About Coaching
What is coaching and how does it work?
The International Coach Federation defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”
A coaching session will challenge you to think about your leadership of yourself and others. We will explore what you want to achieve, what will help you, and what might get in the way.
Coaching will then support you to design a way of making progress towards your goals. You will have actions, challenges or inquiries to work on in the intervening time between sessions.
Coaching is not therapy, counselling, advice or consultancy and is not offered as such.
It uses powerful techniques and approaches designed to forward and enhance long lasting personal and professional development.
Why use a coach?
My clients find coaching useful for a number of reasons, from simply having an opportunity to plan and their goals and leadership strategy, to specific issues that may include:
Setting strategic priorities for themselves, their team or their organisation
Developing specific leadership and management skills
Career management and planning
Preparing for a promotion or interview
Overcoming self-doubt and confidence issues
Dealing with difficult situations or relationships
Managing workload and being resilient
Leading organisational or cultural change
What to expect from the coaching sessions
After an initial (free) consultation, we will typically, arrange between 3 and 6 sessions, depending on your goals. We will then review and agree the next steps: either continuing or closing the coaching relationship.
The sessions will usually last around 90 minutes and take place every 3-4 weeks in a mutually convenient location, or via video conference.
In the first session we may do some general goal setting for yourself and for the coaching, as well as taking stock of where you are now. We may then choose to focus on a specific topic at each session, or to adopt a flexible approach where you decide what is most important for us to consider at each session.
Between sessions you will undertake some ‘homework’. This will always be something that you have agreed to do and that will help you to make progress. It could be anything from having a conversation with a colleague to keeping a reflective journal, to practising a new behaviour or thinking habit.
I may also suggest some further reading or leadership and management models that may help you to make progress with your goals.