You might be new to coaching and asking the reasonable question: “So, what’s this all about?” Don’t worry! In this article I take you through the basics of the coaching process and tell you what you can (and should) expect from coaching and your executive coach.

What coaching is (and is not)

You might be somewhat mystified about coaching. Is it like training? Therapy? Something else entirely?

For me, coaching is a unique opportunity to have someone next to you who is both an expert in the science of behaviour change as well as someone with real-world business experience.

Coaching can be seasoned business operators who have studied psychology and related sciences or the other way around. As an example, I started my working life as an academic, lecturing and researching in psychological science. Then, after about six years of that, I decided to enter the business world and became a management consultant and (eventually) an executive manager.

In this time, I was able to get to grips with how the science of human behaviour and well-being can be applied to work and corporate life. I found coaching to be a fantastic nexus of these two disciplines, and have (hopefully!) quite a few clients who will attest to the effectiveness of that merger.

A good way to look at coaching is to take the name, “coaching” seriously. Much like a personal trainer or golf coach, an executive coach is someone who has the necessary expertise to help you change and grow in order to achieve your goals, in this case your career goals. And just like a sports or fitness coach, it helps a great deal if your coach has walked at least part of this journey themselves. Sure, you can probably learn something about fitness from someone who’s never been in a gym, or golf from someone who’s never picked up a club, but it won’t be very enriching nor is it likely to help you get to where you want to go.

That’s why it’s important for me that in finding a coach, you apply the following two questions to that search:

• Does my coach have a coherent, expert theory changing human behaviour and can they apply it to my challenges?
• Does my coach have experience of working in a corporate, business environment, i.e. does my coach talk the talk and walk the walk?

If you can answer “Yes” to the above questions, you’re well on your way to finding the right coach for you!

What to expect from coaching

Now that we’ve covered the basics, the next question to address is what you can expect to get out of coaching (and your coach).

Continuing with the analogy to sports and fitness coaching, executive coaching should flex around your personal goals. Perhaps you’re already pretty fit and in shape, so your need is to push through your current level of performance and enhance your fitness levels. Or, you’re out-of-shape and need a slower, more cautious approach.

Executive coaching is meant to accommodate both extremes and everything in-between. A typical coaching contract will extend for 10 sessions of about an hour’s duration each. But these contact sessions are not the be-all and end-all! If human behaviour was that easy to change, you wouldn’t need any help at all!

Nope, apart from the contact sessions, your coach should be giving you additional tasks, reading, and other actions in order to really get to your goals. Again, imagine that you only ever worked out when you saw a personal trainer and never on your own. Or you went to a golf coach but never went out to play a round! In much the same way, executive coaching will entail doing real-world exercises to help you achieve your goals

Does it work?

Of course, I wouldn’t be a coach if I didn’t think this stuff works. But you are quite right to be skeptical of some of the claims made by coaches. The science of behaviour change is a well-founded discipline and consensus is that with concerted effort and input from a behavioural expert, people can radically shift their behaviour in as little as 3 months.

Some clients take longer, others are more rapid. But one thing is clear: Doing this on your own will take much longer, and will sometimes not get there at all.

The main reason for this is no secret: Most people simply do not have the time, resources, or knowledge required to change their behaviour in a systematic, structured way. That’s where a coach can be very helpful indeed!

In my own coaching practice, I’ve seen massive change in clients who come ready to shift their behaviour, who are motivated to take their career to the next level, and who are open to new ways of thinking about their way of doing things.

I look forward to working with you soon to do the same!

If you’re interested in finding out more about coaching, why not drop me a line here or call me!