FAQs

What’s the difference between coaching and mentoring?

Mentoring is more often provided by someone who has experience of the job, the role or the thing that you are experiencing. They have “trodden the path before you” so can provide direct guidance on what you could try and what is most likely to work for you. Coaching starts with a premise that you are able to find your own answers if the right circumstances are created. So, as the coach I don’t assume experience or to know the answer and will ask you questions to help you find some answers for yourself. And sometimes a combination of coaching and mentoring is what is required!

Why do I need a coach?

Coaching is all about creating some space for you to talk through and think through a question, a dilemma or a problem. Very few of us don’t have uncertainties or things that we’re not sure how to solve or problems where we could do with having an alternative way of thinking about them. Coaching is your space to do this where I will give you dedicated time and focus on you with questions to help you unpick what is happening and the crux of the issue is. My experience is that we all need this space sometimes. The coaching can be in person, over the phone or via video conferencing – all methods work!

How is it different from talking to a friend?

It may not be, depending on the conversations you have with your friends! Equally talking to a friend rarely has a one-way focus and a desire to find some sort of action or answer. Because there is some structure and focus to the coaching conversation it means that my attention is absolutely on you rather than also talking about or solving my own questions.

What topics make good coaching conversations?

Lots of questions work well in coaching – your topic might be about understanding (yourself or a situation or another person); it might be about relationships (making them better or solving a relationship problem); it might be a project you haven’t tackled; it might be about your leadership. Pretty much anything that you are reflecting on can make a great coaching topic. It often involves getting to the heart or the crux of that issue – where is the real problem? Once that is defined it is easier to solve. And occasionally there will be topics where it might be useful to refer you to another specialist if your topic might need deeper counselling. And I will be honest with you if this seems to be the case.

What do I need to bring with me?

The main thing is yourself and an open mind! It’s helpful to have a pen and paper and depending on the topic there might be reports or surveys that are relevant to topic you wish to discuss.

Is it possible to get a record of the conversation?

I do have the technology to record the coaching conversation whether we meet in person or virtually. This can be helpful if we cover a lot of ground and you would benefit from a relisten to it. It’s good to take notes and I often draw out elements of our conversation as we go. You are welcome to take a copy of these. And if you would like a report or summary then we can discuss this option too, there is likely to be an additional charge for the time to create this.