FAQs
Questions about services?
Here’s your answers!
The term “coaching” is used loosely in many contexts – most commonly in sports, education, and in the management of poor workplace performance.
The professional life, career or executive coaching I offer is different from all those approaches. The International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”
In this context, the client provides the content and goals for sessions as well as the subject matter expertise. The coach facilitates change, growth, insight and learning by asking powerful questions and sharing observations. Unlike a sports coach, the professional coach does not define what winning looks like for the client and they have no vested interest in a specific outcome (other than the client’s overall satisfaction with the service delivery). The client is the expert and the coach is their facilitator for development.
If you have ever watched excellent coaching, it looks easy. The coach shares simple observations and asks straightforward open-ended questions. The coach spends a lot of time listening from a place of curiosity rather than judgement or assumption.
These skills are critical for a client have a successful outcome. They take time, training, practice and attention to develop. The best coaches have completed a certified training program and obtain credentials through the International Coaching Federation – an organization over 25 years old that is dedicated to coaching as a profession with specific standards, ethics and competencies.
Beyond competencies in the coaching process itself, your coach should create a safe and trusted space for the you to think and speak freely. This space and the coach-client relationship is critical to the success of the collaboration. Most coaches offer a free “discovery” session where you can meet and determine mutually if the partnership is the right fit. You will find a link to my scheduling calendar is at the bottom of this page.
You can find coaches with specific certifications listed on websites such as the ICF and Gallup Strengths. Often friends may provide recommendations based on positive experiences. LinkedIn and professional organizations are an additional resource. Whatever coach you chose, its best to understand their training and approach to the process and experience a “free test drive” session before you make a commitment of your time, energy and finances.
All of these approaches are important and necessary at different times in our development. While there is some overlap between these processes, the overarching difference is that with coaching begins with the assumption that the client has all the tools they need to achieve a successful outcome. The client does not need to taught, told or directed – nor do they need someone else to define their goals for them.
Training assumes that the the client is lacking in skills or knowledge and so the client is given specific education and exercises to address that insufficiency.
Mentoring is a hierarchal relationship between two individuals – with the mentor assumed to be the subject matter expert. The mentor is typically in a more senior and perhaps more influential role than the protégé or mentee. In this context, the mentor will often tell the mentee what to do. It is also possible that the mentor may have a specific vision or goal that they have defined for their protégé and will therefore offer advice on what they see as the best course of action.
One more compare and contrast: Coaching is also different from counseling or therapy. Therapy assumes that the client has a problem – defined as a condition or a diagnosis– that needs to be treated or fixed in order for the client to be successful. Coaches assume that their client is fully capable and whole.
In person meetings are not required. My clients hail from New York, New Mexico and places in between. Coaching can easily and conveniently be accomplished via zoom – which is set up automatically at the time you schedule your appointment. For local clients who prefer face to face interactions, I can meet in your office –or you have the option of coaching on location at Pocket Your Change, located just outside of Durham at the beautiful Laughing Stock Farm facility.
Anyone can become a great leader with intention and practice. Becoming a great leader requires commitment to the process of introspection, learning, and stretching out of your comfort zone in order to gain experience.
Interestingly, isolated training or coursework in leadership skills is often ineffective- with research showing that only 10-15% of individuals successfully implement a new skill after training. What makes leadership training “stick” is integration of the new learning through practice and experience, while receiving support and feedback. This is often missing with with courses and workshops. All my trainings include practice and experience time in the workshop and I also offer options for coaching post -training to ensure that the client has the opportunity to troubleshoot the normal implementation challenges that go hand in hand with trying something new. If you already have a course or content that you are studying on your own – I can also tailor an accompanying coaching package that will augment your ability to quickly adopt and apply the learning.
Direct on the job experience can be the single best way to enhance your capabilities as a leader – but not everyone has a supportive boss, mentor or workplace sponsor to tee up opportunities, tolerate the natural mistakes that occur in learning , and provide helpful feedback during the experience. Working with an effective coach when you take on a new position or project can become a game-changer for the client who wants to optimize on the job leadership development opportunities.
All of my initial consult discussions and coaching discovery sessions are free. The link to schedule is below!
In addition to my 1:1 executive packages, I offer reasonably priced group coaching and group workshops. I also offer short term engagements focused solely on Gallups Strengths and talent development. Periodically, I offer discounted rates and special packages and/or pricing – so send me a message (or schedule a discovery session below) and I’ll add you to my newsletter list. You can unsubscribe anytime.
My guarantee is that I am personally committed to providing the best service possible to my clients as they work on personal or professional transformation. See success stories here.
Because coaching, training and consulting are all based on the principle that the client sets the goals and the client is responsible for taking action toward those goals, I can’t guarantee a specific outcome or result. All coaching and consulting clients receive a contract for review prior to any engagement that outlines the separate roles and responsibilities of coach and client in the relationship.
My training program, Transformation Edge and the Business Coach Institute created a wonderful Coaching Readiness Survey. Its a quick and easy tool and I’m happy to discuss your results at our Discovery Session.
Click any link to our meeting or scheduling calendar and you will be taken to my appointment page. Select 60″ Discovery Session (free) and you will be given options to schedule. A zoom will be provided in the appointment links. You can also message me through our Contact page.