Great! So you've taken the first step - You've approached that mentor or booked that first session with a coach. It's your first step to your new reality. Chances are it cost you something - whether tangible like money or intangible like goodwill.
Coaching can have a huge impact on how well and how fast you’re able to reach your goals and achieve success. Almost every successful person I know makes use of a or multiple coaches/mentors. My own coaches and mentors have helped me to gain clarity, become more productive, understand myself and the playing field and even ideate better.
Coaching just works. But it works best when you know how to get the most out of it. So how do make sure you get the most out of your valuable time together with your coach?
I literally set aside 30% of my initial coaching session with a new client to set the boundaries and explain what coaching is / is not and how to get the most out of our time together.
Inspowered Coaching
1. Understand what coaching is / is not
Coaching can be seen as a supporting framework that allows the coaches to deal with feedback received in a constructive way, providing the time and space for reflection, facilitating self insight and self-awareness, and encouraging the coaches to face new challenges with confidence.
Coaching is not:
- Therapy
- Professional advice
- A guru or sage who provides all the answers to life's questions
- Speculating or interpreting psychological causes
- A directionless conversation
- Not individual training
- Not consultancy
In addition to the above mentorship in particular offers a sounding board willing to share their story, opinions, networks, resources, experience or perspective, BUT it is still up to the mentee to use the input/feedback, analyse it in conjunction with other causes of information and ultimately make their own decisions and find their own answers.
It can also be considered self-directed learning. Self directed learning focuses on the process by which adults take control of their own learning, in particular how they set their learning goals, allocate appropriate resources, decide on which learning methods to use and evaluate their progress.
2. Prepare and be clear about what you want out of the sessions
You will get more out of the coaching if you prepare for each session
Some of my most productive clients came into their first session with goals defined, the wins clearly articulated and already working towards those goals
Inspowered Coaching
- Think about what you’d like to discuss before the session.
- Set goals and what you’d like to achieve from the sessions and agree these with your coach upfront
- Agree rules of engagement upfront
3. Professionalism
- Be respectful of your coach's time and professional in managing appointments
- Maintain confidentiality if your coach shares anything with you in confidentiality
- Expect that your coach will not talk about anything that you share
The ability to receive constructive feedback and reflect on it in a non-defensive manner is key to coaching success.
Inspowered Coaching
- Appreciate the value of constructive feedback
- Listen carefully and ask for clarification if necessary
- Try not to be defensive
- Ask for suggestions on how you can do things differently next time
- Show appreciation
- Receive the feedback and decide what to do about it