How Professional Coaching Can Boost Your Career: 6 Key Elements from Skillsoft's Experts

Once reserved for top executives, professional coaching is now more democratized, accessible, and affordable, reaching employees at all levels. This evolution has made coaching a vital investment with proven impact and value. 

By emphasizing confidentiality, preparing for manager calls, and leveraging AI as a complement to human interaction, organizations can create a robust coaching ecosystem that supports continuous learning and development. 

However, coaching programs are most effective when the coach and the person they’re coaching build trust and set clear, achievable goals. To get the most of professional coaching engagements, keep reading to learn about six best practices suggested by Skillsoft’s 400+ experienced coaches.  

What is Professional Coaching? 

Professional coaching is a collaborative partnership between a coach and the person they coach, or a coachee. The purpose of the engagement is to foster personal and professional growth.  

A coach is not always a mentor, a consultant, or a therapist, but rather a facilitator who helps others discover their own strengths, values, and goals. Coaching can help improve performance, enhance skills, overcome challenges, and achieve goals. 

The benefits of professional coaching are: 

• It helps uncover hidden potential and unleash creativity by challenging assumptions and limiting beliefs. 

• It enhances self-awareness and emotional intelligence by providing feedback and reflection on strengths, areas for improvement, and blind spots. 

• It boosts confidence and motivation by fostering a growth mindset and a positive attitude toward learning and change. 

• It improves communication and interpersonal skills by developing active listening, empathy, assertiveness, and conflict management abilities. 

• It supports career advancement and transition by clarifying goals, identifying opportunities, and creating action plans.

A successful professional coaching engagement relies on clear goals, a strong coach-client relationship, and effective communication. Establishing trust and rapport fosters open dialogue, while setting specific, measurable objectives guides the process. Both parties must be committed, with the client taking responsibility and the coach providing accountability.  

Follow the best practices below to get the most of professional coaching:  

Barbara Visser: "Building trust is so important throughout the coaching relationship, and it starts from the very first meeting. In initial conversations, introduce yourself and share something personal to create a rapport. Emphasize that the coaching space is confidential and dedicated to the coachee’s growth. This trust-building helps create a safe environment for vulnerable and honest discussions." 

Jason Schreuder: "The first session is a 'chemistry session' to ensure both parties are comfortable and aligned on the program's goals. Confidentiality is paramount; everything discussed remains between the coach and the coachee. This creates a secure environment that allows the coachee to be open and vulnerable." 

Skillsoft's platform offers a selection of coaches to ensure a good match, with a coach match success rate of 98%, meaning that of coaches selected, 98% of coachees stay with the one they selected. This choice and careful matching help in building credibility and trust right from the start. 

Marnie Ewing: "Three-way calls with managers are crucial for aligning focus areas and goals and are a unique capability with the Skillsoft Coaching platform. These calls are most effective when managers come prepared with specific feedback and examples, creating clarity on what the client is working on and what support looks like." 

Jason Schreuder: "These three-way calls reinforce the idea of an extended support ecosystem for the coachee. They ensure that the great work done in coaching is integrated into the coachee's professional development plan with their manager." 

Ivan Queiroz: "The manager's involvement in these calls is essential for reinforcing the progress made during coaching sessions. It helps in setting clear expectations and provides a structure for ongoing support, ensuring that coaching is not an isolated activity but a part of the overall development strategy."

Marnie Ewing: "AI is becoming a significant trend in coaching, offering automated messaging, session recaps, and resource recommendations. However, the human element of coaching remains irreplaceable, and AI should complement, not replace, the coaching conversation." 

Skillsoft Coaching offers personalized coaching with tailored engagements, combining top-tier content, human and AI-aided coaching, and transformative technology for lasting outcomes. Our interactive AI Coaching Guide helps learners create development plans and will soon provide customized resource recommendations. Additionally, learners can use the CAISY™ AI Conversation Simulator to practice leadership scenarios and receive instant feedback and tips from the AI Coach. 

Jason Schreuder: "Encourage coachees to come prepared with topics. This preparation ensures that each session is productive and focused on the coachee's immediate needs and challenges."

Barbara Visser: "Normalize coaching within the organizational culture. Encourage employees to take time for coaching and bring up challenging topics. This integration helps in making coaching a valuable and accepted part of professional development." 

Skillsoft Coaching features 360 Assessments from managers and peers to help guide self-reflection and development. The AI Coaching Guide assists in crafting a development plan, while access to the Skillsoft leadership development program on Percipio brings additional options to learners to set and track personal learning goals.  

Ivan Queiroz: "Short-term, targeted coaching can be highly effective if there is a clear focus. It is crucial to set specific, measurable goals and ensure that both the coach and coachee are aligned on these objectives. This approach allows for concentrated effort and tangible outcomes in a shorter period." 

Barbara Visser: "On-demand coaching for specific situations like hard conversations or promotions can be incredibly valuable. However, it's essential that the infrastructure is there to support awareness and uptake of these opportunities." 

Marnie Ewing: "For short-term coaching to be effective, clear expectations must be set. The focus should be on achievable goals within the condensed timeframe, and sustained behavior change might require additional long-term support." 

Skillsoft offers a range of Coaching options from shorter-term to multi-year with features such as unlimited coaching sessions, ensuring flexibility and adaptability to meet various organizational needs. 

Marnie Ewing: "Help coachees prioritize their coaching sessions. Busy executives need to understand that this time is an investment in their personal and professional growth." 

Skillsoft Coaching platform nourishes ongoing engagement with the coach. Goals for meetings can be set, plus there are tools such as the new AI Coaching Guide that help learners develop their coaching goals, a proven element of a successful coaching engagement. 

By focusing on these key elements — trust, manager involvement, AI, clear goals, targeted coaching, and continuous engagement — organizations can create a successful coaching program that drives meaningful development and sustained behaviorial change. 

Skillsoft's experienced coaches and robust platform are well-equipped to support these professional coaching engagements. Explore how Skillsoft Coaching can transform your organization's learning and development strategy today. 

Access our guide on building future-fit leaders through professional coaching: