| “Personal Coaching” is a relatively new profession that has emerged in recent years, and with it, a widening array of subspecialties. A coach works with people to improve their performance and success by maximizing their gifts and overcoming their pitfalls. Where athletic coaches focus on sports and fitness, personal coaches work in different arenas. I offer what many call Life and Business Coaching. What it boils down to is helping people improve the quality of their working and private lives. This may be on an individual basis or within an organization or workgroup. The work covers a variety of areas including: Career Development Interpersonal Relationships Organizational Leadership Team-Building Life Enhancement Personal Mastery Spirituality in the Real World More Productivity, Less Stress
FAQs: If I hire you as my coach, what exactly will you do? Essentially, I will work with you to clarify your goals, to develop a strategy for attaining them and to execute that strategy with the least possible resistance. You may need new skills, information or insights to do this. I’ll help you acquire them or create them. With frequent consultations and accountability, I’ll help you refine and maintain the cognitive set and behavioral skills necessary to move your goals from possible to actual. Is this just another kind of business consulting? Yes, in a way. Business consultants tend to focus on narrowly-defined targets and short-term deliverables. Their products are usually institutionalized analysis and advice, primarily impersonal and limited to the business. I work with you as a personal mentor, a muse, facilitating you to move beyond limitations in your professional and your personal life. We will develop an ongoing relationship that takes a holistic view of your both aspects of your life are inextricably intertwined. Then, is this like counseling or psychotherapy? Certainly, there is a great deal of overlap, and as a therapist with broad experience spanning nearly thirty years, I can draw on those skill and insights when they are needed. In fact, some coaching clients undoubtedly receive the benefits of mental health counseling while taking a tax-deduction for the service without generating a psychiatric diagnosis and records with their insurance company. As this profession has grown, some coaches have found it to be a way to do the work of a therapist without clinical training or credentials. Still, there are distinctions. Some approaches to therapy devote much attention to childhood or traumatic experiences. As your coach I want to know something about where you came from, but our work is about where you’re going and how to get there. (My orientation as a therapist works that way, too.) Coaching focuses on reaching your goals rather than solving personal problems. Generally speaking, people seek therapy when they are in pain. People seek coaching even when things are pretty good, but they want more out of life. There are a lot of personal coaches out there. How do I know you’re the best one for me? I’m NOT the best coach for everybody. Neither is anyone else. You have to ask yourself what you really want. You may prefer to keep your coaching relationship superficial, in which case I may not be the right fit for you. We’ll both get a better feel for that when we sit down together for our initial ninety-minute conference. My goal is to make that meeting valuable and meaningful for you. If we don’t “click”, neither of us is under any obligation to continue. How do we get started? How much time is involved? Do I come to your office? I like to start with a face-to-face meeting for about ninety minutes, my place or yours. This will give us a chance to get to know each other and see if the chemistry is right. We’ll put together an initial goal and strategy assessment. I will also ask you to complete one or two assessment instruments. After that, we’ll conference regularly, usually once per week, for accountability and revisions. We may do this over the phone, which saves us both a lot of time and allows us to stay focused even when traveling. Between conferences, I will devote time to preparation and research to support you in your goal attainment. We may also exchange email if you’re comfortable with that. How long does it last? That’s up to you. I’ll ask you for a minimum commitment of three months at the outset. This is really a commitment to yourself to stick with it long enough to get some momentum going. You’re free to stop whenever you like. Larry
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