Frequently Asked Questions

What is coaching? . . .

The International Coaching Federation (ICF), the world’s largest organisation of professionally trained coaches, defines coaching as "partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximise their personal and professional potential.”

So what does that mean in practice?

Professional coaching is essentially a powerful, conversation-based approach that supports you to develop the capacities required to sustainably cope with your challenges in new, more effective ways. It focuses on setting goals and creating outcomes. In short, coaching helps you change.

Sometimes it’s helpful to understand coaching by distinguishing it from other personal or organisational support professions.

Therapy: Therapy deals with healing pain, dysfunction and conflict within an individual or in relationships. The focus is often on resolving difficulties arising from the past that hamper an individual’s emotional functioning in the present, improving overall psychological functioning, and dealing with the present in more emotionally healthy ways. Coaching, on the other hand, supports personal and professional growth based on self-initiated change in pursuit of specific actionable outcomes. These outcomes are linked to personal or professional success. Coaching is future-focused. While positive feelings/emotions may be a natural outcome of coaching, the primary focus is on creating actionable strategies for achieving specific goals in one’s work or personal life. The emphases in a coaching relationship are on action, accountability, and follow-through.

Consulting: Individuals or organisations retain consultants for their expertise. While consulting approaches vary widely, the assumption is the consultant will diagnose problems, prescribe and, sometimes, implement solutions. With coaching, the assumption is that individuals or teams are capable of generating their own solutions, with the coach supplying supportive, discovery-based approaches and frameworks.

Mentoring: A mentor is an expert who provides wisdom and guidance based on her or his own experience. Mentoring often includes advising. The coaching process typically involves the coach asking more questions than providing advice as the former has been scientifically shown to support sustainable personal change while the latter can foster dependence.

Training: Training programs are based on objectives set out by the trainer or instructor. Though objectives are clarified in the coaching process, they are set by the individual or team being coached, with guidance provided by the coach. Training also assumes a linear learning path that coincides with an established curriculum. Coaching is less linear without a set curriculum.

What could I use these coaching sessions for? . . .

In coaching, you can talk about anything that is useful and important to you. You are welcome to schedule a single session, or a series of sessions, to support yourself and your development.

Professional coaching is a future-focused conversation with an emphasis on setting goals, creating outcomes and managing personal change. So…what change would you like to create for yourself?

While this list is certainly not exhaustive, here are some examples of things you might choose to focus on during your coaching sessions:

• changing how you feel or behave in particular situations

• working out a strategy for achieving your career goals

• coming up with ideas for better integrating your work and life commitments

• improving your relationships or preparing for difficult conversations

• reflecting on how you can step up as a leader

• opening your horizons and creating new possibilities

• managing your personal reputation (or brand) and that of your team

• focussing your energy

• overcoming obstacles and coping with setbacks

• challenging your thinking

• making better choices and decisions

• aligning what you value with what you do.

Whatever you decide to focus on, your coach will ask you questions and serve as a sounding board and thought-partner, creating a safe, confidential space where you can be completely open and hear yourself think. No matter where you are in your thought process, it's ok. You and your coach will start there and you can trust you will not be judged.

Where does the coaching take place? . . .

The coaching sessions are delivered online/virtually via Microsoft Teams video conferencing so that you can attend from wherever you are. You'll get the link to your virtual meeting room in the confermation email you recieve after scheduling your session.

Which coach should I pick? . . .

You are welcome to schedule your coaching sessions with any of the coaches. You can get a sense of their different personalities, backgrounds, and qualifications on the Meet Your Coaches page and their availabilities are listed in the online calendar on the Book Your Session page.

What should I do to prepare for my coaching session? . . .

Here are our top tips for getting the most out of your coaching sessions:

• come prepared to your sessions with things to talk about (a topic to focus on, reflections, updates on experiments you've tried, etc)

• bring along a notebook and pen so you can take notes

• be open to being challenged and stretched (yes, sometimes the coaching will require you to lean into discomfort so you can grow)

• be honest (what you hide away we can't work on and improve)

• be willing to do the work and take responsibility for your outcomes (your coach can't walk your path for you)

• bring the courage to experiment and try new things (rather than assuming you already know how things will turn out)

• be resilient and refuse to make excuses (sometimes life just doesn't go the way we want it to)

• ensure you're in a distraction-free environment during your sessions so you can focus (yes, that includes turning off your mobile device if possible!)

• make sure you have a high-speed internet connection that can support video when you're meeting your coach online

• commit to being on time for each session and playing full out.

What are the benefits of coaching? . . .

There is ample evidence that coaching delivered by qualified, professional coaches provides many personal and business benefits.

For example, the ICF Global Coaching Client Study shows most coaching clients reported improved work performance, better business management, more efficient time management, increased team effectiveness, and more growth and opportunities. The same study found that coaching clients noted greater self-confidence, enhanced relationships, more effective communications skills, better work-and-life balance and an improvement in wellness.

Coaching has also been shown to contribute to creating a mentally healthy workplace, helping people develop authentic leadership practices, and creating ripple effects that positively increase wellbeing across organisational networks.