Perseverance: a supported journey
Mentoring and coaching
Mentoring
Many people have said that that they were indebted to a particular line manager, at a point in their career, who not only recognised their talents but nurtured and supported them at an important time and in retrospect felt their success would have been a lot slower or not possible without their input.
Others have been able to go to a specific person and tell them that they would like to do some of the work that they do in the future and have asked to a career discussion. Typically they ask what skills they have and together draw up a skills gap, so that the action plan can fill these over a period of time.
We can’t all work for great bosses, so we have a tasking system which means that will locate people who have specific jobs from our client base and facilitate a confidential conversation over the telephone where you can discuss the nature of the work and the typical entry path into that role etc.
Coaching
It is generally recognised that one of the most efficient methods of transferring skills and expertise is through a coaching relationship.
Types of coaching offered
Transition coaching
Some models believe that once you are in a new role then you should focus on that role for a minimum period of one year but probably not more than 18 months. After which you should start top craft experiments (see link) to provide the next opportunity. These coaching sessions are bi-monthly and are designed to get your career managed and your next steps planned.
Alignment coaching
Most executives and senior manager go through a period where they do not feel as productive as they have been. If it becomes a protracted period there is the possibility that your reputation could be irreparably damaged and your career derailed. These sessions use elements of most of the other types of coaching to look at realigning you in your current role or at the alternatives in a timely manner. Usually these sessions are weekly for a period and then monthly for a few months until you able to control of your career again.
One-off coaching session to help to respond to a situation or event
In the past we have been able to respond to clients who said that something has happened and I wanted to think through their response to that situation. This is usually a one off session to collaboratively think out aloud and decide upon a course of action
Executive coaching
We generally view this type of coaching as being relatively time bound as often 4-6 sessions are enough to bolster challenges faced. Usually this coaching is for competent and experienced managers who want to rethink their approach to emergent situations. We use the Ashridge methodology
One to one skills coaching
With training often being outsourced in large organisations there is always the possibility of skills gaps being created and no obvious method of addressing them. This training deals with these precise and definable gaps. Our initial consultation reviews skills against general competencies for your position or another position and the mouth-sized one-to-one web conference sessions are a timely, efficient method for executives and managers to increase their skills and develop their careers.
Performance coaching
This type of coaching is concerned with medium term performance improvement. The emphasis is on the process whereby the coachee will be able to monitor their performance overtime as they work towards their goals and objectives. In many instances this might involve developing a personal development plan with you coach as the basis for developing your performance.
Career coaching
This coaching is for people who question if they are fulfilled by their work and if there are other alternatives that might be more satisfying. There are always more choices available than you expect and our experts will guide you through a process to find out what that is and then how you are going to get it.
Life coaching
Some people feel that they need to change their job to be more satisfied, where as it could be less dramatic that that and changing the way they work and adapting their lifestyle might achieve the desired outcome. Outcomes are usually achieved within a short time-frame. Link to podcast
Note
All of our coaching sessions are recorded events which are logged on your personal area of our website. This enables you to reflect upon the process by listening to the podcast after the event. Many people have said that they really appreciated this as they could chart the progress that they had made over a period of time. We also encourage the use of a learning journal to support
Different styles of coaching for the above
A problem solving approach makes the assumption that the coachee is a problem to be solved, which does not suit all personality types.