Coaching Primer and Agreement

Coaching Primer

Below is a primer on the nature of coaching, our professional relationship, our different roles, what to expect during a coaching session, and suggestions on what to do before and after a session.

Please read through, in your own time, digest the information and then sign at the bottom of the page to let me know you understand how our time together will work, my responsibilities to you and your responsibilities to yourself in order to get the most from our sessions.

What is coaching?

1. Coaching is a future focussed, structured conversation between two people operating as equals.
2. The coachee is in full control of the content of the conversation.
3. The coach's job is to guide the coachee within the conversation to find new, self generated, personalised insights and strategies.
4. The coach will support the coachee to implement and embed these new strategies through unconditional positivity and a measure of accountability.
5. The coachee is responsible for the extent to which they utilise any insights.

What is a coach?

1. A coach is the navigator on the coachee's journey of self discovery.
2. A coach embodies the following in their relationship with the coachee:
   1. Positivity
   2. An absence of judgement
   3. Confidentiality
   4. Patience
   5. Curiosity

What coaching isn't…

1. Counselling / Therapy - An element of coaching is exploring areas of self-belief that present as limiting or damaging. It is an important distinction to note that these explorations are undertaken solely with a view to challenging their veracity and not to "unpack” any past trauma or other experience better served in counselling or therapy. A qualified coach is trained to know the difference and refer or signpost the coachee to the relevant service should the occasion arise.
2. Advice / Mentoring - a coach will not give advice to their coachee. The coachee's life is unique to them and only the coachee knows which actions or strategies will work for them in the most effective and sustainable way. A coach will guide the coachee to those actions and strategies through insightful questioning and reflection.

What to expect.

1. During a coaching session the coachee will be invited to set the topic for discussion. For the session to be most effective it is recommended the topic be a challenge they are facing, an area of their lives that they are finding unsatisfactory or something they hope to change.
2. The coach will ask questions to help find the root cause of the issue or where the coachee is stuck, challenge the reality of the situation, build the coachee's confidence around the issue, encourage new thinking towards strategies and solutions and help set realistic and achievable actions which the coachee is excited for and committed to completing.

How to prepare.

1. Before each session the coachee would benefit from giving themselves time to relax. They might try:
   1. Breathing exercises
   2. Physical exercise
   3. Listening to music
   4. Being somewhere quiet
   5. A tried and tested method that the coachee knows already
2. The coachee will benefit from taking some time to consider their progress from the previous session:
   1. Did they complete their actions?
   2. Have they employed any new strategies or thinking from the previous session?
   3. What has gone well since the previous session?
   4. Have any new challenges arisen?
3. The session will be more effective if the coachee brings something meaningful to take notes with, whichever method works best for them. This could be a pen and paper, a specific notebook, a phone, a tablet, Post-it notes, anything that will act as an effective reminder of the session and any actions for the time between sessions.

After the session.

1. It may help the coachee to share any new actions or strategies with someone supportive and non-judgmental, this will increase accountability when practising something new.
2. If the coachee is inspired to do any additional planning around the session agreed actions, now could be a good time to cement the times and dates for those actions.
3. The coach will retain and store any of their notes securely. The notes are a record of the progress of the coachee across the engagement and help the coach when preparing for the next session.