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Leading Coaching
What is Coaching?
Coaching is an interactive process that helps you, your team, and your organisation achieve even greater success. Professional coaches are trained to listen and observe, to customise their approach to your needs, and to elicit strategies and solutions from you. As a coach, I believe that you are naturally creative and resourceful and that my role is to provide support to enhance the skills, resources, and creativity that you already have. While I provide feedback and an objective perspective, you are responsible for taking the steps to produce the results you desire.
Coaching therefore is recognised as a means of realising potential. It can be described as a mirror being held to illuminate both your potential and the possible barriers that prevent its realisation. It is a road map to help you recognise where you are, where you would like to be, and then bridge the gap between the two. Coaching recognises that you have a unique development agenda. Unlike all other development activities it can be entirely tailored to your needs and your agenda. And, coaching is a relationship between us - successful coaching results from an open, supportive relationship in which we agree the coaching plan and process. I therefore do not relate to you from a position of an expert or person of authority.
Together we choose the focus, format, and desired outcomes for your work. You do not relinquish the responsibility for creating and maintaining these nor do I take responsibility for them.
Coaching concentrates primarily on the present and future. Coaching may use information from your past to clarify where you are today. It does not depend on resolution of the past to move you forward. In essence coaching is about leading change – your own.
The benefits
The benefits reported by those I have worked with have included:
clear space to think - away from day-to-day activities a safe and highly confidential environment to explore and support learning and address development needs fresh and objective input from a credible coach – enhancing self-awareness of, for example, leadership and management style, and the impact that these styles have (Did you know there is a direct relationship between self-awareness and success?) clarification and setting of personal, team and organisational goals coaching me through the “how” of achieving goals and overcoming potential barriers identifying specific mindsets and behaviours in need of change - taking more effective and focused actions immediately - making things happen
- creating and sustaining momentum so it is easier to get results
taking my own development seriously - development without having to leave my office!
For the team the benefits have included:
developing a clear sense of direction identifying and optimising the talents within a team setting clear and exciting responsibilities clarifying ways of working together building constructive interpersonal relationships developing recognition systems creating constructive external team relationships
For the organisation the benefits have included:
charting a clear direction with shared vision empowerment through involvement in personal, team and organisational development the development of a culture in which achieving improved performance through empowerment becomes the norm a means by which the organisation can embrace change increased business performance and productivity
Why engage a Coach?
I am engaged for many specific reasons, but in essence three themes emerge: leading, strategy and change. Leading in the sense of getting extraordinary results from oneself and others that one could not have imagined were possible, strategy in the sense of forward thinking about what is important, and change in the sense that change in some form is often a natural consequence of the process of coaching.
I have been engaged to coach business leaders and senior managers that have had specific development challenges centred on, for example, visioning, developing strategic thinking, developing systemic thinking, leading strategic change, creating impact, influencing teams, leading teams, and decision making.
When is coaching recommended?
When:
development is required that is specific to you and would not be addressed by general skills training support is required over a period of time, say six months the problem is not one that you feel comfortable discussing in a group it is more appropriate for you discuss your development with a specialist external to the company you are unable to attend a training course, or development workshop that might take you away from the office for several days you have tried other approaches without success
What happens in a coaching session?
Coaching is a series of structured interactions between you and I, during which we work together to:
identify your goals, challenges and development needs take responsibility for these needs and consider how best to address them implement an action plan, monitor progress and review goals as necessary
I will work with you to shape the relationship to support:
through self-discovery, the clarification and alignment of your goals the elicitation of self-generated solutions and strategies you taking ownership for the responsibility and accountability for actions that you decide to take
and in so doing you will give me permission to:
listen and contribute observations and ask empowering questions request that you take action hold you accountable for actions that you commit to
How does it work – commitment and logistics?
There is a requirement for a commitment to one, two-hour intake session, and a further five, two-hour coaching sessions. The intake session is for us to design our alliance - an optimal working relationship that forms the basis of the ongoing coaching.
Prior to the intake session we may agree that it would be helpful - and in all cases to-date, it always has been - to complete some assessments. These are a simple, yet powerful way of collecting a great deal of information about you in an optimal fashion.
Coaching sessions are undertaken face-to-face or by telephone or both, with sessions continuing until all coaching hours have been used. However you decide to use your time, the last session will include time for us to take stock of what has happened for you during the coaching sessions, and how you can sustain the learning and change that will have occurred.
Why does it work?
The dynamic relationship between ourselves creates trust, focus and momentum Clearer goals are set - ones that naturally pull you toward your goal rather than goals that require you to push yourself to the goal You develop new mindsets and skills, and these mindsets and skills translate into clear actions
My approach to coaching
I believe coaching is an interactive process that brings you from where you are now, to where you want to go, and a useful framework that I use to frame this is:
Know where you want to go – with an emphasis on present and future not past Know where you are now – with an emphasis on resources not deficits Know what you have to do to get where you want to go – emphasis on action(s) not analysis(es) Do it! – emphasis on progress not what didn’t work
Implicit in this framework is that my philosophy encompasses a blend of: Co-Active Coaching, Depth Coaching, Solutions Focused Coaching, Brief Coaching, Conversational Coaching and NLP Coaching – the main thrust of this blend is working with the future; moving towards your clearly defined solution (well formed outcome); using what’s working and other resources that you bring with you; enrolling others in obtaining the desired outcome through influence and collaboration; creating solutions to complex problems that are simple; and taking action. In sum, my approach is pragmatic and eclectic.
My approach embraces my being present with you to integrate reality with vision, head with heart. You become congruent: your needs from the “inside” align with the needs of the “outside”. And, you continue to become a catalyst for your own meaningful change and transformation.
Next Steps?
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