What is Coaching?
What should I expect?
Well, let’s start with what coaching is not: it is not a process where the coach provides instruction or answers, nor is it about “fixing” a person or their problems. It is a relationship of equals where the coach provides a structure, questioning and challenge that enables a client to explore options and identify a path towards the achievement of their objectives. However, it is not just about creating an action plan. Whilst many people seek coaching for a specific problem or challenge, life is complicated. To achieve the optimum, sustainable outcome it is necessary to explore and challenge an individual’s perceptions, influences and experience to create an environment for effective decision making. Bringing the whole self into the conversation.
This might sound intimidating, but it is not! My coaching sessions are calm, reassuring, and non-judgemental. I endeavour to use humour effectively, but also have the ability to challenge when appropriate. I aim to help people understand that they have choices and utilise my coaching skills to help them to evaluate those choices. These techniques enable clients to challenge their own thinking, identify the best solutions to their challenges and develop a strategy to ensure that their goals are achieved.
How does the coaching process work?
It is very rare as an adult to find a place where you are not judged, where you can be open, honest and vulnerable: that is exactly what coaching provides. To create an effective foundation for a coaching process it is important for the client to have trust in me as a coach, and for me to have confidence that I can meet the client’s expectations. So, the starting point is an initial 20-minute session with a phone or video call to start to explore the client’s objectives, the potential coaching process and begin to get to know each other. There is no charge for this session, and at the end, either party may decide that they do not wish to continue.
If the decision is to move on to the coaching process, sessions of 1 hour will be scheduled at weekly intervals. These can be face to face, on the phone or video call. Prior to the first session, you will be asked to complete and return a questionnaire to provide more detail of your objectives and expectations. Whilst I will provide structure to each session, you will set the agenda in terms of the scope and duration of the coaching process.
"It is never too late to be who you might have been."
- George Elliot
What can coaching do?
This is how one of our clients reflected on her experience:
"Well, what a difference a few hours can make!
I had recently retired from an amazing job, amazingly interesting and amazingly stressful, and had taken on some part-time work but found myself at a real crossroads.
I felt guilty that I was no longer working a 70-hour week and bringing in a good income and found it difficult that I had time to decide what I wanted to do rather than just race on my normal treadmill and each decision I made seemed to increase my feeling of guilt.
I ended up feeling totally exhausted and went to my GP for a thorough check up to see if there was anything physically wrong, but all my blood tests came back as normal and my GP suggested that I may be depressed and offered my antidepressants, which I definitely didn’t want, or to get some counselling. So, I spoke to a wonderful friend who said that she didn’t think I didn’t need counselling but needed a life coach and highly recommended Fiona.
Well to say that I was sceptical was an understatement, but I thought what have I got to lose. I only had 4 sessions and immediately felt that I had found somebody who understood. Fiona took me back through my life and reminded me of quite how much I had accomplished and helped me find peace with my decision to work less and to be allowed to have time for myself. She helped me re-establish my values and to search for my lost sense of self-worth.
I feel that I have regained my inner contentment, am sleeping much better and am looking forward to the future having made all sorts of outings and holiday plans, without those awful pangs of guilt and am excited about having a very active retirement.
Fiona, I can’t thank you enough."
