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Personal Coaching

Coaching's popularity in senior corporate echelons has soared in the last decade.

Superior Results
Its profile has been raised by a number of well known sports coaches who championed the idea that superior results can be obtained on executives by using the athletic coaching method of observing, questioning, challenging and motivating rather than instructing.

In business the term 'coaching' has become a catch-all phrase that encompasses counselling, mentoring, career counselling, giving feedback, teaching, advising, and 'one-on-one' training.

The Institute for Business Technology in the UK has been using coaching for seventeen years and uses the term in a specific way.

Coaching vs. Counselling
Probably the first differentiation we make is between coaching and counselling. Counselling, in most instances, focuses on the past to analyse its effects on present attitudes and behaviours. Coaching looks to the future. It is goal oriented in the fullest sense of the word. What result is required? Where are you now, and what changes do you need to make? Whilst we all need to take stock of past events - at least as a rough guide to future scenarios - the focus of coaching is 'where (and how) do we go from here to obtain the desired result?'

The 'result' can be anything. Some frequently sought after results are; interacting better with team members, managing people and relationships better, dealing with difficult people or situations, managing a key result in the boardroom, in a business pitch, changing one's approach in a merger environment or new division, making a personal change for appraisal purposes, changing one's job focus, or changing one's management (or leadership) style.

Coaching vs. Training
We believe that a fast, specific outcome is best achieved by coaching. In most instances, the participant has already received considerable training in technical, professional or managerial expertise. For rapid results, we help the participant to highlight which attitudes, skills, behaviours, past learning, resources and performance strengths will deliver and which ones will not. The adjustments may appear minor from the outside. They can be considered major in terms of producing the result.

Templates
Whilst we do not directly train or advise, we do use a platform of tried and tested concepts from world renown experts as a framework.

The Style and Methodology
The style is interactive and supportive and completely confidential. Once the coaching begins, reports are made by the coach to the commissioning agent only on the time and duration of the sessions, but not their content. (The participant may of course report on the subject matter and results as he or she chooses).

Time is taken in the first session to carefully elicit the required outcome, its nature, the likelihood and the indicators of success. Several avenues of feedback are taken and once the coach and participant are satisfied that due attention is paid to any potential threat the focus becomes - through a series of questions and procedures - making the necessary changes that will deliver the result.

The sessions are flexible and may vary in length from two to four hours at a time, depending on what is required. Usually six sessions will accommodate most needs. (Occasionally the result is produced early and remaining sessions can be held 'in credit' until needed.) The sessions usually take place outside the normal work environment but can be held in situe, in meeting rooms or whatever is convenient and appropriate to the situation. The participant will have tasks and activities to carry out (which can include information gathering, reading of specific material, executing the agreed plan of action etc.) between sessions. They are spaced over weeks and sometimes months to suit the programme and circumstances.

Coaches are selected on the basis of experience and familiarity with the culture, company, industry or presenting situation. Compatibility with the participant is paramount, of course, and the initial interview will decide.

For details of different types of coaching (Value Driver Coaching and Performance Coaching) see 'Keynotes number 1' under 'Articles'.