What is coaching?
Coaching is a process through which an individual or group is supported to achieve personal or professional goals. It is centred in the objectives that are brought by the coachee. It is future and action focussed.
Coaching is not about offering advice in the way that a mentor might. A common misconception about coaching is that it is a bit like a personal shopper in a large department store, someone that will help you find the perfect clothes for you. The principle of coaching is that any form of solution imposed from the outside is unlikely to be sustainable and that it is rather the job of the coach to help the coachee find solutions for themselves. So to continue the metaphor of the personal shopper, you would have to learn yourself about what clothes suited you.
Joshua Sofaer is a PCT accredited Relational Dynamics coach. He uses coaching both to develop artist talent and as a way of negotiating the connection between art and its audience. He works with individuals and groups to help them clarify priorities and achieve goals, focussing on those connected to the arts.
As a regular guest artist at the Norwegian Theatre Academy, Joshua has been using coaching as a way to free creative stagnation and unlock emerging artists’ potential. Coaching is also a useful tool working with artists alongside mentoring, for script and content development.
Coaching is an indispensible tool when facilitating those interested in socially engaged contexts, especially when considering the participation of non-art audiences. As part of the RSA Citizen Power initiative in Peterborough, Joshua used coaching techniques to gather together artists and non-artists towards a creative goal.
Joshua has also been using coaching as a principle in the creation of artwork, considering how performers engage their audience, for example developing ways in which opera singers can relate to specific audience members in Operahjälpen for Folkoperan in Stockholm; and by creating coaching sessions in a gallery context for Object of Love for Wäinö Aaltonen Museum in Turku.
For more information on Joshua’s approach to coaching you can read this interview. To book a session, please scroll down and use the contact button.