Frequently Asked Questions about Coaching
What is coaching?
Coaching is a decade old technology of personal and professional development based on concepts from sports, business, spirituality, psychology and organizational development. It's for passionate people who want more from their personal and business lives. A coach helps them set larger, more rewarding goals, develop a strategy to achieve them and provide support throughout the process. It's not unlike having a personal trainer or an athletic coach... transformational, but in a business and personal sense. The achievement of goals is something that comes more quickly as a result of the coaching partnership.
Why does coaching work?
Coaching works when there are two factors present: 1) The client is willing to grow, and 2) There is a gap between where they are now and where they want to be. Successful coaching clients know the value of sharing ideas with someone who understands them and is subjective enough to want a lot for them, yet objective enough not to be biased or self-serving. Talking about options with someone who can listen, is often enough to have it all become very clear. Coaching works because of three unique features. SYNERGY: Client and coach become a team, focusing on the client's goals and needs and accomplishing more than the client would alone. STRUCTURE: With a coach, the client takes more actions, thinks bigger and gets the job done, thanks to the accountability the coach provides. EXPERTISE: The coach knows how to help business people make better decisions, set the best goals, develop new skills for communicating and restructure their professional and personal lives for maximum productivity.
Where do you start with a coach?
Most coaches begin with a special client meeting or call to get to know each other or complete and debrief an assessment of some kind. The coach wants to hear about the client's goals, needs, and problems. The client wants to get comfortable with the coach. During this meeting, both parties design a list of goals and a game plan to reach these goals.
How do the coaching sessions work?
Coaching is done over the phone or in person. In addition to allowing frequent, regular contact, having these two options makes it easy to stay in the "coaching relationship", since the client can call from their office, home or hotel if necessary. The person coached completes a coaching call strategy form prior to each session, describing the current challenges and the progress they've made since the last session. Most people are coached in three or four sessions per month of 30 - 45 minutes each.
The focus of the session is determined by the client. The coach helps them to solve the problems and make the most of the opportunities. When they are missing a principle or distinction, we draw one so they can see a whole lot better. When they are taking on a large goal, we help them design and project and provide the support and structure needed to make sure it gets done. We bring out the client's best by expecting a lot, helping them strategize, celebrating the wins, and sometimes offering best practices, perspective or educating the client with information to help the client decide and achieve. There is often "fieldwork", where the client is given a formula, new perspective or a challenge to try something in a new way. That forms the basis for the next session.
What happens when you begin a contract with a coach?
You take yourself and what you want more seriously.
You take more effective and focused actions immediately.
You stop putting up with stuff that gets in your way.
You create momentum to achieve more, be more balanced and develop more powerful management skills.
You set personal goals that are clear and meet your needs.
You identify and eliminate the barriers that get in the way of the achievement of goals.
You communicate about what you need and want from others in a more responsible way.
How can a Manager/Executive use a coach?
Coaching creates an environment where there is freedom from judgment and freedom from expectations that the executive behave according to typical corporate mandates. In this environment it is safe to question, to appear vulnerable, to observe, to explore, to experiment, to learn and change. That allows the executive to use the coach...
To reach high targets and quotas. Accomplishing this consistently requires a manager who also coaches a team to work together to reach extraordinary goals.
For business planning, budgeting and goal-setting.
To integrate business and personal life for balance.
To prioritize actions and projects.
For training, developing and managing staff.
To turn around a difficult situation.
To handle business or personal problems.