What is coaching?

What is coaching

• Focussing a person to ensure they maximise their potential and meet new challenges
• an effective tool for helping people work together, or manage others across geographical, cultural or demographic boundaries
• helping others in their intentional change process (Boyatzis)
• a valuable aid to executives who are leading significant organisational change
• extending potential through self-awareness
• executives need to keep ahead in their specialism as well as in broader principles - these broader principles usually come second
• ...it's lonely at the top: the higher you go, the less likely you are to seek or receive honest feedback.

Contexts for coaching 

Coaching can lead to beneficial outcomes in a number of situations, including: -

• Performance
• Skills development
• Moving from management to leadership 
• Implementing change
• Life-work balance
• Change in role
• Career development
• Other agenda?

The coaching process ...  

Coaching contract 

• Professional standards - we comply with the EMCC Code of Ethics
• Client retains responsibility for learning and development
• Coach will only enable that learning and development
• Results depend on client undertaking agreed action
• Open and honest with each other, sometimes challenging, never directive
• Agreement of meeting times
• Duration, frequency
• Telephone, e-mail contact
• If a coach becomes unavailable we will offer a choice of alternatives
• All our coaches are in supervision

All our work is conducted in accordance with the practices and principles endorsed by the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) and we encourage you to check these standards by visiting www.emccouncil.org.  

... transforming potential into sustainable performance

Last updated 5th July 2008