Clients talk with me about the various ways that they feel restless about work. 

• Some dread particular meetings for how they make them feel frustrated or nervous.
• Some are brand new in a role that doesn’t lean on technical knowledge anymore which is raising inner doubts.
• Some feel pressure to articulate what they want next in their career, and are embarrassed they don’t have a clear answer.
• Some have been in the same role for three years and are eager to expand into something bigger but are uncertain about how.
• Some feel guilty about being overbearing but that’s the only way they know how to meet deadlines.
• Some are feeling bored and unchallenged.

We talk about multiple perspectives, key personal drivers, and ways to take action.

The issues we talk about aren’t experienced just by managers and supervisors.  You can be feeling stuck when coordinating consultants and clients.  You can be nervous about applying for a promotion.  You can be an entrepreneur hesitating about the next step.

An Executive Coach focuses on the challenges at an executive level.  A Business Coach focuses on the challenges of operating a business.  But a Leadership Coach focuses on the issues common to all levels, from entry to board room, because everyone has the capacity to be an authentic leader.

You, and your colleagues, are probably surrounded by direct or subliminal messages that it’s normal to feel strained, and that it’s a rite of passage that colleagues before you had to go through too.  It’s common to hear, “I figured it out, so I believe you can too.” 

However, any great boss you know today, will quickly offer gratitude for someone who crossed their path who had some coaching skills.  They will be grateful for specific experiences with that person that helped their growth and eased the restlessness.

You don’t have to wait it out, or figure it out on your own.  You can allow yourself to set high goals and achieve them quickly.  You can choose to thrive on your own terms.

Examples of outcomes from a coaching program include being better able to:

• Communicate with colleagues with more ease and influence
• Initiate connections with executives
• Make decisions and move on
• Advocate for a promotion
• Articulate a well-rounded career vision
• Nurture trust within teams

I think of a mentor as someone who has reached a place that intrigues you.  You can listen to the mentor tell you about the path they took to reach that place.  It is up to you to choose if you want to follow the exact same path, forge a different path, or just take some of their more practical advice.  The key to remember is that the mentor’s path isn’t a pre-approved solution.  Following it may actually inhibit better paths from being discovered.

I think of a coach as someone who partners with you to better know yourself to set your goals and your plan for achieving them.  The coach facilitates conversations to design your future and the behaviours and skills you’ll need for it.  The plan is customized for you and is immediately actionable.

If you broke your leg, you would partner with a physiotherapist to set your milestones for the mobility and functionality you want.  Your PT would assess your current abilities, limitations, and strengths, and create a plan.  Your exercises would be designed specifically for you and your injury, and they’d gradually change as your PT witnesses your progress toward your goal.  You could try to recover on your own, researching exercises and gauging how hard to push yourself, but you would risk great moments of frustration, and many ways that it will take longer to reach your goal either from hesitations to push too hard or from setbacks.

Similarly, a leadership coach is trained to assess your current abilities, limitations, and strengths.  Your coach is also trained in goal setting and identifying exercises that are just challenging enough to move you forward and gain momentum.  Your coach actively looks for indicators of progress that you may not be able to see yourself, and notices helpful patterns.

A coach is a partner.  Expansion and growth require that you put knowledge into practice, and that can feel risky on your own.  There are many sources of information and knowledge: mentors, advisors, books, trainings, videos, podcasts, etc.  Figuring out which skills to develop, and how you’ll do so can be daunting enough.  Adding the fear of embarrassment or failure in front of coworkers and your boss results in many people holding back.  A coach is with you to move forward safely and confidently.

When your coaching program starts, the first thing we will do is clearly define the desired future scenario, and why it is important to you.  From there, we will progressively expand your awareness and develop key capabilities toward that specific goal.  Ways to measure progress could include:

• Noticing what was once avoided, being more comfortable and intriguing
• Hearing from colleagues that they have noticed shifts in behaviour (which can also be formalized in a series of 360 surveys)
• Feeling closer to your desired future scenario and confident that you can keep moving toward it
• Having high-five moments more regularly
• Observing that you have stores of patience, creativity, and energy

Your results will directly tie to your level of commitment to communicate honestly, to be open to feedback and assistance, and to create the time and energy to participate fully in the program.  This isn’t a training course with seminar sessions and an exam to study for at the end.  It isn’t about information but about transformation.  This is incremental, daily experiential learning, which is why the results will be seen and will last.

My being external to your company lets you truly speak freely, with no risks or repercussions.  My approach is based on a structure of multiple sessions that build on each other.  My core coaching programs are 6 or 8 one-on-one virtual or in-person sessions over a period of 12-20 weeks.  This allows us to have a clear beginning, middle, and end which sets a framework to see progress and results.

You would want a physiotherapist you can trust when you are worried that you’ll fall and when you wonder if you’ll reach your goal.  Similarly, you would want a coach you can trust when you’re feeling vulnerable and not sure about next steps.

Sometimes trust can come from common experience.  I struggled moving from independent contributor to people manager.  I know the lingo and the culture in the design and construction world.  I’ve spent a lot of time around sports (especially curling 🥌) – playing, serving on Boards, and building the facilities.  I’m an avid traveller and had no permanent home for a while as a digital nomad.  I’m often described as calming, with fun stories.  Maybe some of that resonates with you.

Sometimes trust can build over small interactions.  I have an email accountability program.  I also have a single session service using science to understand your intrinsic motivation.  These both provide value as well as opportunities to engage with me.

Fundamentally trust comes from transparency.  You can read testimonials on my LinkedIn profile.  You can reach out with any questions.  Mostly, before I agree to work with anyone, we need to have a confidential, commitment-free conversation.  We both need to feel that we understand each other.

Much of the work between sessions is meant to integrate with what you are already doing.  A daily practice will be tied to an existing habit, routine, or cue with the aim of being small and repeatable.  You might be considering reflection prompts for five to ten minutes at the end of the day, and/or for twenty minutes at the end of the week.

Our one-on-one conversations will be for one hour, and they will be spaced two or three weeks apart depending on the particular homework and the calendar.

The financial investment in my core coaching programs ranges from US$1,200 to US$3,150.  When we have our confidential, commitment-free conversation we can craft what’s right for you.  Payment options include full payment upfront, or split in two payments, or I can invoice after each session.

There are two parts to asking someone to pay for your coaching.

The first part is the initial ask. I suggest a short inquiry.  “I want to work with a leadership coach.  Can I use Learning & Development budget for this?”

The second part is reacting to the response.

• It is actually possible that this is seen as very normal, and you hear “Yes.” We would talk through the paperwork and get started.
• They might say yes to coaching, and say that it needs to be with a coach that is within your company or with a coach already in a pre-approved pool or on a standing contract. This might still let you work with me, but even if not, I’ll be excited for you.
• They might say yes to coaching, and say that they have a budget cap. We would explore options of what might offer value within the cap.

One thing to keep in mind – our conversations would remain confidential even when a sponsor funds them.  As the coach, I serve the sponsor through your growth.  As needed, I can assist you in preparing for any one-on-one check-ins you have with your sponsor.

What is more likely to happen, is that the employee or team will expand their skills and find positive adjustments to further thrive where they are.  A rising star who plateaued will start rising again into opportunities they hadn’t understood before.  Your struggling teams will collaborate with more trust and creativity.  Your investment in them will role-model the growth mindset that you need everyone to have.

In the scenario that a coaching program does lead to someone choosing to depart, they will do so with a positive impression and clear communication.  They are more likely to refer strong candidates and clients to your company, and even potentially return themselves.