COACHING
What can I use coaching for?
Pretty much any real leadership situation that's taking up more space in your head than you'd like.
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A conversation you're avoiding.
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Someone who isn't performing and you're not sure what to do next.
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Managing somebody who used to be your peer.
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Delegating without either disappearing or taking over.
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Managing upwards. Because apparently managing your own team wasn't enough.
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Influencing someone you don't actually control.
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Feeling overwhelmed by everybody else's problems as well as your own work.
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Not knowing when to step in and when to back off.
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Trying to find a way of leading that actually feels like you.
Or simply:
“I've got this thing going on and I don't know what to do.”
That's enough.
You don't need to turn the mess into an impressive coaching objective before you arrive.
The mess is welcome.
We'll work from there.
What actually happens in a session?
You bring what's happening.
We give it some space.
We work out what really seems to be going on.
We explore what you can influence and what you can't.
We look at different perspectives, choices and possibilities.
And you decide what you want to do next.
There is structure underneath the conversation.
But you won't be marched through a coaching model because the model says it's time for question seven.
The conversation follows what is useful.
SITUATION
SPACE
PERSPECTIVE
CHOICES
ACTION
Will you just tell me what to do?
Jordan McCann, who I've coached and mentored, described exactly that balance:
“an excellent level of both challenge and support”
He said the conversations helped guide him towards different potential solutions and actions.
In a word, no.
But that doesn't mean I'll sit opposite you refusing to have an opinion.
We'll work on the situation together.
I'll ask questions.
I'll challenge assumptions.
I'll help you look at it differently.
And occasionally I'll offer an idea, a perspective or a leadership tool if I think it genuinely helps.
But you're the person who understands the situation, has to make the judgement and has to live with what happens next.
The ownership stays with you.
The aim isn't to make you dependent on a coach.
It's to help you become increasingly confident and capable of handling the next difficult situation yourself.
Will it be practical?
It needs to be.
The interesting conversation matters, but ultimately you've still got to go back to work and deal with the person, conversation or situation.
Adam Kwasnicki, who I've worked with through leadership development, said he valued the way I took time to understand him and the challenges he was facing, then helped him:
“put new skills into practice in a way that felt relevant and meaningful.”
That's a pretty good test.
If the coaching doesn't survive contact with Tuesday morning, it hasn't been much use.
Will I be challenged?
Yes.
Support without challenge can become a very pleasant hour in which nothing changes.
Challenge without trust tends not to work particularly well either.
The balance matters.
Paul Harris described getting:
“actionable ideas and thought provoking challenge”
alongside an alternative perspective on the leadership situations he brought.
Conor Marlin, who I've mentored over a number of years, said our conversations provoked thought and helped him:
“self reflect better.”
That is much closer to what useful challenge looks like.
Not catching you out.
Helping you see something you weren't seeing before.
Do you use leadership tools and psychometrics?
Yes.
When they're useful.
There are plenty of good leadership models, tools and assessments.
I've spent years working with them.
But the tool is not the product.
We start with the situation you're facing.
If a framework helps you understand it better or gives you something practical to try, we'll use it.
Psychometric assessment is also available as an option where it would genuinely add something to the coaching.
It isn't automatically bundled into every package simply to make the package look more valuable.
What about walking coaching?
For some people, thinking is easier when they're moving.
Walking side by side can feel very different from sitting opposite each other.
There is space.
There are fewer distractions.
Silence feels less awkward.
And occasionally changing the physical environment seems to change the thinking too.
Katya Willems, who I've coached, took our coaching calls while walking in the countryside.
She said:
“something about being outside allowed me to really express myself.”
She also described the walking as freeing up her thinking and finished the coaching feeling more self-assured and focused.
No flipchart required.
How can we work together?
One session
£200
Sometimes there's one particular situation you want to think through. A 60-minute session gives us space to work on it properly without committing to a longer coaching programme.
Four sessions
£700
Four 60-minute sessions, usually spread over around 8–10 weeks. Enough time to work through current situations, try things in the real world and come back to what you're learning.
Recommended
Six sessions
£850
Six 60-minute sessions, normally over around three to four months. This gives us more opportunity to work on what's happening now while beginning to notice patterns, build confidence and strengthen the way you approach future situations.
Sessions are normally around two to three weeks apart, with flexibility where useful.
Where?
Online
In person
Walking
Online anywhere; in person or walking in Cheshire and the North West.
How many sessions will I need?
There isn't a magic number.
A single session might be enough for one particular issue.
Four gives us time to work on several situations and learn from what happens between sessions.
Six gives us more time for patterns to emerge and for the coaching to move beyond today's problem towards strengthening how you lead.
The goal isn't to keep coaching forever.
It's for you to need me less.
I've never had coaching before. Does that matter?
Not at all.
You don't need to know how coaching works.
That's my problem.
Yours is simply to turn up with something worth thinking about.
Is coaching only for people who are struggling?
No.
You might be doing perfectly well.
Perhaps you're managing more people, facing more complicated situations or simply want somewhere to think properly about the leader you're becoming.
Coaching can help solve problems.
It can also help stop every problem having to become a crisis before you think about it.
