FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS ABOUT COACHING
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT KINDS
OF COACHING?
Currently, there are two major branches of
Professional Coaching: Personal Coaching and Business Coaching, but each
is quickly gaining sub-specialties. Each one goes by various names.
For example, Personal Coaching is also known as life coaching,
success coaching, personal life coaching, and career coaching. It is
commonly used to help everyday people in their personal lives accomplish
their dreams and grow personally. Usually, it does not focus on
professional development, leadership skills, company profitability,
management training, business development, team building, organizational
development, or change management.
Business coaching is also known as: executive coaching, corporate
coaching, management coaching, small business coaching, sales coaching,
and leadership coaching, to mention a few. There are distinctions and
separations between these areas and even the specific names, but the
primary differences are in: the people served and the problems most
commonly encountered, rather than the techniques used, the coach’s
ability, their training, or even their personal experiences.
The coaches at Today's Leadership Coaching specialize in Business
Coaching. Our coaching is typically tied to:
Your coach may periodically focus on your personal growth,
interpersonal skills, and individual strengths and how they relate to
your career development and the leadership position you hold in your
company.
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WHAT IS EXECUTIVE COACHING
AND BUSINESS COACHING?
Executive and Business Coaching is a
1-on-1 interactive relationship between a Coach and a Client. The
client has a
position of leadership, ownership, or management in an organization. The focus of
the coaching process is designed to help leverage organizational
performance and leadership development while working with our Clients to
achieve their goals, dreams, visions, and plans faster than they could
on their own.
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I'M STILL NOT CLEAR ABOUT
HOW COACHING WILL HELP ME OR MY COMPANY. CAN YOU TELL ME MORE?
Absolutely.
Here is a good analogy based on sports. Professional and Olympic
athletes have long recognized that having a 1-on-1 personal coach can
help them reach the top of their game faster and stay there longer than
they can on their own. For example, Michael Jordan was kicked off his
high school basketball team because the coach thought he didn’t have any
talent. Throughout his first years in the NBA, Michael was a good
player, but it wasn’t until he came under the guiding eye of Phil
Jackson that Michael Jordan truly came into his own and became the
greatest basketball player of all time. The moral here is that even a
Michael Jordan needs a Phil Jackson.
Golfing phenomenon, Tiger Woods,
attributes much of his current success to the regular work he does with
his personal coach.
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Think of coaching as a proven support
system for your personal and business success.
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Coaching will help you rapidly accelerate
your development and achieve your goals
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Coaching is a support structure for
problem solving.
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Coaching is for people who are seriously
committed to investing the time, energy, and financial resources it
takes to better themselves, develop their people, and build their
company.
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Coaching is an insurance policy against
mediocrity.
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A coach will help you dream bigger dreams
and live a bigger life.
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A coach provides you with an objective
sounding board.
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It may also help to hear what some of our clients say about how our
coaching has helped them:
“Coaching helped me to re-focus my approach to
developing business.”
—President & CEO
Financial Services Company
“The
advancement that I have seen in my own career and leadership
development is AMAZING! I highly recommend Stephen and Today's
Leadership Coaching for every executive serious about improving
employee performance."
—Vice-President
Fortune 500 Technology Company
“As the
President of my company, the most beneficial aspect of having a
coach is having someone very interested in my professional
development who is completely detached from my personal and
professional relationships.”
—President
Fortune 1000 Company
Coaching with Stephen is
one of the best professional investments I’ve ever made.”
—President of Professional
Service Firm
“The executive coaches at Today's
Leadership Coaching helped me turn my company around. They worked
with me to help me focus on the strategic areas of building my
people and my business, not just the day to day tactical work.”
—Chief Financial Officer
Mid-size Manufacturing Company
“Tom Horne
has helped me make great decisions about my overall business
strategies. I use him as a sounding board because as a hands-on
business owner, I can get ‘lost in the trees’ at times and he
continually brings a fresh perspective. He knows me and my business
and ALWAYS has my best interests in mind. I highly recommend Tom as
a Business Coach and a strategic advisor.”
—Gary R.
President Mid-size Food Manufacturing Company
Read more client testimonials here.
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WHAT IS THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI) OF BUSINESS
COACHING AND EXECUTIVE COACHING?
Executive coaching is a collaborative partnership focused on helping
your leaders and teams reach peak performance, increase their
productivity, and develop more effective leadership skills in their
workplace resulting in significant corporate growth and profitability.
A 2001 research report involving
more than 100 executives, mostly from Fortune 1000 companies, found the
average company experienced a 600% Return on Investment (ROI) when they
provided their executives with 1-on-1 executive coaching and leadership
development. The executives reported directly saving or making an
average of $100,000 for every $15,000 to $20,000 spent on their
coaching, in addition to other intangible benefits such as enhanced
morale, improved interpersonal relationships, and a stronger leadership
team.
A 2002 study of mid-size
companies found an average ROI of over 520% for management and
leadership coaching initiatives.
There is a reason why more and
more companies are regularly using executive coaching—because it works!
It would be unethical to guarantee
a specific outcome for a client. However,
Today's Leadership coaches have years of experience helping many
leaders, managers, and executives discover and implement cutting-edge
leadership development techniques that rapidly enhance their skills,
increase productivity, and improve their Company's bottom lines. Plus, we guarantee
(See TLC's Satisfaction
Guarantee) our executive coaching can help you achieve maximum results for your
time, efforts, and resources.
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“Even if executive
coaching cost $50K (which it doesn’t), it’s barely a rounding
error to invest in the coaching of a key player who has
responsibility for millions of dollars and for key human
resources. Coaching is a success if one direct report, who used
to be too intimidated to speak up, comes up with an innovative
idea.”
- CEO, Fortune 100 Company |
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WHAT IS DIFFERENT ABOUT THE COACHING PROCESS AT TODAY'S LEADERSHIP
COACHING?
TLC’s coaching process is founded on these 10
core principles:
1. We view our clients as creative, resourceful and whole; not broken, bruised, and battered.
2. Action oriented. Plans, goals, and dreams are great, but ultimately if
they are not accompanied by concrete actions they are worthless. We will
work with you to lay out an overall Goal & Action Plan at the beginning
of the coaching relationship along with creating specific Action Steps
at the end of every coaching session.
3. Accountability and Truth
telling. As coaches we will hold you accountable for your stated actions
and goals. Our clients tell us this is part of the value we bring to the
relationship. We work hard to tell our clients the truth—even when they
don’t like it and especially when they don’t want to hear it.
4. Trust and Partnership. Every great coaching relationship is built
on mutual trust between the Coach and Client. We truly view our coaching
relationship as a partnership. We are not above or below our Clients,
but rather beside them, walking along with them on their journey of
assessing, planning, achieving their goals, and fulfillment.
5. Goal
focused. Actions in the coaching relationship is created when the
client develops and implements their S.M.A.R.T. goals—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timed.
The coach holds the client accountable to their S.M.A.R.T. goals and
confirms the client's action plans at each coaching session.
6. Results driven. Ultimately, your coaching must produce actual results to
be a worthwhile investment. Goals and results are set up at the
beginning of the coaching relationship, are agreed upon by all parties,
and must be measurable.
7. Confidentiality. What is said between the Coach and Client stays
between them. We respect our clients and their privacy. While some
clients have no problem telling others about their experience with a
Coach, other people may not feel comfortable. Confidentiality on our
part is assured.
8. Values based. We strongly believe happiness is not
achieved by being rich, famous our powerful, but by living according to
one’s values. You can use coaching to clarify your values and learn how
to live your life in accordance with them.
9. Focused on developing strengths. While every person has strengths
and weaknesses, research indicates you will get much further ahead
faster if you learn how to maximize your strengths rather than simply
trying to shore up your weaknesses. Our coaching process will help you
discover your key strengths and build your position or company around
those strengths while learning how to delegate your areas of weakness to
others.
10. Integrity and honesty. Coaching is not a magic wand, nor is it a
panacea to every problem. Coaching is simply one of the most powerful
tools you can use to grow, develop, change, and lead. The coaches at
Today's Leadership Coaching will treat you as a person of integrity and
honesty and will refer you to other professionals if we do not believe
we can help you effectively. In addition, our integrity and business
philosophy dictate that we only work with individuals and companies who
receive benefit from our coaching. Because of this, we offer something
extremely rare in our industry—a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee.
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WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BUSINESS COACHES AND EXECUTIVE
COACHES AT TODAY'S LEADERSHIP COACHING?
In general, the coaches at Today's Leadership Coaching have:
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Exceptional problem solving skills
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Great listening ability
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Advanced communication skills
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Ability to focus on the core issues
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Willing to challenge and confront their client when necessary
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Each has broad life and business
experiences
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Unlike most Personal Coaches, the coaches at Today's Leadership Coaching also have extensive business experience in corporate America, with both
large and small companies. Some other characteristics include:
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A solid knowledge of how a typical business runs and the
organizational structure
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Extensive experience developing leaders, building high performance
teams, managing companies, and leading change initiatives
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Results-driven focus
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In-depth knowledge about how to grow a business
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Strongly believe they can create opportunities for positive change and
growth within the confines of a small business or large organization
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Have a tough skin and are willing to deal with conflict when it arises
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Have built and maintained a significant number of mid to high level
contacts within the business community
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First-hand knowledge of business
processes: Marketing,
Sales, Finances, Operations, Leadership, Management Skills, Customer
Relations... usually with more than one area of specialization.
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Comfortable speaking the language of business
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Click here to find out more about our individual coaches.
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IS COACHING JUST FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE INCOMPETENT OR INCAPABLE OF
PERFORMING ON THEIR OWN?
Absolutely not! As professional coaches, we do not work with people or
companies who are incompetent. Our clients are some of the brightest,
sharpest, most successful individuals, teams, and companies in the world
today.
Coaching is for people who want to perform at a higher level and who are
able to make significant and lasting changes.
There are 3 times when a Coach is most likely to be called in to work
with an individual or a team:
Remedial Coaching — When an individual or team is having significant
problems in their day to day ability to get the job done, remedial
coaching can help. They are on the verge of experiencing disciplinary
measures or perhaps being asked to leave.
Less than 10% of all our coaching is Remedial Coaching because we
typically don’t take jobs where coaching is used as a “last ditch
effort.” This is not what coaching is designed for and usually is not
very successful under these circumstances. Rather than trying to “save”
the person, coaching is better used to help the person successfully make
a transition and work with the team to design a plan to move forward.
Developmental Coaching — When an
individual or team has the fundamental knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs)
to be successful, but for various reasons (like excessive team conflict
or poor communication skills) are not effectively using them,
developmental coaching is often the perfect solution. If the individual
or team is not delivering on their promised results or they are
consistently inconsistent, coaching can be helpful,
assuming they recognize their responsibility and are willing to change. About 40% of our work is Developmental Coaching.
Enhancement Coaching — In this scenario, the individual or team not only
has the necessary KSAs (knowledge, skills, and abilities) to be
successful, but is using them. There may be occasional performance
issues, but the primary focus of coaching is on helping them achieve
even greater goals and plans. It is these high performance people and
teams who can best use and benefit from what a Professional Coach from
TLC has to offer. Approximately 50% of our coaching is Enhancement
Coaching.
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HOW IS COACHING DIFFERENT FROM OTHER FIELDS LIKE:
CONSULTING, MENTORING, MANAGING, TRAINING OR PSYCHOTHERAPY?
Part of this section has been adapted from Stephen Fairley’s new book, Getting Started in Personal and Executive Coaching (Wiley, 2003). For
more information on this book, click here.
Consulting.
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Consulting is more about being viewed as the expert. Consultants are
the ones who give you direct answers to specific problems. It’s about having the right answers.
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As Coaches, we come in as a partner to you and your business. It’s
about asking the right questions.
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In coaching, you are the expert in your business, not me.
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Also, the end product of most consulting is a report with
recommendations. Once the report is finished so is the consulting
relationship.
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In coaching, the assessment is only the beginning of the relationship.
As your coach, we will walk along side of you as you implement your
plan.
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The end product of coaching then becomes a dynamic relationship that
helps you achieve bigger goals faster.
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Mentoring.
There are three major ways mentoring differs from coaching.
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First, mentoring is usually free. Coaching is not.
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Second, mentoring is typically done by a superior, manager, or boss on
an informal and as needed basis. Coaching is done by a professional
outside of the company with no authority over the Client, is a formal
relationship and uses a semi-structured format.
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Third, you probably don’t set up specific goals and measurable results
as part of a mentoring relationship, but in coaching you do.
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Managing.
The biggest differences between managing and coaching are in
respect to authority, permission, and trust.
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A manager has a great deal of authority over the employee, a coach has
none.
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A manager does not need to ask permission of their employee to make
changes and can require that person to comply with those changes or risk
being fired. Coaching is not a one up-one down relationship. It is a
partnership of equals.
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And there is no guarantee a manager has the best interest of their
employee at heart. Optimistically, we would like to believe they do, but
we all know of situations where they obviously did not. Coaches do not
have a hidden agenda and their primary concern is the welfare of their
client.
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Coaching relationships are built on a mutual foundation of trust and
partnership.
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Training or Teaching.
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The typical training is defined by: holding an event and the
transmission of knowledge.
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In coaching, we are focused on developing a relationship, not
delivering an event and while there may be some exchange of knowledge in
a coaching relationship, the primary purpose is to help you identify and
achieve your personal and professional goals.
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Coaching is not a one up –one down relationship; it is a partnership
of equals where your personal growth and development are the most
important measurements of success.
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Most executives consider coaching to be “just in time” learning while
training is often “just in case.”
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Counseling or Psychotherapy.
Coaching is not psychotherapy. The primary
differences between coaching and counseling or psychotherapy are:
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The People who are served. Psychotherapists generally help people from
all walks of life—from children and adolescents to the elderly. As
Business Coaches, we only work with adults who are in a career or part
of a business.
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The Process used. Many mental health professionals use a long process of
in depth analysis in which they try to discover the root cause for a
particular disorder. In coaching, we co-create a plan of action to help
you move forward in achieving your goals. There is no “in-depth
analysis” of the person, but we may analyze the problem and obstacles
that are keeping you from reaching your goals.
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The Professional training. Most professional psychologists, therapists,
and mental health counselors have extensive training in human
relationships, diagnosis, psychopathology, and treatment methods. Some
of these skills are very useful in the coaching relationship like:
strong listening skills, analyzing the problem, developing an Action
Plan, goal setting, a deep understanding of communication skills, how to
resolve conflict, and good interpersonal relationships. In addition to
these skills, our Business Coaches, Executive Coaches, and Sales Coaches
also have direct business and executive experience and are intimately
familiar with how to help executives, leaders, managers, and
professionals achieve their personal goals, professional visions, and
business plans.
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The Practitioner mindset. In counseling, a client is seen by the
professional as broken, bruised, and in need of healing. The
professional is clearly the expert. As Coaches, we view our clients as
creative, resourceful, and whole and actively strive to be partners with
our clients.
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The Price charged. Most therapists charge anywhere from $50 to $150 per
hour and many accept insurance. Our coaching is not charged by the hour,
but by the month or project, and we do not accept any insurance. Our standard
coaching packages range from $375 to more than $1,500 per month. Click
here to view our coaching packages. We can also co-design a customized
coaching package that fits different needs.
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The Problems confronted. Typical problems most therapists deal with are:
depression, anxiety, and severe relationship difficulties. In coaching,
we don’t fix broken people, we help healthy people perform at a higher
level. Imagine a scale starting at zero and extending to both positive
10 and negative 10. If zero is normal or average, then counseling takes
people who are at a negative 10 and moves them closer to zero—back to
normalcy. Coaching starts with people who are at zero, or often at a 4
or 5, and helps them to move closer to a positive 10. See the chart
below.
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Developing Leaders Who Deliver Results
