Just like an athlete uses a coach to improve their athletic skills and win games, a leader uses a coach to improve their leadership skills and have a successful and satisfying career. A coach is NOT a teacher giving you the answers from the textbook. Instead, your coach guides you through the process of solving problems and finding answers. They serve as an objective outsider offering a fresh, unbiased perspective.
A coach can help at any point in your career. Some people work with a coach for years, because they like having someone to bounce ideas off of who doesn’t work in the company. Others use a coach for a short period, maybe while dealing with a particular challenge or planning a career transition.
Some of the most common times when people reach out to a coach include:
– Dealing with a period of great uncertainty
– Taking on a major project
– Topping up their skills so they can stand out in an uncertain employment environment
– Responding to a change in the company, such as a merger or restructuring
– Stepping into a new role, either through a promotion or moving to a new company
– Trying to decide where their career should go next
It can help you deal with such day-to-day challenges as managing a difficult employee, working with cross-functional teams, or even dealing with your own boss. Next, it can help you develop qualities for the long-term, like communication, problem solving, assertiveness, strategic thinking, and more. Finally, coaching can help you figure out where you want your career to go, and what it’s going to take to get you to the next step. For many people, the biggest benefit is increased self-confidence, which allows them to go on and do great things.
You will find that you do most of the talking! We focus on helping you figure things out, rather than figuring them out for you. Our experience has been that the client usually talks about 70% of the time, the coach only 30% (and a lot of that 30% will be questions!).
We start your coaching program with an extra meeting that we call the “Ignition Session,” in which we work with you to figure out your goals for coaching and set some clear expectations. (By the way, when you renew your coaching plan, we start your renewal with another “Ignition Session” to define where you are now and how your goals might change.) We like to start each coaching session by figuring out your objectives and key interest items for that meeting, and then work toward them. Something we notice, however, is that very often we’ll be talking about a subject and that will spark another conversation about another topic we hadn’t even considered; very often, that becomes the highlight of that day’s talk. So, let’s set some expectations, but realize we may do more than we set out to do!
Absolutely! We want you to see your progress. You may not notice small changes as you go along day-to-day, but they become much more obvious when you track them over the long-term.
Many coaching firms quote a fixed hourly price on their website, but we would rather tailor your program to meet your needs. What you pay depends on such things as your goals, how many sessions you want to plan for, and how much support you might expect between sessions. For corporate clients we also consider how many people you are enrolling in coaching. An important thing to remember is that, when you pay for coaching, you’re making an investment in yourself, so think about the impact this is likely to have on your performance and your career. Coaching should fit your needs, and also fit your budget.
Most of our coaching is done via video call. It helps a lot to see facial expressions and body language! We typically recommend desktop apps such as Zoom, WebEx, Skype, or WeChat. We can also use WhatsApp, FaceTime, and other apps. When circumstances permit, in-person coaching is also available, whether at our office or at yours.
We provide a money-back guarantee if this doesn’t seem right for you. If, after the Ignition Session and your first coaching session, you feel this is not the right development opportunity for you, we will refund 100% of your fee.
You can email us for more information. We would be happy to set up a call and talk with you about your plans and how coaching could support them.
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