Coaching

Individuals

My job as a coach is to help my clients find the motivation to move forward, establish an action plan, provide accountability, and provide objective observations – all from the perspective of what is best for the client. When I coach individuals, we usually start by getting rid of things. Most people have very full and busy lives – there isn’t room to cram any more stuff in! To know what to keep and what to toss, we need a yardstick with which to measure value. That yardstick is your life purpose and we will create a life purpose statement. We will assemble a crew to help you on your way, some internal and some external. We can use assessments if we decide one would be useful. Coaching involves some tough love sometimes. I am not helping a client when I do not tell them what I see. At the beginning of our time together, we will design an alliance around how gentle or blunt you want me to be and what your expectations are. My only goal is to get you to your goals.

Groups

For my purposes here, a group is just about any group of people with a common interest and similar goals and values. (Teams are different. See the definition below.)  For example, it could be a group of front line supervisors, senior managers, high-potential employees, small business owners, mothers of small children or Christian men. Usually groups that I coach do a great job of supporting one another and we all learn from each other. I provide structure, motivation, and some insights. We also might learn and practice new skills that would be helpful. In businesses, group coaching gives one level of employees a chance to share ideas and even develop some consistency across different areas.

Teams

A team is a well-defined group of people who work together to achieve shared goals. Each member of the team depends on the others. Team coaching is a piece of team building which can also include training. Team coaching usually addresses one or more specific challenges that a team is facing or it can be a move to get a good team to be great. Team coaching is very team specific. When I coach a team, I consider the team to be the client and the focus. The individual members are voices of the team speaking for the team.

Couples

As a relationship specialist, I do coach couples. When I coach couples, I consider my client to be the relationship – not either of the individuals. It’s a unique perspective. I use John Gottman’s Sound Relationship House theory.

I work with couples who just want more pizzazz and ones who are struggling. I will ask you to fill out an initial questionnaire and we will design your coaching program together.