It can feel a little daunting if you’ve never tried coaching before. Many clients are curious about the flow of a typical coaching session. They wonder if it’s like therapy for professionals (it’s not!) or who gets to choose the topic.
Let's walk you step by step through the structure of a coaching session:
Who Chooses The Topic?
Most people are surprised to learn that the client chooses the topic - not the coach.
For example, you can choose a topic based on the different eras in time...
The Past:
Perhaps something happened recently (or even a while ago) that’s interfering with your ability to move forward. You’d like more clarity, to find a new perspective or seek a resolution, so it’s no longer occupying your thoughts or getting in your way. That’s something we can discuss. (PLEASE NOTE: I’m not referring to traumatic events. Resolving trauma is the domain of therapy.)
For example, a recent client felt stuck. She couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t giving one of her direct reports feedback. As a result of the coaching session, she uncovered that she felt sheepish giving a Director who reported to her feedback around lack of accountability, as she herself hadn’t held that individual and others on the team accountable.
The Present:
What’s in front of you and weighing on your mind right now? It could be a decision you have to make, a situation you need to deal with, or an obstacle you want to focus time on so that you can move forward.
For example, given market changes, one of our clients knew he needed and wanted to create a new strategy for his function. It was at the forefront of his mind. He brought this work into our session and made significant progress identifying some key elements. He felt coaching around the topic was helpful because he had dedicated time to work on a solution, and he appreciated that there was someone else to help structure the conversation. Echoing what we heard him say, we encouraged him to explore additional viewpoints and aspects of the situation, leading to new insights and great options.
The Future:
What’s on the horizon? Perhaps you’d like to think through, consider or prepare for something coming up. It could be a strategy, conversation, presentation, or decision.
For example, after one of our clients decided to sell his company, he scheduled a one-on-one session to talk through his messaging. He wanted to share the information in a way that honored the team and let them know how valued they were as they moved forward into this new opportunity. He also wanted to reassure the team that the parameters he had put in place protected their jobs and that the new owners had no intention of shaking things up, given how successful the business had been. We used our time together to identify an approach, prepare talking points, and outline his 360-degree communication strategy. And we checked back in at the end of the session to ensure his values and goals were met.
How Is A Coaching Session Structured?
GETTING STARTED...
No matter how many times we’ve met before, we generally connect personally for a couple of minutes at the beginning of a session.
You decide if you want to dive straight into coaching or begin by sharing any updates, learnings, or progress on homework.
When you’re ready, we’ll ask what you want to focus on for today, why this topic is important to you, and most importantly, what success looks like by the end of the session. We’ll even identify what is in or outside of scope to ensure we aren’t taking on more than we can tackle in one session.
DIVING IN...
It’s the coach’s job to keep the conversation on track. If we veer into another topic, we’ll check in with you. You’re in charge, and you decide if you want to go back to the original topic you identified or if the new topic is more pressing.
We’ll coach around the situation and also you, the person. Your personal and professional life is on the table because we are whole people and bring our whole selves to everything we do. That means we might discuss beliefs, values, perspectives, thoughts, feelings, and even identity. Often, the insights we learn from coaching can be applied to more than one area of life.
Keep in mind that coaches are NOT advisors. We’re not here to tell you what we think you “should” do (we’ll bet you have enough “shoulds” in your life already).
A coach is here to ask questions, provide feedback and help you arrive at your own conclusions. And if there’s a model we think might be helpful, we’ll offer it to you as a possible resource.
WRAPPING UP...
We’ll spend the last 10-15 minutes wrapping things up. That means you’ll have an opportunity to share any insights you have about the situation or yourself. We might also share some observations we’ve had during the session or in a larger context of the coaching engagement. Sometimes we might identify patterns, explore behaviors, and tie things back to your goals.
Together, we’ll decide what comes next regarding follow-up actions based on your insights. That might involve co-designing a practice you can implement between sessions that will support you in achieving further progress.
We’ll ask you to consider anything that might get in the way so you can anticipate and plan around obstacles. And we’ll ask what you need to move forward, so you can put in place the support you need to succeed.
Lastly, we’ll ask you to consider anything else you might need to feel complete and end by acknowledging and celebrating your hard work and progress.
Let's Quickly Recap!
A coaching session is...:
- not about revisiting past trauma.
- a judgment-free space.
- structured around a topic of your choosing.
- a great way to explore what's important to you (and what's not).
- about you as a WHOLE person (yes, personal and professional areas will overlap).
- focused on what success looks like to you.
A coach asks questions you may not have considered yet, offers feedback based on observation, and helps you design a path to your goals. It’s up to you to decide what actions spring from the insights you gain during coaching and what changes you want to implement in your work - and life.
Now that we’ve taken the mystery out of coaching, all that’s left for you is to experience a session for yourself! If you’ve already signed up for coaching with us, we’re looking forward to our first call.
If you'd like to experience a coaching session for yourself, please book a call to see if we’re a good fit. You can check out our coaching services here.
