What Coaching Is

coach icon

Business coaching is a process of self-reflection about important questions like: What do you want to achieve? What is holding you back?

Instead of giving advice, I ask questions to help you make better decisions at work. I work with you to develop best practices for leadership and build business relationships that will improve your outcomes. Drawing on my years of leadership experience, I help you identify common business mistakes before you make them.

I offer resources for better results and more influence over others. As a certified Emotional Intelligence coach, I can assess your emotional intelligence and pinpoint what interpersonal skills will make the biggest difference in your work. As we identify your strengths, you’ll learn to leverage them more. Where we find skill gaps, you’ll learn what to do for better results next time.

I spend time with my clients to find out what they want to achieve and what is getting in their way. Often, I discover assumptions or limiting beliefs that hold them back.

For the client, these assumptions are usually long held beliefs about what is normal, or how the world works. Clients don’t see them as limiting their options for action. Over time, they have learned to act in ways that reinforce their beliefs.

A lot of my work as a coach is about challenging assumptions. As we test assumptions and explore feelings, clients are often able to let go of internal thoughts and habits that have held them back. When that happens, they see possibilities for change. When they try a new approach, they often find they overcome obstacles they didn’t even recognize were there. Success breeds success, and new skills and habits create better outcomes.

Case Studies

To show you how this works, here are five case studies out of the dozens of people I have coached. The names are fictionalized and I have permission to share these details here. I hope reading through these brief case studies, you will learn more about what coaching is and what results you might expect.

Name:  Jennifer

Position when she came to me: Former Senior HR Manager (SHRM), between jobs

Goal: new position as SHRM or higher

Obstacles:

Over-reliance on one boss

Political missteps

Fear of being independent

Tools used to overcome obstacles:

Coaching to understand political realities and identify signals she had missed

Affirmation and emotional intelligence coaching for more self-confidence

Strength-based coaching to maximize her knowledge base, experience, and network

Result: Launched her own brand of women’s leadership workshops, now offers over five different programs and is purchasing her own event venue

Name: Daniel

Position when he came to me: post-graduate student in engineering

Goal: launch a company to use innovative technology sensors for environmental uses

Obstacles:

Fear of working with a team

Fear of financial responsibility

Risk avoidance: fear of leaving a safe academic environment for a riskier business environment

Tools used to overcome obstacles:

Took small steps to work one-on-one with others to collaborate and build trust in others

Used books and exercises during coaching sessions to build confidence in financial skills

Learned to trust people outside of academia by taking small steps and building relationships of trust over time.

Result: now executive director of a lab, funded by venture capital, utilizing his innovative technology to solve environmental problems

Name: William

Position when he came to me: just graduating college

Goal: looking for a first job as an analyst

Obstacles:

Desire for perfection in his work prevented him from turning in assignments

Self-doubt prompted him to apply for jobs that were not suitable for entry level (i.e. acting to reinforce self-doubt)

Tools used to overcome obstacles:

Emotional intelligence coaching to improve reality testing, self-confidence, and assertiveness

Affirmations to overcome fear of not being perfect

Coached him into a first job in another field to gain insight into how teams work   

Result: raised overall emotional intelligence by 25%, currently earning a specialized certificate in the field he wants, looking for appropriate new jobs

Name: Geraldine

Position when she came to me: first-time manager for a non-profit

Goal: become a better manager, communicate better up and down the organization

Obstacles:

Poor communication with direct reports

Reputation for being brusque

Tools used to overcome obstacles:

Emotional intelligence coaching to improve impulse control and awareness of other people’s needs

Developed a self-assessment for her direct reports and improved her ability to listen to and develop her team

Coaching around experiences on a volunteer board to understand how strategic listening and communication result in more influence and leadership

Coaching for best practices in negotiation techniques that minimize conflict and seek common ground

Result: promoted to a position where her work on community boards benefit the organization, new position gives her more responsibility for organizational growth and community leadership

Name: Paul

Position when he came to me: first time manager at bio-engineering start up

Goal: reduce anxiety about performance, learn to get more work done through others

Obstacle:

Anxiety over not having all the answers

Authoritarian leadership style left him overworked and stressed as he stepped in daily to solve his team’s problems

Tools used to overcome obstacles:

Affirmation to reduce anxiety during the learning process of product generation

Coaching for a leadership style that encouraged and engaged his team in learning, problem solving, and sharing knowledge

Result: Six months after coaching with me, his team had became a top performer within the company, and as a result, he received a promotion to manage other team leaders. At the time of his promotion, his boss commended him on his communication and conflict management skills.

My clients report:

  • more self-confidence
  • more positive relationships
  • improved business skills and results
  • an increased ability to motivate and inspire others
  • better self-care and better work-life balance
  • a deeper sense of well being

Studies of business leaders who use coaching report:

  • higher productivity
  • better customer service ratings
  • more retention of senior employees
  • reduced costs
  • higher bottom-line profitability

Business leaders who use coaching also reported

  • better working relationships with direct reports
  • better relationships with managers and administrators above them
  • improved team-building
  • fewer workplace conflicts
  • stronger relationships with clients

Only you know if coaching is right for you. Contact me to find out more.

Does Coaching Work?   

What Coaching Isn’t

Lisa D. Foster, Ph.D. ACC  is an independent coach. As an Associate Certified Coach by the International Coaching Federation, Lisa honors and abides by the ICF Code of Ethics.  All coaching sessions and consultations are confidential.

Privacy Policy

Subscribe to learn more