Coaching is a useful way of developing people's skills and abilities, and of boosting performance. It can also help deal with issues and challenges before they become major problems.
Life Coaching
What is life coaching?
A life coach helps you confront and understand conditions in your personal life that obstruct your growth towards your full potential, and gives you tools to change the negatives into positives.
Life coaching differs from psychological therapy in that it is future orientated. It does not probe into your past to try to explain your feelings and beliefs, but is geared towards identifying actions that will take you where you want to be.
Who needs coaching?
Quite frankly, everybody can benefit from coaching. It provides a safe, non-threatening opportunity to access within yourself the necessary resources and solutions to create a successful future. Clients may vary from ordinary people to the very successful as well as top executives who all desire to develop themselves and lead a quality life but do not have the insight and objectivity to arrive at the solutions.
A life coach typically deals with issues such as life and career planning, motivation, self-esteem, relationships, productivity, delegation, conflict handling, leadership skills, time management, communication skills, assertiveness, problem solving, procrastination, lack of fulfillment, fears, and many others.
The coaching process
Coaching sessions are private one-on-one meetings. Professional integrity and complete confidentiality is maintained throughout.
A first introductory interview takes place, followed by ten to twelve sessions of 60 – 90 minutes each. During the initial sessions the coach asks questions that help you gain insight into your values, beliefs and life and career goals. She listens with empathy and does not judge what you say or don’t say. She leads you to formulate clear and inspiring goals and guides you towards defining strategies and actions for accomplishing your goals.
In subsequent sessions your coach will expect you to be an active partner in the process. You will have to do work in between sessions and give feedback to the coach. Most of the growth and results actually happen between sessions. Your coach regularly evaluates the progress that is being made.
After completion of the coaching process, maintenance meetings once a month are optional.
Executive Coaching
What is executive coaching?
Executive coaching is in essence leadership and performance coaching. Through empowering interactions with your coach and the mastering of strategic tools you work towards:
- practical, transformational leadership
- establishing a team culture of excellent performance
- effective micro and macro management
- self-reliance and independent decision making
- finding, producing and implementing solutions applicable to your role in the company
- experiencing a sense of fulfilment.
Perhaps you are a master in your field, have just been promoted to executive level and are unsure about the leadership challenges involved. Or you might be a seasoned executive but are finding it lonely at the top; you need a competent, objective sounding board to help clarify vital problems and challenges and reach a prudent solution. Perhaps you don’t know how to defuse a conflict situation at work; or you may feel the pressure of balancing your work and personal life and feel overwhelmed by your lack of time. Executive coaching will help you surmount your vulnerabilities and utilise your strengths in devising a plan of action.
The executive coaching process
After the first introductory interview the coaching process typically involves weekly one-on-one sessions of 60 – 90 minutes over a period of 3 – 6 months. This schedule is flexible, depending on each client’s situation.
The coaching programme is designed around your individual needs, challenges and desires. It enables experiential learning and shifts in insight into problems and solutions. Coaching takes place in a private and supportive environment where you can share your concerns while receiving non-threatening and non-judgemental guidance by the coach.
During coaching sessions you can expect to: answer guiding questions by the coach; question deeply embedded past assumptions; redefine values and goals; do a gap analysis by comparing actual and potential performance; produce solutions at both personal and company level; obtain strategic tools for managing the necessary change towards growth.
Marlet’s executive coaching is focused on sustainability. Tools and strategies developed during coaching for forging new pathways are to be sustainable to bring about lasting results.
Business Coaching
What is business coaching?
The first goal of business coaching is to enable you to analyse your present situation and unlock future possibilities. It is an effective process that enhances your entrepreneurial, managerial and business skills, develops your business performance and brings about exceptional success results.
Marlet focuses in her coaching practice on small and medium businesses. You don’t surrender your responsibility and role in your business to the coach, but are guided through a proven process to determine what steps and actions are indispensable to take your business to the next level.
The business coaching process
The first contact with the client entails a two hour assessment interview during which the coach looks at key performance indicators and establishes the particular needs of the business or organisation. This is followed by interviews with superiors, colleagues and subordinates. The coach and client then meet for a feedback and planning session to ascertain the critical components that will be addressed during coaching.
After these initial meetings the coaching process typically takes place over 6 – 8 weekly sessions of 90 minutes each, followed by 3 – 5 sessions every two weeks of 60 minutes each. The duration and frequency of sessions may vary according to the progress that is being made.
Expected outcomes
Coaching is all about results. At the end of the process you can expect to be able to set and achieve realistic yet inspiring goals, have improved motivation levels, manage time effectively, reduce stress, be more focused and self-sufficient, have new leadership skills, practise high performance behaviour, build an efficient and motivated team, increase productivity, manage change, prepare for advancement and achieve a good work-life balance.
Since Marlet’s coaching is always very practical, the client will at the end of the coaching have a written business strategy that he/she can refer to as often as necessary, thus maintaining the positive results of the coaching process.