What even is coaching, and what can it do for me?

Coaching is a co-creative partnership where we work to gain clarity around what you want and what’s in the way, chart a path to get there, and work through how you're being in the process.   

The aim is to create shifts that take you from where you are now to where you want to be, whether that be in life, career, your experience of self, or anywhere else that needs some loving attention (and/or a kick in the pants). It’s not about advice - I’m not going to hand you the answers. But through these transformative conversations, you will increase your self-awareness, feel more empowered, make more conscious decisions, and forward these decisions into focused, and organized action, so you can meet your goals.

New Awareness + Different Action = New Result 

Coaching is a chance to step out of the norm, stop living the cycle of should’s, wants, and next times, and break free from your own complacency so you can create a life you truly love.

As a result of these powerful alliances, coachees find themselves…

• Finding clarify around the changes they want to make

• Becoming more balanced and fulfilled 

• Taking more effective and focused actions

• Creating momentum and consistency

• Achieving more than they would on their own

How does it work?

We identify projects to work on, you come in with a coaching request, I ask some questions, offer some reflections and maybe even have a suggestion or two, all in service of coming to our own answers. It’s often our own blind spots that stop us from making the changes we want. A coach plays the critical role of highlighting these and acting as an objective mirror to enable you to understand what you deeply desire and what’s in the way. From there, you can make an intentional choice in where you want to go, and step into who you are and what you're capable of.  

Through this rigorous questioning, accountability, and support structures a client generates massive results thanks to new insights and new actions. A coach ensures their client has the tools and facility to make powerful choices, and create that which they want most in the world.

If you’re thinking this sounds abstract. that’s because it is! Coaching is extremely dynamic and personal. My job is to listen to YOU and empower you to live your personal success story, whatever it may be. You are a unique individual with your own desires and aspirations, and your story is unlike anyone else’s. Trying to standardize coaching into “one size fits all” makes it lose its magic and effectiveness.

Why can’t you just tell me what to do?

Ah, how I wish I could. However, while giving advice is easy, and it also tends to be ineffective when it comes to long-term change. Coaching methods are designed to create transformational, lasting change. The focus is not just on the actions you take but also your way of being and mindset.

We each hold either the answers or the ability to gather resources to acquire the answers to our own challenges. It may be easier to ask Siri, Alexa or others to tell us what to do, or to do it for us, but the issue with quick fixes is that they are not permanent.

If we could grow by the efforts of others, then I would be the first to send a friend to the gym for me! Sadly, no increase in muscle is made without me putting the work in myself to become stronger and as such, I coach my clients to workout for themselves.

Isn’t that the same as therapy?

Great question! Coaching & therapy differ on a few levels. Therapists are mental health experts licensed to offer therapeutic services addressing psychological conditions. Generally speaking, therapists work with patients to move away from emotional or traumatic experiences from the past, and sometimes present, so they can be functioning at a healthy level.

Coaching, on the other hand, is a relationship between equals, where the client is the expert on their own life, and it is focused on moving you towards the future you want to create. While creating that future can be great for your emotional wellbeing, the intent of coaching is to support you in making those changes so you thrive, not to heal. That said, coaching and therapy can be quite powerful together, and when a client should seek the guidance of a therapist, we work together to create a plan around that, as needed.

Coaching is also different from consulting, mentoring, and training. You’re welcome to read more here if you're interested in learning more about the distinctions.

Okay… but does coaching actually work?

Short answer: Yes! Both neuroscience and leaders who have previously benefited from coaching say so.

Long answer: Borrowing language from the Co-Active Institute: “As the growing body of neuroscience research reveals, the tools of coaching profoundly help clients develop positive new neural networks, respond more calmly to stress, make choices more easily, and access much more of their creativity. This inevitably leads to more effective, successful, and fulfilling lives, and there is substantial evidence from neuroscience that this philosophy is particularly effective in engaging, motivating, and helping clients experience lasting change and transformation.”

Additionally, it's been well-documented that coaches can play a crucial role for everyone from young professionals to working parents to business leaders (see these articles: Harvard Business Review, The Cut, Forbes). Even Prince Harry is jumping on the coaching train!