About Coaching
THE FREEDOM COACH
Coach, Mentor, Therapist, Writer and Speaker
Your first step is to book a call with me – Lets get connected and see where it takes us . . .
How do Coaching and Mentoring ‘Work’?
It’s not a one-off ‘quick fix’ as some people seem to expect, and neither is it something done ‘for’ or ‘to’ you. Some ‘coaches’ do offer DFY (Done For You) programmes but that isn’t coaching, contracting out certain tasks you’d rather not do yourself,
Most people understand how sports coaching works and to some extent how business coaching works, generally it’s all about improving ‘performance’.
But what about ‘life’ or ‘personal development’ coaching? This is often surrounded by some mystery and very few people know what it’s really all about.
In truth, it’s just the same, it’s about improving your ‘performance’ in those fundamental areas.
You may be asking “Do I want a coach or a Mentor?”
Mentoring differs from Coaching. It’s a process of guiding and teaching the when, where and how of whatever you wish to achieve whereas Coaching is about helping you discover the what and why of your direction and purpose in life.
We don’t really have to decide whether we need a coach or a mentor or a teacher because a good ‘coach’ will fulfil all three roles and have a network of specialists they can bring in if required. From time to time a therapist may be called in to deal with specific matters
The ‘answer’ is to take on a holistic coach who you can engage with to deal with matters ‘as a whole’ rather than a series of specialists. If a specialist is required, your coach will summon one.
Without a guide you’re likely to go down the wrong paths or through the wrong gates and have to turn back, you may misinterpret the signposts, or not realise they’ve been moved, and you’ll be led astray by ‘great ideas’, ‘scary monsters’ and ‘bright shiny objects’.
And if you do successfully complete your journey, it will have taken you more time, more effort, and more investment than it would have done if you’d had a coach. I know this from personal experience!
What’s your experience of coaching?
Probably one of these because that’s what we (coaches) do, working individually or with or as a group
Coaching about whatever is on your mind
Coaching to guide you through a course or programme
Coaching on the way to achieve a specific objective
Coaching to improve or maintain performance (this is where sports and business coaching usually fit in).
How long does it take?
The answer to this is “it depends” but the definite answer is it’s no quick fix.
What usually happens is one of these one of three scenarios:
To deal with a ‘crisis’ we’ll start with a full day and follow up with weekly or monthly sessions until the issue is resolved.
For course coaching it’s normally a three month engagement with weekly coaching sessions and monthly follow-ups for 12 months
Then there’s open-ended engagements starting with a 12 month period (I said this wasn’t a quick fix!) In this case you can expect focussed ongoing attention which may take the form of a weekly call or a monthly in person meeting or whatever we decide is best for you. It could even take the form of a two day retreat to address matters in depth.
A word about ‘groups’
We recognise two types of group:
a coherent group may be a company team, family group or a sports team – they all know each other
a disparate group will be people who don’t know each other but have been attracted to the topic of the coaching session. That’s the only thing they have in common.
These groups require different styles of coaching
Coaching starts with the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ of whatever aspect of your life or business it refers to. Mentoring is about the ‘how’ and the ‘who’ of putting whatever it is you want to into practice. Teaching (or as the Americans say ‘Training’) is about providing the knowledge you need.
Coaching or mentoring can be ‘open ended and based on a topic you want to work on or it can be attached to a learning course to help you understand and be able to apply the content.
But there is also more ‘general’ coaching which can be on a group or one to one basis and is normally about a topic which you select – it’s whatever you want to be coached on which perhaps doesn’t ‘fit’ into any of the courses. This can be done on a one off basis – a full day for example, or a series of regular coaching sessions usually over six months on a weekly or monthly basis. Tell me what you want or are thinking of and we’ll discuss it – just book a call.
I’ll help you find your own freedom
Your freedom is there for the taking. It may not be easy or simple and of course before you can find it, you’ll want to know what it is. It may not be what you think. One person’s idea of freedom is different from another’s.
To achieve your own personal freedom, however you see it, there is a process. It’s a series of ‘stages’ which we can describe as ‘finding’, ‘funding’ and ‘feeling’ freedom. Getting there is a journey and along the way your way there are a few ‘gates’ to pass through.
There are two ways to proceed on this journey. You can go it alone, do it yourself, on the DIY track, or you can work with someone who has done it before, and although this is your road they know what you’re going to encounter and can help you along the way.
Back in the 18th century students at university in Hungary used to engage a ‘kocsi’ (or kutsche in German) – actually the word for a carriage – to help them through their educational course. Translated it became ‘coach’ and working with a coach is the most effective way of reaching your objective or goal of living in a state of personal freedom.
I’m the Freedom Coach
I’ll guide you on your journey, help you through the stages and negotiate the gates – if you’re brave enough – to seek your own personal freedom in what seems to be a very ‘unfree’ world.
It starts with a call – Are you free to make that call? Because I’m free to take it.
It all starts with a Conversation
The first step is a Clarity Call — a focused, practical conversation to explore where you are, what is really going on, and what your most effective next step may be.
Book your Clarity Call now and begin with clarity.