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Questions and Answers About Coaches and Coaching
If You Don't Find The Answer to Your Question, Send Us Email.
We'll be happy to answer your question personally.
The Basics: What is Coaching?
How Do I Know If I Would
Benefit?
Practical Questions: How
Does This Work?
What do Personal Coaches do?
Professional Coaches work
closely with clients to define and achieve personal goals. Some clients work on specific personal issues like losing weight, quitting smoking or managing their time
or money. Other goals are much larger. A majority of Dr Humbert's coaching clients are professionals eager to expand an independent private practice, or executives,
managers or owners of businesses who use coaching to take their business to the next level
of profitability.
How do Coaches Work?
Coaching is a very active
process. It's a series of commitments between yourself and your coach to
learn new skills, change behaviors or think in new ways. Coaches have been
compared to mentors who "show you the ropes", but they are
more than mentors. A good Coach will help you find the best that is
in you, bring it out, and discover new ways of expressing who you have always
been.
Specifically, Coaches
make suggestions, help you use what you know, they encourage you, hold you accountable,
and help you begin functioning in new, more effective ways.
What would I use a Coach for?
Clients use Coaches to assist
them with a broad range of projects, from changing personal habits to working on
major life decisions, such as career choice, values, or parenting issues. Typically,
potential clients contact Resources
for Success! when one or more of the following things have happened:
- They have tried and failed
to change something that is important to them.
- They are facing a
significant life change (career change, marriage/divorce, mid-life, etc) and they want
support through the process.
- They want to define who
they are, sort out their values or re-order priorities and they don't want or need
counseling, but they do want support and assistance.
How is it Different Than Counseling or Hiring a Consultant?
Coaching is very different
than either counseling or consulting. Coaching is rarely concerned with the past, and
spends very little time talking about "what if" and "maybe someday".
Like a sports coach, a personal Coach is focused on helping you improve your performance,
helping you "win" at something that is important to you, although that may not be
a traditional competitive activity. Coaching can help you develop behaviors and habits to
"win" in the quest for spiritual values or to develop "winning"
personal relationships.
Why do you Coach Golfers? Is This Just for Sports? (NO!)
I started Coaching
golfers almost by accident. Like many sports, golf is a wonderful mirror for life: It
requires focus, concentration, clarity, and relaxation paired with high-performance. And
in both golf and life, most people have a basic idea of what to do: live well, play fair,
do your best. In fact, most people have had far too much instruction on what to
do. Where they struggle is with the "How".
I found that when clients
improved their mental skills at work or at home, they often took those same skills to the
golf course with remarkable results. And, when I started working with serious golfers and they got their
frustrations, distractions and
limitations under control, they took those skills to the office, with
the same great results. So, it's been a nice mix, and as golfers know, there is no
feeling on earth like a relaxed, well-played round of golf!
Are there things about your life you want to change?
Americans have always been
a dissatisfied people -- we came to America in search of something and many of us are
still looking for it. For many people, that longing remains a vague, unclear sense that
never really pushes them to "go for it!" For others, however, there comes a time
when they know their day has come. It is time to make their move,
and the time is now! These people are "coachable", they're "ready",
and dramatic, wonderful changes do happen!
Are there things you've tried, and failed, to change?
Americans "change"
every day. We change jobs, move to new cities, get married or divorced. But more and more
people are finding that changing things around them doesn't seem to change how
they feel on the inside. Many people contact Resources for Success! when they
decide there is some area of their life they
simply must change.
As we've said through this page, the "thing" can
be very different for different people. What seems small to one person is critically
important to another. I learned many years ago that I can never predict what will turn a person's life around.
Wherever you choose to begin, when you are ready to create the life you really want,
please contact me!
Could you use more support and encouragement in your life?
There's an old song, from the
Beatles that says, "I get by with a little help from my friends."
There's also a poem that says, "no man [or woman] is an island".
Whether you
hire a coach or not, making the most of our lives, fulfilling our potential and pursuing
our dreams always requires the support and encouragement of people around us.
I find it
interesting that every sports team has a coach. And in Court, every
person has the right to an attorney (coach) to help them. Businesses hire consultants by the
thousands, and brides hire wedding consultants. But the idea of having
someone to support and encourage our dreams strikes many people as
odd. Why? Coaches
help everyone do their best!
How do I get started?
You begin by finding and
interviewing one or more potential coaches, until you find the one
who can best assist
you. It is
important that you are comfortable and confident with the person you choose. It is also
important that you get started! "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a
single step."
If you've read this far, you are clearly motivated. I hope you
will contact
me
to get started.
How often do I meet with my Coach?
Coaching is done by scheduling a time for you to call your coach. A period of
time is set aside for you, and you call your Coach at that time.
Typically, you will have a list of projects you are working on and
your Coach will discuss them with you, make any
suggestions she/he might have, and the two of you will agree on action steps you can take
right away. The conversation usually ends with scheduling your next appointment. How often
do you call? That varies, but three
times per month is very common.
It is up to the client and what they believe
they need and want. Payment is always taken care of in advance, usually by
billing your credit card (VISA, MC,
AmEx).
How long would I need a Coach?
Obviously, there is no single
answer to that. I've had clients see satisfying results in as little as 1 session, and
I have had clients for several years. It is important to view coaching as a long-term investment in
your future, however. This is not a "quick fix". Coaching is most effective when
it is viewed as a partnership between you and your coach to design and build the life you
really want. That does not happen over night! We often work with clients for a year or
more to develop skills that will last for a life-time!
How much does Coaching cost?
Here at Resources for Success!,
the basic
individual coaching package is $495/month and includes 3
(sometimes 4) coaching sessions each month, plus fax and email support, and additional "spot" calls as
needed. A more intense level is also available for clients who want to move quickly and
who have the reserves, motivation and determination to utilize a more active style of
coaching.
Here is a
key distinction: I never consider that my clients are buying
(or renting) my time. They are contracting for a partnership
and if I agree to coach you, my commitment is to be an effective
partner and to do whatever I can to help you achieve the results you
seek.
An initial consultation
is always free. I ask every new
client to make a commitment to themselves to stay with
coaching for at least 6 months. Coaching is an on-going process and the most effective and
powerful coaching relationships typically last from 6 to 24 months, or longer. (Think of
Olympic athletes working with a coach for years!)
Ready to Take Action?
There's no risk, and it's your move!
Click Here! to send Email to request a FREE initial
consultation.
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