What is Coaching?

Coaching is a thought-provoking conversation to help you gain focus in the areas you want to make changes in like increasing your confidence, moving through change smoothly, handling a difficult conversation or conflict, and shifting to your dream career. Basically, I ask you a bunch of questions to get you thinking differently so you can come up with actions to make those changes. Then I help you hold yourself accountable to those actions.

In her book ‘Coaching Skills: a handbook’ (Rogers, J., 2008), Jenny Rogers outlines six key principles:

1. The client has the resources to resolve his or her own problems
2. The coach’s role is to develop the client’s resourcefulness through skillful questioning, challenge and support
3. Coaching addresses the whole person
4. The client sets the agenda
5. The coach and client are equals
6. Coaching is about change and action

What will I Get from Coaching?

• Clarity around various issues and what you want
• Increased confidence
• Strategies to test and see if they work for you to make changes
• New behaviours to “try on” to form new habits
• A clear action plan to take you to your dreams
• Movement toward your dreams and personal/professional goals
• Self-actualization: living true to your authentic self and your potential/life purpose; feeling alive

“The key purpose of any kind of coaching relationship is to develop the potential of the beings who engage in it.”

~David Rock, Coaching with the Brain in Mind

How does it work?

Coaching is about partnering to create positive, meaningful, sustainable change and setting the stage for transformation. Our process together will begin with you identifying your short and long-term coaching goals. Our coaching sessions will address a new or current issue you wish to deal with, formulate a plan toward the realization of your goals, monitor progress toward goal achievement, and review the results achieved between sessions.

In each meeting, you will choose the focus of conversation in alignment with your coaching goals. My role, as your coach, is to listen, observe, ask questions, and provide feedback. I may request specific action between sessions that will be closely related to your goals – always feel free to accept, decline or change it up! This is all about you.

How Can I Make the Most of Coaching?

• Take your dreams seriously – know it can happen
• Be committed to your vision and goals
• Take time to examine what you want/need to determine goals that are truly meaningful to you
• Make a commitment to yourself to complete your action plan each week by experimenting with new strategies, approaches and behaviours
• Reflect each day on how you are moving toward your dreams
• Make your coaching session a priority in your schedule; come prepared with what you want to discuss

Coaching is not…

Our coaching relationship is not counselling, therapy, consulting, mentoring, training, nor athletic coaching. There are many similarities and very key differences. Each role has a specific purpose and I may make referrals to these other fields. Here is how they differ:

Therapy & Counselling:  Therapists and Counsellors help a person to heal past issues. It is psychological, emotional in nature. Much of the therapy time is spent on the issue and what past issues led up to that. Specific tasks and actions may be suggested. During the coaching session, emotions can be very high as well, however, the focus is not on healing these emotions, the focus is on identifying what needs to happen to move past. Very clear action steps are developed.

Consulting:  Consultants are hired to be the expert in a specific task or role and provide the answers. They diagnose problems and prescribe solutions. Coaches do not provide answers as they are not hired to be the expert. They help the coachee draw upon their own expertise to identify problems and create solutions.

Mentoring:  Mentors are experts in their field and offer their knowledge and expertise often in succession planning or professional development toward a specific role. They use their knowledge and experience to guide the outcomes of another. They provide advice and mentoring for a specific outcome. Coaches often do not have the expertise in a specific role or for a specific task. They help the coachee draw upon their own expertise to develop an action plan.

Training:  Trainers depart knowledge so that trainees are able to do a specific task. They develop competence in an area of knowledge. They follow an established curriculum designed to train to a specific body of knowledge or skill. Coaches do not train to a specific task or skill, they can help trainees to combine the knowledge with their own expertise so they can integrate it in the most productive way.

Athletic Coaching:  Athletic Coaches are experts who guide and direct the person being trained to achieve a specific outcome. They focus on correcting poor or incorrect execution of skill. Coaches do not guide or direct, they are honest and provide specific feedback regarding what they may have seen or heard. Coachees determine what they want to do with that feedback and take action where they see fit.

No matter what you want to get from our coaching relationship, I will support you through the process creating an environment that fosters the most transformation for you.

Complimentary Coaching Session

Sign up now for a free coaching session with Adonica Sweet, please contact me directly.