coaching made straightforward

‘Coaching is a future focussed conversation between two people working in partnership in service of the thinking of one of them.’ (Claire Pedrick, ICF Master Certified Coach).

It provides a space for you to do some thinking, and to process your thoughts in the company of another person, with a view to you moving forward.

That might be as small as identifying a next step, or gaining fresh perspective and understanding around something that has been perplexing you. Every coaching session is different. It always starts by clarifying the subject or question you need to think about.

Knowing who to approach for a coaching conversation and what to expect can be the difficult part. Finding someone that ‘gets’ you, and you can relate to, is important. That’s where the Start Here collective can help. 

Step 1 - What’s the goal?

It’s useful to spend a bit of time, thinking about what you might want from coaching (even if it’s just 5 minutes drawing on a notepad).

What kind of personal change matters most to you?
How might that change you want benefit from thinking through with someone?

You could ask other people what they got out of coaching.

If you’re an employee, how might coaching align with your role or the organisation’s goals? You might want to talk to a colleague about how coaching is supported or funded in your organisation.

Step 2 - Explore different coaches

Biographies, photos, websites and testimonials are a great place to start, and will give you a flavour of the coaching on offer. 

None of us have time to review every coach on the internet (!), so you might want to ask for personal recommendations, or search for coaches with a particular specialism.

An imperfect shortlist beats not getting started!

And of course, the Start Here collective team is a ready-made shortlist to kick things off.

Step 3 - Arrange a chat to find out more

An opportunity to understand how you might work together? Is coaching what you need?

What do you want to ask? You might like to speak to more than one coach initially and do some comparisons.

Can you see yourself working with this person? What appeals about the way they work?

Step 4 - Choose your coach and arrange a first session

An opportunity for you and your coach to agree how you will work together, and for you to share what’s on your mind and what you hope to get out of coaching. 

Coaches talk about ‘contracting’, to agree the purpose or focus of the conversations together. You might want to discuss your coaching goals across a series of coaching sessions, but each conversation will also begin by agreeing a topic or question to discuss.

This is the point where you might document the aim of the work, number of sessions and payment (which can be as simple as a summary email confirmation).

If you work for an organisation that is supporting your coaching, you might be agreeing the objectives and budget for the work with your line manager or company sponsor.

Step 5 - Start coaching, with regular check-ins to review progress

This might be one session or multiple sessions. It can be for as long or as short a duration as is useful to you. You are in the driving seat.

You and your coach should regularly check in, to identify if coaching is still proving valuable to you. 

At some point you will have done what you set out to do and it will feel right to bring your coaching sessions to an end. Alternatively you may feel a different type of coach or a different kind of conversation or support might be appropriate.