The International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines Coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”
One of the main benefits of working with a coach is the ability to gain a fresh, informed perspective on problems that you face. In addition to offering new insight into challenges, a coach can help you to zero in on negative patterns that could be standing in the way of your success. Many people view working with a life coach as a means of bridging the gap between your current circumstances and the life you’d like to lead. Along with providing the support and motivation essential for maintaining momentum, coaches can observe when a client is stuck or needs to recalibrate their goals. As a result, clients often achieve those goals more quickly and efficiently than they would if working on their own. In coaching, we see the clients as the experts on their own lives and the coach’s job is to listen, make observations, ask powerful questions, and hold up a mirror to help the clients see what they may not see in themselves.
There has been so much misunderstanding and confusion on what coaching is amongst people unfamiliar to the field of coaching.
– A life coach does not evaluate, assess, or critique their clients or their life in any way. It is a non-judgmental exchange.
– Even though life coaches care deeply, they do not support their clients in the same way a friend does. They can remain impartial to you and your circumstances while still wanting the very best for you and what you want. This allows them to hold you lovingly accountable at times you may need it most!
– A life coach will not tell you what’s right or wrong for you and your life. Their aim is to help you to uncover these answers for yourself.
While coaching can be therapeutic, it is not therapy. Every client should be aware of this. Counselling or therapy is recommended for clients with decreased level of individual functioning, may involve collaborative care with a medical team, its recommended for those who need help to recover from past traumas, to relieve psychological suffering, to heal from maladaptive behaviors or illnesses generated through dysfunction.
Mentoring is when someone with seniority offers informal advice to someone with less experience. Mentors give advice based on their personal and professional expertise. Coaches work with clients in a collaborative process. The agenda for each conversation is developed by both parties. A coach is not expected to have all the answers, their expertise could be diverse. Rather than giving advice, coaches gather information in the co-created process of change. A coach’s job is to ask questions from a curious stance that will provoke thought in a growth-oriented direction.
Consulting is usually problem focused whereas Coaching builds on a person’s strengths. With coaching, you walk away with strategies for uncovering your truth on your own.
A consultant is usually a subject matter expert who provides technical and professional advice to clients based on their significant understanding, knowledge, and experience. A coach, however, helps clients find their own clarity and answers, and assists them to understand how to move forward. The role of a coach is to work as your equal. The coach is there to help you find the answers for yourself. They are a sounding board who provides the right questions to get you to think of the solutions.
Coaches are trained to empower the client to make their own decisions.
1. I want to fix something that is wrong in my life – the right coach will ask questions and reflect what they hear. They will challenge you to think in new and more resourceful ways. But a coach will not solve anything for you.
2. I need help with deep seated psychological issues – most coaches are not therapists. If you are dealing with issues like depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or other mental health disorders – you need a trained therapist.
3. I am in search of a confidante – most of the time family and friends have good intentions but they may not be impartial. Being too close to your situation, their vision can be limited. If you are looking only for collusion and affirmation, coaching may not be right for you.
- I am stuck – you may see yourself as blocked, at a crossroads or out of options. You may feel defeated, resigned or confused, and your point of view is the main contributing factor to these mind states. Learning how to identify disempowering underlying beliefs that are running in the background can move you out of helplessness and clear confusion.
- I need help to figure out, “What’s next?” – Perhaps you’ve just walked out on the wrong job or ended a bad relationship. You may not have figured out what’s next but defining what you don’t want is the first step. Transitions often challenge us to re-examine our sense of who we are or the capabilities we’ve taken for granted. It can be painful to let go of what you know, especially if you feel you “should” be incredibly happy and you aren’t. Working with the right coach can help you examine the constructs and inner worlds you’ve created in the past.
- I want to make this happen – You may feel like you’re clinging to the edge of a cliff where it feels impossible to either keep hold or leap off. A coach will support you through the fear, resistance, and panic that can arise when you are stepping out of your “comfort zone” to do something you have always wanted to do.
- You are unable to take a calculated risk – Fear of failing is the biggest killer of plans and ideas. More than a lack of knowledge or skill, more than the lack of a clear strategy or action plan, the biggest obstacle in the way of progress is the paralysis caused by the fear of failing. Few people are willing to knowingly risk failure. When you feel stuck in a loop, the right coach will help you dissolve self-limiting patterns and beliefs, break out of self-defeating assumptions and re-frame the conflicting drives which hold you stuck.
A coaching agreement needs to be signed for a minimum of 3 months and can extend to a maximum of 6-9 months, this it totally dependent on the client and his/her personal growth needs.
The appointment calendar can be found on the Home page of our website. Please click on the date and time slot of your choice, this will lead to a UPI payment link. Once the payment for the session is made, you will receive an email confirmation for the date/time selected. Please note an appointment needs to be booked online at least 24 hours prior to the date/time slot of the client’s preference.
The coaching sessions are conducted via Zoom/Skype calls – ideally a video call is preferred, although a voice call will suffice as well.
If you choose to cancel an online appointment booking, a refund will be issued only if you have cancelled the appointment, anywhere between 6 to 9 hours prior to the time slot you selected. Any cancellations outside of this timeframe shall not be entertained and therefore no refund shall be issued.
The refund will be credited to your bank account within 7 working days.
Each coaching session would be for a duration of 45 minutes. A client is expected to attend bi-weekly sessions for the entire duration of the agreement.
If the client feels the need to have more frequent sessions, a weekly session is also possible. This is completely the client’s discretion
A client can postpone/reschedule an appointment already booked only once. To do this the client needs to go back to the Appointment Calendar and click on the Reschedule option and select another date/time that is convenient for him/her.
The Coaching process is a two-way street. The client would be expected to hold himself/herself accountable for the coming forward with the agenda and the outcome he/she wants out of each session.
The client can confidently expect from the coach an environment that is safe, confidential, non-judgmental, unbiased – and an accountability partner walking with him/her towards the goals the client has envisioned for oneself.