What is Coaching?
“Today, coaches provide relationship and structure for people seeking [personal], business or career success. They also help people with all kinds of issues because it’s becoming generally recognized that the lines between work life and personal life blend with one influencing the other.” ~ Paul Edwards
So what is coaching?
Coaching is a professional service providing clients with feedback, insights and advice from an objective perspective. Basically, coaching helps you bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be. It helps you become clear on what is important to you, and from this clarity, moves you into action.
Coaching is designed to bring out the best you have to offer, sharpen your skills, enhance your gifts and improve your abilities all while helping you become aware of your options.
Coaching is NOT therapy. A coach is not a therapist—although many counselors use coaching tools and techniques to help clients. Counselors work with people to resolve issues from their past that are causing pain while a coach provides insight on your present behavior so you can move more effectively towards your future.
Coaches usually work with highly functional, successful people who want to go beyond the ordinary to create an extraordinary life. While serving my clients, I am a: champion, advocate, challenger, unconditional supporter, truth-teller, consultant and confidant.
The International Coach Federation (ICF) defines coaching as “an ongoing partnership that helps clients produce fulfilling results in their personal and professional lives.” So I am like a board of directors and sounding board all rolled up in one for my clients. I am a true partner in their success.
Why do clients hire me?
People often recognize that they want something to change, but frequently have a hard time figuring how to change. Coaching is about making change happen. A great client for me is someone who wants to make changes, and recognizes the need for help to make it happen.
Some of the many reasons clients hire me is to help them:
- Make and keep more money
- Get more done in less time
- Create personal and professional momentum
- Improve time management
- Communicate more effectively
- Improve public speaking skills
- Create personal or professional vision and goals to achieve it
- Eliminate stress (really!)
- Increase sales and profitability
- Take more productive, effective and focused actions
- Get unstuck
- Increase prospect to client conversion rate
- Develop a successful marketing strategy
- Strengthen their internal management structure and systems
- Develop leadership qualities
- Make better decisions
- Become accountable
- Find more balance
Why hire me as your coach?
Coaches help clients transform and improve their lives. People hire a coach to help make a career transition, start a new business, improve your business performance, develop a dynamic sales pitch, re-evaluate choices or when simply looking for personal and professional breakthroughs.
What others say about coaching:
“It’s tough to develop without help…with coaching you get to see your blind spots in a safe environment.” ~The Denver Post
“Career management coaches…can identify skills or style difficulties and offer pragmatic tips.” ~The Wall Street Journal
“The goal of coaching is the goal of good management: to make the most of an organization’s valuable resources.” ~ Harvard Business Review
“…companies offer coaching as a prerequisite…in the understanding that everyone has blind spots and can benefit from a detached observer.” ~ The New York Times
“The hottest thing in management today is the executive coach.” ~ Fortune
“A coach may be the guardian angel you need to rev up your career.” ~ Money Magazine
