Our coaching has three broad phases:

1. Establish goals
2. Develop a plan
3. Coach to the plan

Phase One almost always includes:

• Gathering data from others about the coachee
• Self-assessments such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI)
• Alignment conversations among the coachee, the boss and the coach

Phases Two and Three happen during private coaching conversations.

Alignment conversations with the boss often happen again at the end of a coaching engagement.

Coaching is very personal. Look for someone you feel comfortable talking with.

We recommend two techniques.

First, get the coach to talk first. See if you find him or her easy to listen to. Does he or she interest you?

Second, tell the coach a question that’s on your mind. Does the coach’s response stimulate your thinking?

• Coaching engagements typically last six months.
• That said, some clients continue their coaching relationships for many years.
• Some clients have extremely targeted goals that can be achieved in three months.

Goals are agreed to early in the coaching process. Progress on the goals is measured throughout the coaching engagement.

• ldeally, coaching sessions happen every other week.
• At the beginning of an engagement, sessions are at least two hours.
• Sessions often become shorter over time.

• Sometimes the leader seeks coaching for him or herself and contacts us directly.
• Sometimes the leader’s boss contacts us.
• Sometimes an HR business partner contacts us.

Usually the boss is involved in setting goals, tracking progress and assessing whether the coachee has achieved the goals.

Communicating high-level goals to the boss helps the coachee be accountable. But specific information discussed during coaching sessions is treated confidentially.

• We gather anecdotal feedback about our clients in virtually every instance.
• For assessments we most frequently use the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).
• We use other assessments, such as DiSC®, Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument®, FIRO-B®, as needed.

That’s up to you. We make certain the organization understands that these reports are yours. No one sees them without your consent.

We successfully coach people around the world. However our preference is to have as many face-face meetings as possible.

Coaching is most definitely not therapy—although, like therapy, it often addresses a leader’s self-limiting beliefs. But coaching goals are distinctly different from the goals of therapy. Read about that distinction here.

Yes. Self-management—in all its many guises—is a goal we coach on regularly. For more ideas about self-management, look here.