Editing Coaching (section)

== What is coaching? ==
If If organizing is leadership that enables people to turn their resources into the power they need to make the change they want, then '''coaching is about enabling others'''. In trying to create change, organizers will undoubtedly run into challenges as failure, conflict, and obstacles are inevitable in our campaigns. Coaching is a means of helping individuals and teams work through these challenges.

The role of the coach is to '''help people find their own solutions'''; rather than offering advice, coaches ask questions to get people to uncover the answers themselves and use their own resources to meet challenges. The purpose of coaching is to enable others to build their own capacity to act, so they can coach others, and so on. In this way, coaching is synonymous with '''leadership development''' and so is key for building scalable, sustainable teams.

In organizing, coaching usually takes the form of an intentional conversation with an individual that helps them overcome a challenge or increase their, or their team’s, effectiveness. Read on for more details on effective coaching and the coaching process.

<div style="background-color:#eee; padding:1em; border:1px solid #ccc;"> Maintenance 1:1s are the primary opportunity to coach an organizer in depth. See the [[Building Relationships]] section for more information on what these are, how frequently they are practiced, and why. </div>