Frequently Asked Questions

If we were to start working together, what could I expect?

Our cooperation would start with a half-day meeting, during which time we would discuss the direction you would like to take your career and set out a few goals to start working on.

After this initial meeting, we would continue to meet once every three to five weeks for a two-hour session to assess your recent achievements, identify your stumbling blocks and determine a new list of goals and tasks to overcome them ahead of the next meeting. This is very engaging for you can get the most irritating experiences off your plate right there and then! You will take a few tasks out of each meeting around which to start doing things a little differently and carefully observing the results.

The most dramatic change usually occurs during the first three to four months. After this critical stage, further development can seem to happen less dramatically, more organically, and causes much less upheaval as clients learn to accept change positively and naturally.

Four to six months after our initial meeting, you will have implemented several fundamental changes and will be quite satisfied with your achievements. Possibly, you will be so excited by the results that you are ready to set new, more challenging goals. Or, you may decide to try to go it alone, applying what you learned during our cooperation, or meet for a couple of follow-up sessions every now and then. If this sounds simple, it is.

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How long the coaching relationship usually lasts? 

Contrary to popular belief, management coaching is not necessarily a long-term or ongoing commitment. About 35% of my clients see me for between 3-5 sessions, and I work with another 30% for only 6-8 sessions. It is only a third of my clients who consult with me over a longer period - These are top performers who sometimes take long gaps between sessions so they can handle a wide range of roles and concerns. Our work together covers constantly evolving issues, major challenges, and regularly renewed goals.

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How do find the right coach for me?

Good question - if you have never had career or management coaching before, how do you decide which coach is right for you – based on what exactly? And harder still, how to navigate the different approaches on offer to find the one that suits you best?

My advice here is not to analyse matters too much, but to trust your instincts when choosing a coach. Apart from ensuring that your chosen coach has the education and experience to deliver on your expectations, I would advise you to trust your intuition during your first session with a potential coach. Ascertain how comfortable you will feel discussing very personal matters with this person. Do you feel challenged, but comfortable and safe during your session? A good coach will use your feedback skillfully to balance their input and will leave you with greater insight into your situation. Above all, they will be adept at uncovering what works well for you. Although this develops over time, you should see the first signs after about one hour.

This is why I offer my clients a no-risk guarantee: When they sign up right away for a 4-hour session, the first hour is complimentary. Our target for the first hour is just to decide if we want to go on working together, i.e. commit to goals that we will define later in the session. If the decision is no, we part there and then, and I tear up the invoice. If the decision is yes, we have entered a partnership, and they walk away from our very first meeting with a very tangible result!

If you aren’t pressed for time and would like to first schedule a separate FREE one-hour meeting, that is no problem either. Please contact me today to set up this first meeting!

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Can coaching accomplish with people who are “moulded”– can it get under the surface at all? 

Let's review 30 years of management training history– and where we are now. The following illustrates this question very well indeed!

In the outset, people trained managerial behaviour almost in a (1) handbook-like fashion (“if x-then do y” manuals). “Clear Communication” was a typical topic – and quite soon participants were even recorded on video and could see themselves in action. This hands-on approach no doubt has its merits, although it can be a huge oversimplification. Then came the days of (2) Competencies: Change competence, social competence, etc. – where the focus was already deeper than just superficially observable behaviour. Later the social competence was further deepened by the systemic angle, which for the first time included (3) social context and the enormous complexities it brought to the table – a new dimension. Next (4) came the focus on Leadership Attitudes – after we noticed that attitudes strongly influenced behaviour – very useful indeed. Coaching (5) is state of the art because it encompasses all of the above AND moreover includes the level of identity into the equation.

So, turning the question around: what, if not Coaching, can really make a difference in adult behaviour? Why would especially those with the highest expectations of themselves (and the least time!) turn to coaching for solutions and results? This is the exciting bit: in coaching, you learn from yourself, with your insights being stimulated, enriched, and sometimes guided by your coach.

Managers who do not believe people can change do not believe in development, and invariably radiate that. They limit those around them simply by not working strategically with human resources. One reason that this is limiting is that it turns away people who feel they deserve something else. There is a huge difference in managerial impact between lighting a fire under someone, and lighting a fire in someone, and it is no surprise that people who have experienced coaching will inspire their people in a completely different way. The unique proposition coaching holds is: Let's see what else is possible, where could you stretch a little more? How could this work for you? This individual approach has a lot to it. I am sure we all remember situations where someone took care of us, and gave us great advice – let's remember what difference this made to our confidence when we then started out!

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Ever more – faster – more effective – where does this lead us, except to ever better self-exploitation? What's in it for me, the employee? 

Well… that's quite a question! A bit like the meaning of life. Let me take up just one aspect: I suspect there might be some imbalance between what your current position offers, and what your current priorities are. Something significant may have shifted. Or, your lack of enthusiasm is rooted in a personality clash that might disappear if that person left. Since we cannot change other people, let me pursue the first option. Life priorities change – we don't just stay the same. Therefore, I cannot recommend enough to take inventory every now and then. Take a good look at where your likes, interests and priorities currently are, and make sure your job caters to at least some of these. While you probably won't find the perfect solution (and contrary to what some believe, self-employment is not always the answer) there should be elements of your everyday routine that drive and energize you.

Whether a job is good for you ultimately boils down to your preferences. It's never just the job – it is about the fit. You are not going to be happy with the money if the job puts so much pressure on you that you develop sleeping disorders and feel hassled. More, faster and better paid can be stimulators for a while, but then lose their appeal. So, unless you have decided to write off a few years for on-the-job training, you will probably be happier, healthier AND a better performer in an environment that reflects your priorities. My question: What exactly you would need in order to feel you are getting a good deal? These evaluations can be complex, so do have a look at those self-coaching questions!
Basically, it is about appreciating and seeing opportunities in what you have, as well as acknowledging what this position may not hold. If you decide that you thrive on tension and your importance to your company, you will always feel that you are working on YOUR priorities and goals – although your job makes high demands on your time! Being self-driven and making a difference will invariably raise your value for yourself, and possibly even in the job market. Just remember your remuneration is based on three factors: the perceived value you present to your employer, the results you deliver, and the ease with which you can be replaced. And guess what: you can influence all three!

So, imagine your conclusion is that you feel exploited, and that the present job is not what you deserve. This puts you right in the middle of the coaching cycle: First, you need consciousness, a feeling that something is not right for you – and it's not fate that keeps it that way. Second comes – or does not, as the case may be – the desire for improvement. Listen to yourself: do you want something different, or just do something differently than now? How and why? The third step is then the decision to act.

You may also consider this (unless your boss is the problem): Help your boss to help you by telling them specifically what you want more of – and less of – in your job. Only when you are quite sure there is no point, use your insights for negotiations elsewhere. If you fail to tell people what you need, you may find it's not that different in other places! YOU make that difference – by knowing better what you want, and what you don't want, and then make a case for it. If you are proactive and take initiative, you will be surprised to see how others make an effort to accommodate you!

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Is Management Coaching any different from Coaching – is this just marketing? 

The short answer is yes – it's basically about defining the market a coach has chosen to serve. I call myself a management coach because this is the essence of WHAT I do and WHO I do it with, in just two words. I work with managers on all kinds of issues involving management. HOW can be found in the word coach – in a facilitating, challenging, supporting way that raises new questions and opens new perspectives, or inroads to better solutions. Irrespective of whether I work with managers who are “just” managing themselves and their workload in interdependence with experts from other teams, or managing entire companies or large departments, where their decisions involve and affect hundreds of people and their families.

Management is basically a craft – skill sets that can (and have to be) acquired for proficiency. With the right training and ongoing practice, everybody can learn the craft. Proficiency on some levels requires not just a very strong commitment but also a certain mindset of discipline. Fortunately, very few people need to be Level 5 Managers (see Jim Collins' excellent book Good to Great). In this field, I have a lot of expert knowledge and experience that goes beyond the facilitating role of a coach. This means that the insights, examples, and opinions I offer, combined with very open feedback, often provide the shortcuts people are looking for. I don't interfere with my client‘s decisions however – my job is to ask the questions that allow them to chose from a broad choice of options. The rest is … their job!

Clients often mention that I am one of the very few people (sometimes the first) who they can bounce things off, create a big picture view on their present situation, and discuss their goals and self-image with – at a completely new level. High performers especially tend to have a strong inner motor that keeps them going – far beyond what anybody else expects from them! People who think in systems know that they can only develop maximum impact when they manage not just their immediate direct reports, but influence and shape complex contexts. For these strategies, a competent partner is a real asset. Who except a management coach do you want to spend 3, 4 hours with in which you develop new concepts that help your team or organisation make that leap forward?

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Don't you think you give away too much of your know-how in the special reports? 

Great question... Let me put it like this: I probably don't think I am giving away too much, because I don’t think I am in the know-how industry…. Ironically, what I know is irrelevant except for the few bits and pieces that really make a difference to my clients, in terms of what they want and need. We spend quite a bit of time finding out what this is, and what would be different if they had it…! In these reports, I have to be much more general.

So, unlike a consultant, a management coach has not necessarily read all the books. What I offer in a special report may be sound advice for someone who is exactly in this or that model situation. But then – hardly anybody ever is! Everybody's situation is always specific – and shapes this situation by being him or herself! For this reason, all these reports can really do is create credibility for coaching and me: I help people realize that coaching deals with exactly those issues that concern them, and that the only difference between those who use coaching and other managers is that the latter have already taken the decision to act.

Before anybody who is busy enough as it is takes the decision to discuss their situation with a coach, they want to make a careful preselection. Fit is one element, and so is curiosity! The feedback I receive on my special reports indicates to me that they definitely raise curiosity. Once that is established, the pre-qualification process can start. Only those who feel prepared call me and want to meet. Others may prefer to just toy with the idea, that's fine too! (BTW I recommend this approach to anyone who markets knowledge-based services: Don't sit on your precious information and wait for someone to call who already knows that they need just that – instead, help yourself and others by creating opportunities to see the relationship between your services and their concrete problems and issues. If possible in a way that they immediately see the benefits!)

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For more answers, see "Coaching Horror Stories"