What is coaching?
Coaching consists of a deep and powerful conversation in which your development and goals are the primary objective. It will be unlike any conversation you’ve experienced before. Once we’ve decided together on your objectives, I will ask you powerful questions to facilitate you in understanding and overcoming the challenges and goals you face.
During the process I will be listening carefully not only to what you’re saying, but how you say it. This includes the language you use and the way your physiology changes as you talk. This will signpost me towards making sure we address any issues that sit behind the situation you are looking to progress.
The coaching process often uncovers what are known as limiting beliefs. Limiting beliefs are things about us which we believe unquestionably to be true, but do not actually serve us, or in some cases work actively against us and hinder our progress. Almost everybody has them. A major part of my job as your coach is to identify these and help you address them. In effect, to help you get out of your own way. Many clients find that limiting beliefs sit behind all sorts of seemingly unrelated issues they experience in life; identifying and resolving them can be incredibly powerful.
As well as the process of what I describe as ‘pure coaching’ I will also equip you with various tools to help you live more happily and effectively. This will include – amongst numerous other tools – learning to manage your energy and replacing bad habits with good ones.
Whilst personal exploration of all of the above is a vital part of the process, my corporate coaching is about what you then go and do with your new skills and understanding. Why change yourself if you don’t then go and change the world?
Who is it for?
Anyone. Really, anyone. At its most basic level, coaching is essentially somebody facilitating your thinking. Holding up a mirror to you, challenging your view of the world, helping you set awesome goals and then smashing them. There is a – pretty short – list of things coaching generally isn’t appropriate for, i.e. serious mental illness, addiction, etc. That said, coaching helped me massively with my depression when I was in the worst of it.
How do we decide if we want to work together?
If you decide that you want to explore the possibility of coaching with me further, book a free consultation call. This usually lasts between 45 minutes and an hour. You will be coached on the call.
The purpose of the call is threefold…
– For me to get to know you a bit better and to understand your challenges or goals in more depth.
– For you to get to know me a bit better, to ask me any questions about myself or the process and to get a feel for what it’s like to be coached by me.
– For both of us to decide whether or not we think we’re a good fit to work together. I don’t work with everyone who wants to work with me: the fit is really, really important. You need to be excited about working with me and I need to be excited about what you’re trying to do and supporting you in getting there. Otherwise it’s a non-starter. If I don’t think we are a good fit then I have a whole bunch of other amazing coaches I can refer you to, depending on what it is you’re looking to work on or your personality type. Good coaches do a lot of cross-referrals because the right fit is so important.
Why do you insist on payment upfront for the whole package?
The first reason is that money is a very tedious distraction from what’s important. I want you to make the decision to pay just once and then we can both focus on what we’re going to achieve together and how we’re going to get you there.
The other reason is that by paying upfront you are demonstrating your commitment: to me, to yourself, and to the process of your own personal development. If you want to pay by the session and decide every month if that session is of use to you, then I’m not the coach for you. Total commitment is a vital part of a powerful coaching relationship and is the main driver behind achieving incredible results.
It seems expensive; I could go on a nice holiday instead
Yup, you could. Or you could buy a sofa. And that would be lovely. I love going on holiday and sitting on the sofa.
The only thing is, that holiday will give you a week – perhaps two – of happiness or relief or rest or whatever it is that holidays do for you. Coaching will give you an understanding of what makes you tick, help you get out of your own way and give you tools you will use for the rest of your life. All of these things will empower you to smash life in general and have a brilliant time along the way. Which sounds more valuable?
Up to you though, holidays are fabulous.
How do I pay?
Following our consultation call, if we’re in agreement that we’d like to work together, I’ll send you an invoice. As soon as I receive your payment, we’ll get your first session in the diary and get started.
Where and when will we meet?
My coaching programme consists of 8 face-to-face sessions and unlimited support between sessions. How quickly you use your sessions is completely up to you, although generally this takes 3-4 months. We’ll put your first session in the diary when I receive your payment. After that, we will usually schedule your next session at the end of the current one. This will depend on how long you need in order to put things into action and see how they go or anything else that might take a bit of time. In the end though, it’s entirely up to you.
I do most of my coaching face-to-face at Century Private Members Club on Shaftesbury Avenue, a 5-minute walk from Piccadilly Circus. I also coach by Skype or Zoom and on the phone as well.
When you say ‘unlimited support’ what does that actually mean?
It really does mean unlimited. Most of my clients contact me every 2-3 days to update me on what they’re up to, usually by WhatsApp. This could be to share a success about something they tried, or to tell me that something didn’t go exactly to plan and ask for my thoughts. If you want to arrange a 20-30 minute call with me then you just drop me a message on WhatsApp and I will usually fit you in the same day or the next if it’s already late in the day. People always ask, “How much contact is too much?” The answer is: I don’t know, it’s never been an issue.
Why do you work this way? Does it not take up a lot more of your time than the 8-hour programme should?
Yes it does. But a) I love coaching and being in touch with my clients, hearing what’s going on for them and helping them out if needed. And b) when you buy the package, you aren’t buying 8 hours of my time. There is no hourly rate. You’re buying 8 hours of face-to-face coaching, as much other support as you want during the time we work together, and all my training, experience and knowledge gained from the amazing results I have achieved with my previous clients.
I adopted this approach after becoming frustrated by the traditional coaching model, which is to see your clients once every couple of weeks and have zero contact in between. The fatal flaw of this, for me, is that it means that until we sit down in front of one another for the next session, I have no idea how you have got on in the meantime or what’s been happening for you. This means that we’ll end up spending the first 15-30 minutes catching up on where you’re at. Which is a massive waste of time that we could be using for coaching. When I already know where you’re at because we’ve been in touch in between sessions, we can get the best possible value from our hour together.
I’ve used this approach for 2 years now, and in that time I have seen my clients’ results go into orbit. We achieve a lot more, a lot quicker and generally have a brilliant time along the way. What’s not to like?
What if I don’t fit neatly into your descriptions?
Then you will be like absolutely everyone else! Nobody fits exactly into any category, whether mine or anyone else’s. My descriptions are purely examples of the kinds of things I help people with. It’s by no means an exhaustive list.
Some of my highest achieving clients haven’t fitted into any of those descriptions. If you’re not sure, book a consultation call and we’ll decide together.
I’ve heard that coaching can be uncomfortable, is that true?
Yes, that’s true. Sometimes it is. Although, usually when we hit something uncomfortable, that means it’s worth exploring, as it will almost certainly be something that’s holding you back in one way or another, even if you’re not aware of it. Discomfort almost always comes from pushing the boundaries of your comfort zone (to state the bleeding obvious). And nothing fun, useful or progressive happens in your comfort zone. It might be comfy and safe, but you won’t get much done there.
Should I do this?
Yes! (Although obviously I would say that.) I have never met a single person who has experienced good coaching who hasn’t a) loved it, and b) got a huge amount from it. People generally don’t regret investing in themselves. Good things happen when you do.
Read testimonials from some of my clients to find out more about how coaching helped them.
I’m interested. What are the next steps?
Book a free consultation call and we’ll go from there. I look forward to speaking to you.
