"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore"
— Andre Gide
The International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”
“Coaching is future focused. It supports personal and professional growth based on self-initiated change in pursuit of specific actionable outcomes. The primary focus is on creating actionable strategies for achieving specific goals with an emphasis on action, accountability, and follow through.”
Very often, we are so busy with our day-to-day lives that it’s hard to make any space to change things for the better. Sometimes we don’t even know what we want—we just know we don’t want what we have at the moment. Coaching opens up a reflective, non-judgmental space in which exploration of new perspectives and choices is possible. It can help build the clarity, confidence, energy and practical steps needed to create a better future.
Coaching is specifically tailored to suit you. You decide what you want to talk about in each session; this might be your coaching goals, or something else that has arisen. We work at a pace that is right for you, stretching but not overwhelming. Coaching gives you the confidential, non-judgmental space to explore what is inside yourself and helps you find your own answers—answers that make sense in terms of your personal values and circumstances.
First, we work together to help you clarify your coaching outcomes or goals and decide how progress can be measured. Then we explore ways to reach those outcomes by overcoming barriers that may be in the way, such as limiting beliefs, fear and unhelpful habits. We also look at resources that are available. These can include internal traits such as strengths, abilities and skills you already have, as well as external resources such as thought-provoking and inspiring reading material, and specific tools and techniques. Finally, we work together to create your plan of action and the way that you want to be held accountable for making progress. In each meeting, you choose the focus of our conversation.
- Gain clarity regarding your goals
- Identify more choices by challenging limiting beliefs
- Communicate more effectively
- Manage behaviors more effectively