Coaching Labs Coaching Labs

Is coaching right for me?

Coaching can work on many levels and in several aspects of your life. Do any of the following sound like you?

• You need thinking space to navigate complexity, get clarity, confidence and direction.
• You want to be successful in your management role and lead engaged and happy teams through transformational leadership, inspiring positive change in others.
• You seek to improve, change or take a new step in your career.
• You want to explore a more fulfilling attitude towards work and life with increased confidence and presence, and less stress.
• You are a leader or future leader and looking for a space to think, change your mindset and perspective and grow your skills — for you and your organisation.
• You wish to lead a life aligned to your values and authentic self.
• You know what you want to achieve, but it feels like an impossible road full of obstacles.

These are exactly the sort of questions that we can address in coaching.

How does coaching work?

It is not always easy to describe — coaching works in different ways depending on the goal of each client. Most of my clients say that coaching gave them insights that opened up new chapters in their lives, helped them discover and develop new skills and make decisions that were in line with their values. 

Coaching provides the thinking space to navigate complexity and get clarity and confidence around your work and life — which in turn makes it possible to go through difficult situations, important decisions, change and growth. 

If you are open to change, book a free discovery call with me here. You can also read how coaching worked for my past clients. 

What is Leadership coaching?

Leadership coaching provides time to stand back and think about the bigger picture and your development. It allows the space to make decisions for the benefit of our teams and the organisation. Leadership coaching often focuses on the challenges and issues that leaders in organisations and companies are facing, as well as skills development.

Facing new challenges requires self-awareness, resilience, courage and a clear vision. Leadership coaching helps leaders to work on these areas, learn and unlearn, and develop and practise the skills and behaviours that are needed. Through leadership coaching, you can better support and develop the people you manage, foster working relationships and improve your performance for your current and future roles. Leadership coaching can also help you manage stress, change, conflict or crises. It acts as a confidential sounding board for sensitive and strategic management issues.

What is Career coaching?

The average person will change careers 5-7 times during their working life according to some career change statistics. We often need to get more clarity about where we want to take our career, or we need to understand how we can succeed in meeting our career ambitions and goals. 

Career coaching can help you in your current role performance or help you transition into a new one. It can help increase your understanding of your strengths, your value and the benefit you bring to organisations, whilst also positively challenging areas you might need to focus on to improve your performance and job satisfaction. 

What is Personal coaching?

Work and career are never isolated from the rest of your life. Personal coaching (or life coaching) looks at those areas of life that are equally (or more) important than work. It can help you gain perspective about what is meaningful in your life. You can address competing priorities, which will help you to spend more time where your values align. It is about finding the sought-after work-life balance and being present in everything you do. Personal coaching will help you re-address your challenges, whether it be stress, exhaustion, a feeling of being overwhelmed, and even deeper existential questions — coaching enables you to live the life you wish to lead.

How does coaching differ from mentoring?

Mentoring usually requires knowledge and experience of the area that the client is being mentored in, often using advice related to a profession. Coaching does not require any experience or knowledge of the area being coached, it is non-advisory, and not profession-specific. At the same time, there are many similarities between the two approaches.

Is coaching like therapy or counselling?

Both approaches require a level of human-to-human interaction. They both use some similar tools and techniques, and consider the relationship between the professional and the client as one of the cornerstones for effective work. However, there are some fundamental differences. Most therapies focus on the past, deal with issues that are challenging for the clients, prioritise understanding and healing, and are often open-ended. Coaching is focused predominantly on the present and future and is goal and action-oriented; sometimes we talk about the past as a tool to get insights to bring into the future. Coaching normally uses a fixed duration and clients can come with both positive and problematic issues. 

Some issues require a health care professional capable of providing counselling, mental health care, or substance abuse treatment. If this arises, we will talk about the best approach for you.

I am already doing therapy, can I have coaching too?

Yes, in most cases. Coaching and therapy often effectively complement each other. You can work on different issues with a therapist, or even approach the same issue in different ways through both coaching and therapy. However, it is important that you inform me if you are currently in therapy and that any therapeutic practitioner involved is also made aware of your intention to work with a coach.

What if I do not want to share everything with my coach?

You are the one who decides the direction of coaching and what to share in a session. You set the goals and targets. The coach is a co-driver, working in collaboration with you. I guide you through the process, though there may be times that some of my questions sound challenging. This can be a good sign, as I will be gently pushing you outside your comfort zone to help you explore areas that will offer you very useful insights. 

 Is my data safe?

Everything you share and discuss throughout your coaching engagement remains confidential. Confidentiality and ethical standards are really important to me and I fully uphold the ICF’s Code of Ethics. All data and information I am required to maintain are password protected and used only by me, for the purposes of your coaching.

Will I have to do any “homework”?

Only if you want to and find it useful to achieve your goals. In some cases, we can agree that you will do some work outside the sessions — e.g., preparing something for the next session. Sometimes I also ask for your feedback after sessions and at the end of a coaching cycle. 

How can I book a discovery call?

It’s very easy, just find a date and time that works for you here. You will automatically receive a Zoom link along with a calendar invite. If Zoom does not work for you, email me and we can plan to use another medium. In your discovery call we can discuss your issues and how you could benefit from coaching. 

Where do online or face-to-face coaching sessions take place?

Remote sessions can be conducted through Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, WhatsApp or phone. 

We can have face-to-face sessions at your workspace or a hired meeting room in central or East London. There are several options to explore, just ask me.

Finally, we can also have a walking coaching session at a park — it really works!

How frequently will I have coaching sessions?

Normally once every two weeks, but we can always discuss a suitable frequency for you.

When is the best time to have a coaching session?

This depends on you. It is only necessary for it to be at a time when you can be fully focused on your goal, and free of interruptions. I offer sessions from 9 am to 7 pm (UK time), Monday to Friday. If needed we can discuss having a session outside of these hours or on a weekend.

What if I need to cancel my session?

You can cancel your session up to 24 hours in advance without incurring a charge. We will then reschedule for another more convenient time.

What is your payment and refund policy?

For all programmes, there is a 50% payment in advance and the remaining 50% is paid before your 4th or 6th session for the Standard and Transformational Coaching programmes respectively. All single sessions are paid in advance.

There is no charge for sessions that are cancelled at least 24 hours in advance. 

In case you need to pause or terminate your coaching programme early, I will refund all the sessions we did not have.

Are there any payment plans?

I am happy to discuss a payment plan with you, as I want to make coaching as affordable as possible for everyone. 

What are your credentials?

I trained and qualified with Animas Centre for Coaching, on the Diploma in Transformational Coaching which is recognised and accredited by the International Coaching Federation and the Association for Coaching. I am a European Mentoring and Coaching Council accredited coach at practitioner level and I am currently working on my ICF credentials, while I already voluntarily uphold the ICF Code of ethics.

You can learn more about me here and more about all my qualifications and experience on my LinkedIn page.