Coaching Is Not Therapy Or Advice: How Does It Really Help?

Every day we ask others countless questions: How are you? What are you up to? How’s your mood? But how often do we ask those same questions to ourselves?

Caught up in responsibilities, daily tasks, and the constant rush of life, we often find ourselves on autopilot. There’s barely time to pause and truly check in with ourselves: How am I doing right now?

I, too, lived on autopilot—until coaching entered my life.

My first encounter with coaching happened during the “Coachlike” Adler training. That experience lit a spark in me, and I knew I wanted to go further. I continued my journey at Erickson International University of Coaching, and it was impossible to go through that experience unchanged. What fascinates me most about coaching is how something as simple as asking the right questions can lead us to our core values, true desires, and the ability to reach our goals with greater ease. It helps us reframe limiting beliefs and take real action.

A quick bit of background: the word coaching comes from the English word “coach,” meaning to guide, to train, to inspire. But often, the modern use of “coaching” doesn’t fully capture what it really is. In its essence, coaching is a professional partnership that supports individuals in creating and realizing meaningful changes—whether in their personal or professional lives.

Coaching has its roots in tennis. Timothy Gallwey, a Harvard instructor and tennis expert, wrote the groundbreaking book The Inner Game of Tennis. After its release, the Vice President of Business Marketing at AT&T approached Gallwey to bring this method into their company. The impact was powerful and soon coaching moved from sports into the world of business, and eventually into everyday life.

Today, companies like Apple, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Google, and IBM actively use coaching. Microsoft, for instance, implemented a coaching-based management style and the “Growth Mindset” concept—with incredible results:

• The company’s market value grew fivefold, reaching $3 trillion.

• A nurturing environment was created, where employees could experiment and learn from mistakes.

• Internal coaching programs for managers boosted their performance by 138%.

• Azure’s cloud success was made possible by this new experimental culture focused on user needs.

• Products like Office 365 and Microsoft Teams saw major improvements.

Stories like this inspire me deeply—seeing companies care for their people’s growth and mental well-being while achieving extraordinary results. It makes me want to support individuals and businesses in reaching their goals, dreams, and balance—because each of us brings unique value to the world.

We live in a fast-paced, ever-changing world where uncertainty is a constant. That’s exactly why we need inner grounding, self-care, and mental resilience. And what a gift it is to have a method that can support all that—quickly and effectively. That method is coaching.

So let’s do a quick self-check. Take a deep breath in… and out. Ask yourself gently:

How am I right now? What do I feel? What does my body need at this moment?

Zarina Atabayeva

Zarina Atabayeva joined the Borusan Cat Kazakhstan family in 2017 as a recruiter. Later, she transitioned into the role of Training and Development Administrator. Today, she serves as the Learning & Development Coordinator.

In addition to her professional background in recruitment, Zarina has a wide range of personal interests. She enjoys psychology, reading, painting, theater, visual arts, and voice acting.