COACHING ON THE EDGE - for people who want to move forward but aren't sure how

Career, Professional Development or Life Coaching – What’s the Difference?

Life Coaching. It’s all life coaching!

Even if the emphasis is on professional development or career coaching, the decisions and changes you make will impact many, if not all, other areas of your life – your work/life balance, your health and well-being, your relationships, your happiness and confidence, the time you have available for other interests etc. The aim is to be as fulfilled as possible in all areas of your life – not to feel it is necessary to sacrifice some of them in order to be fulfilled in others.

However, people work with a life coach for many reasons other than career or professional development. There is a simple exercise attached called ‘The Web of Life’ which you could use to start thinking about how satisfied you are with your life at the moment in a whole range of areas including personal development, relationships and health – and whether you want to make some changes.

In addition, many people seek out a life coach even when they do not have clear goals. Instead of working with “How do I achieve what I want” their starting place may be “I don’t really know what I want”. They feel something is missing – a sense of fulfilment, of excitement, of aliveness. So the first step is clarity about what will bring them this. Then they need a plan to achieve it. Then they need to implement the plan.
The role of the coach is to support you in finding, and implementing, the answers to these questions (your answers, not the coach’s) – and in working through any of the resistance, fear, doubt etc that often accompanies change – even when that change is seen as positive.

The coach’s aim is to support you in moving towards your ‘best life’. At various times, in addition to ‘pure coaching’, this may include aspects of counselling, consulting, personal training, relationship strategies, teaching and mentoring. And ‘support’ may sometimes come in the form of a strong challenge.

However, none of these words can really give you a sense of what coaching is all about. The best way to do this is to experience it and I offer a free 40 minute coaching session (normally by telephone but face-to-face is also possible if geographically possible). You choose the topic.

Telephone Coaching

Coaching can take place face-to-face if geography allows but most coaching now takes place over the telephone. Many clients like the initial ‘intake session’ (usually 1 to 2 hours long) to be face-to-face although it needn’t be.

Telephone coaching has a number of advantages.
1. No travelling time, no travelling expenses, no traffic or parking problems
2. The coaching client need not be geographically close to the coach – or even on the same continent!
3. No need to get dressed up to go out (or even dressed!)
4. No need to arrange childcare, negotiate who has the car etc
5. If necessary, appointments can be rescheduled with minimum inconvenience
6. Coaching can continue no matter where in the world the coach and/or client are – even if one or both of them are away from home for extended periods

Co-Active Coaching

I have been working on a one-to-one basis with individuals for almost 18 years. In more recent years, since coaching has become a recognized profession, I have undertaken a formal training with CTI (Coach Training Institute) - the largest coach training organization in the world and the first to be accredited by the International Coach Federation (ICF).

The CTI approach to coaching is called ‘Co-active Coaching’.

Co-Active Coaching has Four Guiding Principles :
1) The client is naturally creative, resourceful and whole
• nothing is broken or needs fixing
• clients have the answers – but the coach has the powerful questions that enable clients to access those answers
2) Co-active coaching addresses the client’s whole life.
• it recognizes that it is not possible to focus on one area of our life without impacting other areas
3) The agenda comes from the client
• the client is in charge; the relationship is focused on the client getting the results they want
• the coach ensures that the clients are always steering towards fulfillment and balance, and are fully engaged with, and learning from, the moment-by-moment ‘process’ of their life
4) The coach ‘dances in the moment’ with the client
• the coach coaches what shows up rather than from a rigid plan
• there is a fluid give and take in the lead between client and coach
• everything that happens is an opportunity for learning and movement

How Does the Coaching Relationship Work?

Before starting, the coach and the client work out a suitable ‘package’ in terms of structure, frequency, cost etc.

A typical package would consist of a one to two hour ‘intake’ session followed by four 30 minute or three 40 minute scheduled sessions per month (telephone or face-to-face), plus additional short calls to share a success or get ‘emergency’ support, backed up with e-mails, additional printed resources etc.

What’s the Difference Between Coaching and Counselling?

In general, people enter into a therapeutic or counselling relationship to ‘get better’ or to ‘fix’ something that they are unhappy about. Looking back at, and understanding, the past is an important part of the process and the reasons for current problems or difficulties are sought. ‘Why?’ is an important question.

People may also enter coaching to address areas of their life where they are experiencing dissatisfaction. But the focus is on the future and on action. Coaching assumes that every client is naturally creative and resourceful and it seeks to support clients in living to their full potential. Important questions are - ‘What?’, ‘When?’ and ‘How?’

Am I the best coach for you?

Probably the only way to find out is to have a free sample session with a few coaches (including me!) and see who feels right for you. However, here’s some information about my training and background.

I have been a free-lance management and personal development consultant, trainer, facilitator and coach (both organisational and private clients) for almost 18 years. My passion has always been in the area of personal empowerment, in helping people to be the best they can be and to be happy with themselves and their lives. Although coaching is not about the coach ‘providing answers’ I do find that my knowledge and experience, and the collection of resources I have accumulated, in areas such as assertiveness, stress management, managing change, leadership, managing people, women’s development, mediation, team development, project management, career development, time & workload management (and many others), often provide my clients with some ‘added value’.

I’ve trained, in addition to my coaching training, in counselling, mediation and nutritional therapy. I’m drawn to Buddhism as a ‘science of the mind’ and an ethical system and I meditate. I believe there is always more to learn and everything I learn benefits both myself and my clients.

Testimonials

“My coaching sessions with Lynda have been wonderfully effective, with very exciting, and unexpected, results in two very different areas of my life [career & relationship]. When I started I knew these results to be theoretically possible but felt - quite literally - only able to dream of achieving them. I have found Lynda's coaching skills most helpful and effective because: she listens carefully to what you say, and asks powerful, perceptive questions; she has a sense of fun and enthusiasm that promotes action, optimism and constructive thinking; she focuses on the present; she thinks 'big' and courageous rather than 'small' and timid; and she cuts to the chase, being prepared to challenge when necessary. Last but not least, she was clearly genuinely interested in me as a person.”

“When I was at a crossroads with my work, working with Lynda was invaluable in helping me to sift through the baggage I was carrying and locate what was important to me. She enabled me to make some vital decisions and choose the right road for me.”

“You have made a tremendous difference to my life. I have found love again when I thought it would never come my way. I found a new confidence to live my life and change it to the life I want. You have helped me take control of my life and embrace the changes and new experience it offers.”

“I have recently been promoted to a Senior Service Management position in a Social Services Department. When I started I felt unsure and under-confident in my role, and with some of my peers, so decided to seek some coaching. I have found these sessions to be of tremendous value. Lynda has enabled me to reflect, analyse and positively appraise myself. I have experienced the open, honest, frank examination of myself to be liberating and empowering. The techniques I have learnt for managing situations, other people and myself have been a powerful addition to my toolkit and have made me feel like a very different sort of person in all aspects of my life.”

“Just to let you know that I was promoted to General Manager (Finance) as from ... It is no coincidence that this promotion has occurred since we commenced working together - our sessions have had a direct bearing on my promotion”.

CAREER COACHING – PROGRAMME OVERVIEW

Career – “a person’s course or progress through life” - Shorter Oxford Dictionary

Generally, when the word ‘career’ is used people are thinking about what they do to earn a living. As we spend a large proportion of our lives at work, it’s important to find a career that we enjoy – that meets many needs in addition to our financial ones.

This programme takes you on a journey. At the end of the journey you will have a clear vision of a career that is absolutely right for you, and a plan for how to create it.

There are many reasons why you might choose to take this journey :
- you are successful at what you are doing but you want something more satisfying, stimulating, challenging, enjoyable……
- there is a dream you have always had and at last you are ready to turn it into a reality
- you want to leave salaried employment and set up in business for yourself
- you have been made redundant, are about to be made redundant or fear being made redundant
- you are a woman returning to work after a career break and you want clarity about the type of work you wish to do or retrain for
- you’re about to graduate but not sure what you want to do afterwards
- ????

Some people want more than a career – they want a Vocation.

Vocation – “the place where your heart’s gladness meets the world’s deep need”

These people want to “follow their bliss” (as Joseph Campbell put it) but they also want to make a difference in some way, to contribute to making the world a better place.

This programme works in all the above circumstances. It’s been created drawing on research into best practice in career evaluation and transition, backed up my own experience as a life and career coach – which includes a number of personal major career transitions.

It uses a wide range of interesting and engaging activities, including right-brain techniques such as guided visualisations, to access your creativity and resourcefulness and to focus it on identifying an exciting and viable new career direction.

The Programme in brief

The programme has been designed in three phases. The names of the phases come from the last line of a quotation from Mark Twain:

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.”

EXPLORE

Research shows that those who are most satisfied and motivated by their work are in careers which reflect who they really are; careers which reflect their true nature and their real passions, careers which draw on their strengths and employ their favourite skills, careers which allow them to honour their deeply-held values.

Because of this, the foundation of our programme entails a long, hard look at who you are. This is the EXPLORE part of the programme.

The first stage is about you as a person, your life as a whole. You’ll engage in activities that help you get a clear idea of
• your values
• your life purpose
• your most powerful self
• your personal strengths
• your interests and passions
• your personal achievements
• everything you need in your life to be happy and fulfilled.

The next stage focuses on your work preferences. You’ll identify
• your favourite job skills
• your key work motivators
• your professional strengths
• your greatest work achievements
• your preferred working organisation and environment
• your ideal working day
• everything you need in your working life to be motivated and satisfied.

As all this information is elicited, two formats are used to capture and record it.

1) The Life Star
2) The Work Star

As we work through the EXPLORE process, I’ll ask you to note your key learning in these Star formats. When complete, your Stars will provide a richly coloured snapshot of who you are and what you need in order to be happy and fulfilled in your life and work. You can refer to them whenever you are evaluating any career ideas or job opportunities.

By the end of the EXPLORE phase, you will be very clear about what you must have in your career to be satisfied and motivated.

In addition to the above work, you will start another process in Week 1.
You will open an Ideas Bank. This is a space where you can capture any career related ideas which come up throughout the early weeks of the programme, including ideas that you may have in mind before beginning coaching. However mild, however wild the ideas – do not judge them but just place them in the Ideas Bank, ready to be evaluated later in the light of what we find out about you during the first phase of the programme.

DREAM

The next phase is DREAM. This is a very creative part of the programme where together we generate a number of possible new career choices. We call it DREAM because the idea here is to be expansive, to think outside the box, not to be constrained, at this stage, by traditional notions of what’s possible. In truth, almost anything is possible if it’s right for you. We explore the most attractive ideas in some detail and then finally narrow these down to between one and three strong possibilities which will then be explored in detail.

DISCOVER

DISCOVER is the point where we investigate the top possibility that was generated in the DREAM phase. We will use a creative and empowering process which lets you turn your vision for an exciting career that’s right for you into a soundly based action plan to make it happen.

For more information or a free sample session contact Lynda Benham on lynda.benham@btinternet.com or telephone 0845 458 9934 (local call rate).