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