Client: I would like to know what coaches do and how you might be able to help me.

Coach: Of course I cannot speak for all coaches, just for myself. I am a Development Coach and a Manager Coach. I help people with issues that are preventing them from achieving all they want in their lives, their careers and their businesses.

Typically people consult me when they are suffering from stress, anxiety, uncertainty, loss of confidence, leadership issues, communication problems, job loss, failure to achieve the success of which they believe themselves capable and lack of direction. Check out Client Stories to see how others have been helped.

Employers and large organisations call me in when they have issues with underachievement, morale problems due to mass redundancies, team building, leadership, communication and developing managers to their true potential.

Client: What would you do in situations such as you have outlined above?

Coach: First I should say that I mainly work one-to-one with my clients, only on rare occasions do I do any group work. So I would start by having an initial “chat” with the prospective client. This is to clarify the issue with which we are dealing, to explain how the coaching process works and to make sure that we can work together.

Once we have established a working relationship, we meet once a week; with private clients this will be on the phone or Skype, and with corporate clients at their place of work. These meetings last for 50 minutes.

Client: What happens at the coaching meetings?

Coach: smiles: The client becomes the centre of the coaching session. The issue that the client presents and the character of the client dictates the working method. I take my lead from the client, they are what the coaching is all about. I don’t have any instant out-of-the-box solutions or any preset coaching programmes. Each client is unique so we work to find solutions that will work for that client.

Client: I don’t fully understand how that works. Can you explain a little more?

Coach: Yes, certainly, human beings are creatures of habit. We tend to find a way of doing something and then we repeat that method until it becomes a habit. We then continue to do it that way until something happens to change our behaviour. Think for a moment about the number of different ways that people hold a biro or pencil when they write. There are lots of different ways to do the same thing, each person will develop their own way.

So, when a client presents an issue that is hindering them we have to find a way of managing that issue that will work for that client. It is no good trying to force someone to change a habit to a different behaviour if that other behaviour makes them feel uncomfortable. They will not repeat an uncomfortable behaviour sufficiently frequently for it to become a new habit.

Client: Are you saying that you invent a new solution to a problem like ‘fear of public speaking’ for every new client?

Coach: It may not be a totally new solution, but we have to find a solution for each client that will work well for them and enable them to make progress in their life.

Client: Why can’t I work out solutions for myself?

Coach: The answer lies in the way that your brain works. When you ask yourself a question about any new problem, perhaps it could be: “how can I motivate my team and get them to behave more enthusiastically?” The question can only go to two places. First, it will visit your memory to check if you have done something similar before. If there is no answer there because you have not previously found a solution to the issue, the question will visit the creative part of your brain which will try to invent an answer. If creativity does not succeed you will keep on asking yourself the same question which will keep visiting your memory and creativity and never find an answer.

How to Turn Problems into Successes

The only way to break out of this circle of “question and no answer” is to put some new information, that has an answer, into your memory.

However, it is never enough to simply know the answer, (that is why finding answers in books is rarely as helpful as you hope it will be), you have to make yourself use the answer, and then ensure that you make it work, so that you come to believe in it. You usually have to make it work several times before it will become a habit which overcomes your problem; that is why it is important to have a number of coaching sessions where you rehearse your new behaviour. It is only by constant checking, review, refinement and practice that you will come to develop a new and better behaviour pattern.

The Best Answers

The best answers are always the ones that you believe in and which you find work for you.

That is why a good coach can be so helpful. A good coach will often have several solutions to any problem. They will help you work out which type of solution is likely to be best for you. Then they will train you and motivate you to use the solution.

Changing a behaviour habit is never easy and it rarely happens quickly – ask anyone who has tried to lose weight or give up smoking. The good news is that habits can be changed with the help of a good coach or therapist. A good coach will stay with you for the duration, until it is certain that you have reached your destination.

Client: What qualities should I look for in a coach?

Coach: You need someone who will make you and your problems the centre of the coaching. I would advise you against using a coach who comes with a set programme of coaching. Such a coach will insist on taking you through their entire programme whether it is relevant to your situation or not. What you need is someone with experience of your type of situation and the environment in which your issues arise see About.

You also need a coach whom you instinctively trust. The relationship between you and your coach is of paramount importance. You must have confidence that your coach knows what he/she is doing and is capable of helping you to find and implement solutions that will work for you. Find someone you enjoy working with.

This has been a brief example of how a coaching session might be conducted. I hope it has given you a taste of how coaching might help you. I would suggest that as a next step you consider having a sampler session with the coach of your choice.

Try Without Cost or Obligation

Check out the Client Stories on this website to see how other people have benefited from coaching. Then ask for a “free sample” coaching session to find out more about how I can help you and to see how we get on by using the Contact form.

Best wishes,

“For a human being to be happy they must become what they can become.”
Abraham Maslow