Coaching works when there are two factors present: 1) The client is willing to grow, and 2) There is a gap between where they are now and where they want to be.

Successful coaching clients know the value of sharing ideas with someone who understands them and is subjective enough not to want a lot for them, yet objective enough not to be biased or self-serving. Talking about options with someone who can listen, is often enough to have it all become very clear.

Coaching works because of three unique features:

SYNERGY: Client and coach become a team, focusing on the client’s goals and needs and accomplishing more than the client would alone.

STRUCTURE: With a coach, the client takes more actions, thinks bigger and gets the job done, thanks to the accountability the coach provides.

EXPERTISE: The coach knows how to help business people make better decisions, set the best goals, develop new skills for communicating and restructure their professional and personal lives for maximum productivity.

Most coaches begin with a special client meeting or call to get to know each other. The coach wants to hear about the client’s goals, needs, and problems. The client wants to get comfortable with the coach.  In my practice I call this meeting The Discovery Session. During this thirty minute call, my clients and I get to know each other and we design a list of goals and a game plan to reach these goals.

Coaching is usually done over the phone or online using a link the coach provides via Zoom. In addition to allowing frequent, regular contact, it makes it easy to stay in the “coaching relationship”, since the client can call or go online from their office, home, car or hotel. The person coached completes a coaching call strategy form prior to each call, describing the current challenges and the progress they’ve made since the last call. Most people have two or three sessions a month, and the sessions are usually 45 to 60 minutes long.

The focus of the call is determined by the client. The coach helps the client solve the problems and make the most of the opportunities. When the client is missing a principle or distinction, we draw one so he/she can see a whole lot better. When the client is taking on a large goal, we help he/she design and project and provide the support and structure needed to make sure it gets done. We bring out our clients’ best by offering advice, expecting a lot, helping them strategize and celebrating the wins. There is often “fieldwork”, where the client is given a formula, new perspective or a challenge to try something in a new way. That forms the basis of the next call.

You take yourself and what you want more seriously.

You take more effective and focused actions immediately.

You stop putting up with stuff that gets in your way.

You create momentum to achieve more, be more balanced and develop more powerful management skills.

You set personal goals that are clear and meet your needs.

You identify and eliminate the barriers that get in the way of the achievement of goals.

You communicate about what you need and want from others in a more responsible way.

Coaching creates an environment where there is freedom from judgement and freedom from expectations that the client (manager/executive) behaves according to typical corporate mandates. In this environment it is safe to question, to appear vulnerable, to observe, to explore, experiment, to learn and change. That allows the executive to use the coach:

…To reach high targets and quotas. Accomplishing this consistently requires a manager who also coaches a team to work together to reach extraordinary goals.
… For business planning, budgeting and goal-setting.
… To integrate business and personal life for balance.
… To prioritize actions and projects.
… For training, developing and managing staff.
… To turn around a difficult situation.
… To handle business or personal problems.