible dream.”
MARLENE THOMAS
ICF-CERTIFIED COACH, WASHINGTON, D.C.

family for a job and worried about staying
connected with his family as his daughter
looked for colleges. Another executive was
raising a 4-year-old as her husband worked
overseas for six months of the year. For
large stretches, her life consisted of work-
ing and overseeing their household. She
too wanted balance.

“It feels diffi cult when you’re trying
to do it on your own,” Thomas says, add-
ing that coaching is not therapy but an
opportunity to get clients to focus on
their values and priorities.

Parents “can have it all,” she says,
“[but] we sometimes don’t take the time
to stop and think about what we want.”
New trend
Professional coaching is now an annual
$2.35 billion industry globally with more
than 50,000 coaches worldwide, accord-
ing to the International Coach Federation.

While baby boomers make up a large
part of the clientele, women are showing
a growing interest in using coaching as a
more personalized way to seek career and
life advice.

Janet Branch, CEO of a Mary-
land-based behavioral health fi rm and the
mother of a grown child, sought the help
of a professional coach more than a year
ago so she could better organize all that
she was juggling at her job. “This sounds
kind of corny, but in certain positions,
you really do feel alone,” she says. Her
coach held her accountable in a way that
her employees could not, which made for
a “trusting place to make mistakes, and a
great experience.”
“One of the biggest things I learned is
that I was human,” she says.

Karol Kain Gray, senior vice president
for fi nance and budget at Virginia Com-
monwealth University, fi rst encountered
coaching years ago while working at the
University of North Carolina in Chapel
Hill. Her perception then — and one that
she believes many continue to hold — was
that professional coaches were brought
in when there was a problem at the work-
place. But Kain Gray says coaching is
really about professional development.

In fact, it’s a perfect way for companies
and workers to advance themselves.

“I think the one-on-one of coaching is
much more conducive for people to share
the issues they have on the job,” she says.

“It’s much more intimate.”
Like Thomas, with whom she has
worked, Kain Gray cautions that coaching
is not therapy, “It’s a reset. It’s a redirec-
tion,” she says. “In some cases, it could be
an upgrade.”
For example, one of her workers was
“miserable on the job.” Kain Gray sent
her to a coach who helped the employee
focus on her skills and goals. The
employee ultimately found a diff erent
job, one in which he was more productive
and happier.

“I think everyone needs a coach,”
she says. ■
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