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Frequently Asked Questions

And if you don’t know, now you know

How will I make the time and head space for coaching?
If you are asking this question, you may not be ready for coaching right now. The single most important ingredient to success is a hunger for something different in your life. When the fire is burning in your belly, nothing gets in your way. You figure out how to make the time and space to get what you want in your life. When you get there, find me, and we’ll get to work.
Isn’t coaching fluffy, woo-woo and for self-help types?
With all due respect to the woo-woo among us, no. The foundation of coaching is improving awareness of unhelpful, unconscious thoughts and beliefs and learning to reframe them. From the Harvard Business Review article Self-Awareness Can Help Leaders More Than an MBA Can, “We conducted a survey of more than 1,000 leaders in more than 800 companies in over 100 countries and found that leaders at the highest levels tend to have better self-awareness than leaders lower in the hierarchy.”

Do I have to open up and be vulnerable for coaching to work?
The short and honest answer is yes. To get different results, we must question what we think we already know about ourselves, and that requires openness. However, coaching is a process that requires trust, and trust takes time to build. It’s common for clients to start out feeling a bit guarded or reserved. My goal is to create a safe environment, so people can begin in the shallow end and proceed with caution and confidence into deeper water.
How is coaching different than therapy?

Coaching is about fulfilling an unrealized vision you have for your future. It’s about having the courage to name a goal you want to achieve and taking action, so you have no regrets when you look back on your life. The goal of therapy is to heal trauma and mitigate symptoms to achieve emotional well-being, stable relationships, and peace of mind. Effective therapy moves us from black and white to color while coaching delivers the 120-color box of crayons.

Coaching is expensive. Can’t I just do the work myself?

People turn to coaching when they’ve gotten as far as they can on their own. They need support to realize their vision for the future. A coach has three jobs you can’t do on your own:

  1. Facilitate INSIGHT: Identify obstacles and remove them
  2. Provide SUPPORT: Partner with you to sustain motivation and momentum
  3. Create ACCOUNTABILITY: Keep you on track so agreed upon objectives are seen through to fruition
How much does a coaching package cost, and what is included?

An initial coaching package includes twelve, 45-minute sessions and costs $4,000.

How do I justify the cost of coaching and show a return on the investment?

I could share studies that quantify the ROI of coaching, but would that answer your question? I could share success stories from clients I have coached (increased sales, promotions, repaired relationships), but you could find those on the testimonials page. The best way to answer this question for you and your organization is to design and test a coaching engagement. Here’s how:

  1. Determine the goals for the coaching partnership
  2. Select tools to measure the extent to which the goals are met
  3. Gather data at appropriate intervals
  4. Analyze and interpret the information

These steps will answer the question for you, so you can make an informed decision about whether coaching is a worthwhile investment.

What’s the difference between a coach and a consultant?
A coach’s job is to help each client unearth their own values, goals, fears, ideas, and solutions. Consultants lend their expertise. Coaches help clients identify what will work for them individually while consultants tell clients what has worked for others. Coaches ask questions to help clients find their own answers, and consultants give answers to their clients’ questions.
How can an external coach be effective if they aren’t part of the culture? Wouldn’t a mentor make more sense?
A coach’s primary job is help clients find their own solutions because that’s what drives lasting change. Like most people, mentors are skilled at giving advice–telling us what we should do. It’s much easier for a coach to learn the culture than a mentor to learn the art of coaching. In the words of Organizational Psychologist Adam Grant: “Coaching might be more essential than mentoring to our careers and our teams. Whereas mentors dole out words of wisdom, coaches hold up a mirror so we can see our blind spots.”

If I have a coach, will it reflect poorly on me? Will others think I’m not a good leader?
Coaching is an investment, and companies aren’t willing to invest in leaders they don’t value.

Most world-class organizations have been supporting leaders through executive and leadership coaching for decades to help high performers level up. Engaging in coaching signals to others that you are committed to your own growth and development and that’s something you can take pride in.