What is a Coach?

Coaching can be particularly effective in times of change e.g.promotions, assignments, and other new challenges for individuals and groups in any level within an organisation.
It is important to make it clear that coaching although can be often mistaken for consulting or mentoring it is neither, coaching can be seen as “a process that enables learning and development to occur and thus performance to improve” Eric Parsloe, The Manager as Coach and Mentor (1999).
The CEO of Google Eric Schmidt sees the value of coaching. What is a coach to you?