What is coaching?

How does it work, what happens in a coaching session and what does it give me?

Hand on heart, coaching has been the single most game changing personal development I’ve had the privilege of experiencing. After all, that’s how I came to be here and it’s why I’m so unbelievably passionate about what I do!

The premise of coaching, to which I am fully committed, is that every one of us has the answers we are looking for within us. Sometimes, though, we all need a light shining in an area that may have been overlooked, or an area we might be avoiding. It’s these moments that, through the coaching partnership, will become your Pivotal Moments.

So, let’s break it down…

“Coaching is unlocking people’s potential to maximise their performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them”.
Sir John Whitmore

In real terms, coaching is:

an equal partnership between the coach and the coachee
a shared space to explore the challenges, obstacles and niggles
a powerful self-reflection and personal development tool
protected time just for you
a confidential, safe space to explore those things on your mind
an opportunity to delve deeper into your consciousness to find solutions
a way to understand yourself more than ever before
a mixture of deep conversation, powerful questions and practical exercises
outcome and action focused: what are YOU going to choose to do to take things forwards?
an appropriate blend of support and challenge
bespoke- tailored specifically to you

How does coaching work in practical terms?

Generally, 1:1 coaching is held remotely over zoom. This means that no matter where you are in the world, we can still have our coaching conversations, at a time and a place to suit you. It means you can be at home, in a meeting room or out in the fresh air for a walk- this is about making sure you feel as comfortable as you can to explore the deeper self-reflection that coaching enables. There’s nothing worse, after all, than sitting in a open plan office, not being able to be open and honest (with yourself, never mind me!)

To kick off the coaching experience, I invite you to a 30min complimentary discovery call. There are so many reasons why this is important:

It’s your opportunity to meet me and see if you click with me- a personal 1:1 connection is crucial in a coaching relationship. It’s important you feel comfortable with your coach and that you can relate to them. Whoever you choose to be your coach, please make sure you have that connection, otherwise the results you achieve could be impacted.
It’s your opportunity to understand more about what coaching is all about- how does it work, how often do we meet, what do you need to prepare etc. I’m sure you’ll have loads of questions, so this is a great time to work through those so you can embark on your coaching programme comfortably and confidently.
It’s my chance to get to know you a bit more- what is it that made you think coaching could be something that would be useful for you? What are you hoping to achieve? What’s going on in your world that might help me to understand you better. This is all about me getting into your world as best I can to ensure we maximise the results that you’ll see and feel.
Based on all the above, we’ll then discuss what coaching programme would be best suited to your needs and discuss how practically that would work- how often we’d meet, how many hours of coaching I would recommend, how long each coaching session will be, when in the week it would suit you best to be coached etc.
Its then up to you- its your call if you feel that you’d like to take things forwards together. It might be that you’re raring to go and can’t wait to get started. It might also be that you need some time to reflect, or that right now isn’t the time for you to be able to commit to the programme. Whatever your decision, there’s no pressure from me. At the end of the day, this is all about YOU and it’ll be right for you, when you’re ready.

Depending on the coaching programme you choose, various things can happen next. If you’ve chosen to undertake a Coaching Sprint, working on 1-2 personal development areas, we’ll likely get the agreed number of 60min conversations booked in the diary and get cracking!

If, on the other hand, you’ve chosen a more intensive Leadership Coaching Programme, I’ll ask you to complete a self-diagnostic tool in the form of a pre-coaching questionnaire which will kick start your coaching and self-reflection journey. We’ll use this tool in our first coaching conversation and set some clear, meaningful goals that you want to work towards.

This is where we make a plan that is bespoke for you, tailored for your needs and in service of your goals. There’s no formula or prescription- we can take the conversation wherever you need it to go.

What happens in a coaching session?

Depending on your needs and preferences, coaching conversations can be 60 or 90mins long. We’ll align on what works best for you as part of our discovery call and diarise them ahead of time.

To kick off the conversation, you’ll sign in using the zoom link I’ll have provided. I’ll normally then ask you to check in to the session by asking you a few different questions: how are you feeling today, what do you need to park at the door so you can be present in our conversation?

We’ll then explore the themes you want to cover, and this can be wide-reaching, and often depends on the day and where you’re at. It could be:

A specific topic in service of your goals
A situation that has arisen that you want to unpack
A reflection on the learnings that you’ve taken from previous conversations and applied in the real world

To do this, we’ll use different techniques- it could be questions, it could be personal reflection, it could be tasks or exercises. It will all depend on you, in that moment and what serves you best. This is where I’ll meet you where you need me- there is no set formula or timetable.

At the end of each conversation, we’ll check out. I’ll ask you to consider: what have you taken away from today’s conversation? What a-ha moments have you had? What are you going to do moving forwards? What is your first next step? This will empower you to take your learnings forwards and reap the rewards!

I get the process now, but what does coaching give me?

As with any personal development tool, coaching is relatively intangible (there’s no grade or report), but the outcomes you will achieve will be felt widely by you (most importantly) and those around you.

The investment in yourself will:

Help you understand yourself on a deeper level and enhance your self awareness, including any blind spots
Help you know what makes you tick, what values you hold and what is important to you
Help you to articulate your needs (professionally and personally) in a productive way, to support you to deliver your goals
Help you understand why you react to situations and relationships in a certain way
Support you to prepare techniques that work for you to approach situations and relationships in a more productive way
Uncover your self-limiting beliefs that are holding you back from achieving your goals
Help you create a plan to overcome your self-limiting beliefs and imposter syndrome
Build your confidence
Accelerate your strengths and help you to appreciate & communicate your capabilities
Enhance your emotional intelligence, benefiting you as an individual and your teams as a leader
Provide you with a broader perspective
Build your impact as a leader
Have a positive impact on you and those around you (professionally and personally)

If you’re interested to hear how other people have found coaching, check out my Instagram page for feedback and testimonials. Its powerful stuff!

I hope that helps answer some of the questions you may have about what coaching is, how it works and what it might give you. As always, get in touch if you want to know any more- I’d love to hear from you!

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