The Decision Enabler™: Frequently Asked Questions

From time to time we are asked common questions that prospective clients may have. We have chosen to offer those questions here, with the corresponding answers. If you don't see your question answered here or anywhere else within our site, feel free to contact us directly, and we will be happy to help you out.

Q: What is coaching?

A: Professional coaching is a partnership between a coach and an individual or team that supports the achievement of goals set by the client. While positive feelings/emotions may be a natural outcome of coaching, the primary aim is on creating strategies for achieving specific goals. The emphases are on action, accountability and follow through. In general, the assumption with coaching is that individuals or teams are capable of generating their own solutions, with the coach supplying supportive, discovery-based approaches and frameworks. Coaching accelerates progress by providing greater focus and awareness of possibilities leading to more effective decisions.

Q: What are the benefits of coaching?

A: You can expect to experience fresh perspectives on personal and business challenges and opportunities, enhanced thinking and decision -- making skills, enhanced interpersonal effectiveness, and increased confidence in carrying out your chosen work and life roles. With commitment, you can also expect to see appreciable results in the areas of productivity, personal satisfaction, and the achievement of goals.

Q: How can I determine if coaching is right for me?

A: Start by summarizing what you would expect to accomplish in coaching. When someone has a fairly clear idea of the desired outcome, a coaching partnership can be a useful tool for developing a strategy for how to achieve that outcome with greater ease. Ask yourself if you find it valuable to collaborate, to have another viewpoint and to be asked to consider new perspectives. If you are ready to devote the time and the energy to making real changes in your work or life, then coaching can help you to grow and develop.

Q: What are some typical reasons why I might work with a coach?

A: You or your team may choose to work with a coach for any of these reasons:

Something is at stake (a challenge, stretch goal or opportunity), and it's urgent and compelling
There is a gap in knowledge, skills, confidence, or resources
There is a desire to accelerate results
There is a need for a course correction in work or life due to a setback
You have a style of relating that is ineffective or not supporting the achievement of your goals
There is a lack of clarity, and decisions need to be made
Work and life are out of balance, and this is creating unwanted consequences
You haven't identified your core strengths and how best to leverage them
You desire work and life to be simpler, less complicated
There is a need and a desire to better organized and more self-managing

Q: What has caused the tremendous growth in coaching?

A: Individuals who have experienced the excellent results of coaching are talking to more people about coaching. Coaching helps people focus on what matters most to them in their business and personal lives. People today are more open to the idea of being in charge of their own lives. Coaching helps people to do that.

Coaching is a useful tool to deal with many areas of change:

Downsizing, restructuring and mergers have radically altered what has been termed the "traditional employment contract"-companies can no longer achieve results using traditional management approaches
There is a growing shortage of talented employees in certain industries-to attract and retain top talent, companies must commit to investing in individuals' development
There is a widening disparity between what managers were trained to do and what their jobs now require them to do in order to meet increasing demands for competitive results
There is unrest for both employees and leaders-with fears around job security and increased workplace pressures to perform at higher levels than ever before
Companies must develop inclusive, collaborative work environments in order to achieve strategic business goals, and to maintain high levels of customer satisfaction

Q: How is coaching delivered? What does the process look like?

A: Coaching typically begins with a personal interview (face-to-face or by teleconference call) to assess the individual's current opportunities and challenges, define the scope of the relationship, identify priorities for action, and establish specific desired outcomes. Between scheduled sessions, the individual may be asked to complete specific actions that support the achievement of one's personally prioritized goals. The coach may provide additional resources in the form of relevant articles, checklists, assessments, or models, to support the individual's thinking and actions. The duration of the coaching relationship varies depending on the individual's personal needs and preferences.

Q: What should someone look for when selecting a coach?

A: The most important thing to look for in selecting a coach is someone with whom you feel you can easily relate and create an effective partnership. Here are some questions you may want to ask:

What is your coaching experience? (# individuals coached, years of experience, types of situations)
What is your coach specific training?
What is your coaching specialty or the client areas you most often work in?
What specialized skills or experience do you bring to your coaching?
What is your philosophy about coaching?
What is your process for coaching? (How sessions are conducted, frequency, etc.)
What are some success stories? (examples of individuals who have done well and how you have added value)
Who will actually conduct the sessions?

Q: How long does a coach work with an individual?

A: The length of a coaching partnership varies depending on the individual's or team's needs and preferences. For certain types of focused coaching, 3 to 6 months of working with a coach may work. For other types of coaching, people may find it beneficial to work with a coach for a longer period. Factors that may impact the length of time include: the types of goals, the ways individuals or teams like to work, the frequency of coaching meetings, and the financial resources available to support coaching.

Q: What does the coach do?

A: The role of the coach is to provide objective assessment and observations that foster the individual's or team members' enhanced self-awareness and awareness of others, practice astute listening in order to gain a full understanding of the individual's or team's circumstances, be a sounding board in support of possibility thinking and thoughtful planning and decision making, champion opportunities and potential, encourage stretch and challenge commensurate with personal strengths and aspirations, reveal fresh perspectives, challenge blind spots, and support the creation of alternative scenarios. Finally, the coach maintains professional boundaries in the coaching relationship, including confidentiality, and adheres to the coaching profession's code of ethics.

The role of the individual or team is to assume full responsibility for personal decisions and actions, use the coaching process to think of possibilities and fresh perspectives, employ the tools, concepts, models and principles provided by the coach to enhance problem solving skills and take courageous action in alignment with personal goals.

Q: How can the success of the coaching process be measured?

A: First, there are the external indicators of performance: results which can be seen and measured in the individual's or team's environment. Second, there are internal indicators of success: results which are inherent within the individual or team members being coached and can be measured by the individual or team being coached. Ideally, both external and internal metrics are incorporated.

External measures include achievement of coaching goals, feedback from direct reports, customers, boss, personal and/or business performance data (e.g., productivity, efficiency, and revenue). The measures selected should ideally be things already being measuring and that the individual or team has the ability to directly influence.

Internal measures include self-scoring/self-validating assessments, changes in self-awareness and awareness of others, shifts in thinking which inform more effective actions, and shifts in one's emotional state.