Introduction to Coaching
Welcome to our reference area. This is designed to help you understand more about coaching, how we work, setting your goals and help to assess whether coaching is right for you at this time.
What is coaching?
Coaching is a type of learning in which a coach and a “coachee” work together to address a wide variety of topics. All forms of coaching have in common the coachee’s desire to change or move forward in a certain direction.
Coaching is a form of non-directive learning. You retain responsibility for your learning and actions and are not told what to do by your coach. Your coach may provide you with advice, information and guidance but will not otherwise act for you; if they did the coach would be taking responsibility – and therefore control and power – away from you. The coach’s role is to help you establish your own direction and achieve your goals. Therefore it is important that you take an active, fully participative role in the coaching programme.
Our coaching programmes broadly focus on areas of executive, leadership, career, and personal development. Your coaching programme may be sponsored through your organisation or you may be here on a private client basis. There are slight differences in how we address these different areas which we have outlined below.
Benefits of coaching
A skilled coach uses a combination of observation, questioning, listening and feedback to create a conversation rich in insight and learning. You should expect to experience a focus and level of attention that enables you to develop a greater awareness and appreciation of your own circumstances. The coach intends to structure a conversation to benefit you in order to facilitate your achievement of your goals and objectives. These conversations can happen in many different ways, using different coaching approaches and styles.
In addition to helping you to achieve you goals, all of our coaching programmes aim to help you to understand yourself better and be able to apply self-coaching skills to future situations and challenges. You will also learn new ways to resolve issues, produce better results and generally achieve your goals more easily.
Common goals people achieve from coaching include:
Increased knowledge of self/self-awareness
Improved ability to relate to and influence others
Enhanced performance and confidence
Improved sense of direction and focus
Increased motivation
Improved personal effectiveness
Increased resilience and ability to handle change
Coaching is not...
Training
Therapy
A way of having someone else fix your problems or achieve your goals for you
How does it work?
We will need to be sure that you are ready to make the commitment that coaching requires and that it is the right approach for you at this time. To take the first step to this we invite you to consider a short series of questions:
Our coaching programmes begin with a clear understanding of your current situation and what you are trying to achieve - in other words, the changes you are looking to make and the outcome(s) you are seeking. These become the coaching goals which form the focus for our work together. Your coach will help you to define these. If you are an organisational client your sponsor (e.g. line manager or HR manager) may provide some input into these goals. We'll also define with you some clear measures so that we can be sure we are making the right progress and are on track as we go.
You are invited to speak with and then select the coach you feel you would work best with. Your coach will work with you on a confidential basis throughout the programme.
To help you:
Selecting the Right Coach for You
Sessions
Coaching sessions vary in length usually from one to two hours depending upon the programme, but are usually ninety minutes long. They may be held in person at your premises or via Zoom, Teams or telephone. The frequency of meetings will be agreed with you at the start of the programme but are generally held every 3-4 weeks. Your programme may consist of anything from 4 to 10+ coaching sessions, with most comprised of 6 sessions.
Your coach will have his or her own style and approach which they will tell you about. They will also discuss with you:
Confidentiality and note taking
How reviews and any feedback will be handled
Assignments and action plans
How you like to learn
Any concerns or issues you may have
What you can expect from your coach
Your coach will be focused on helping you to achieve your goals and will listen closely to you to understand who you are, what you think and what is important to you. The coach will provide both an objective detachment and commitment to you in challenging your thinking, reflecting back to you, encouraging you to overcome obstacles and get into action.
Your coach will arrive at scheduled meetings on time and having prepared appropriately. He or she will treat you with respect and will behave at all times in a professional and ethical manner.
A good coaching relationship is based upon trust, honesty, openness and transparency between coach and coachee.
What your coach will expect from you
The coaching relationship is an equal partnership which carries responsibilities for both coach and coachee. Your coach will expect to receive your commitment to the coaching process such that you keep appointments and arrive on time, take notes where appropriate, and ensure that you prepare for sessions and keep to any action or other agreements you make during sessions.
Within sessions you should be willing to contribute to the conversation openly and honestly. If something isn’t working for you, or you have problems or concerns, your coach will need to know.
Finally...
It is important to be aware that if you are coming to coaching for help with issues or difficulties you will need to give the programme time to achieve the benefits you are seeking. By focusing on problems and drawing your attention to them or raising your awareness of them, it can sometimes initially seem that coaching feels difficult. This is a result of the focus you are now placing on your situation or behaviour. So, do be aware that initially you might find coaching a little stressful. If you do, be sure to speak to your coach about it so that she or he can help you.