Frequently Asked Questions About Coaching

Q.: What is coaching?
A.: The primary focus of coaching is to create actionable strategies that help you achieve specific goals in your work and/or your personal life. The foundation of a professional coaching relationship is built on trust, commitment, action, and accountability. Good coaching helps you define your most meaningful priorities, and then effectively matches your actions with those priorities in order to produce the outcomes you are seeking. A good coach knows how to facilitate conversations that lead you to your own meaningful breakthroughs.

Q.: When is it a good time to hire a coach?
A.: If you've reached a point in the growth of your business where your responsibilities and the people you work with demand more of you than what you are able to juggle – it may be a good time to hire a coach. Perhaps you're leading a reorganization of your company? Perhaps you're forging into a new market or driving change in your organization? Maybe you are at a crossroads in your personal life. Whatever the new frontier is that you are facing, it probably excites and concerns you. Coaching provides you with the opportunity and tools to gain perspective on what challenges you, with ability to achieve clarity on what to do next, and gather support to accomplish more of your goals and dreams with less stress.   

Q.: Does coaching really work?
A.: Over 90 percent of executives who have worked with an executive coach report that it is a positive, sometimes life-changing experience. They experience the impact of coaching through how they lead in business and how they live their lives. Others also see the change in them. The impact of good coaching is most influenced however, by your willingness to be coached – no one else can determine that except you. Ultimately, the coaching you receive will only be as effective as the open mindedness and willingness you bring to the equation.

Q.: Can I try before I buy?  
A.: Most coaches are willing to have an introductory conversation with a prospective client. Bringing a real, rather than a hypothetical issue that you are struggling with to this initial conversation, will help you determine if there is forward movement right away and – ultimately – whether or not it makes sense to hire the coach.

Q.: Will I have to wait long for results?
A.: One of the myths of coaching is that it takes a long time to see results and that the benefits are hard to quantify. In truth, a good coach should be able to establish his/her value immediately within the first few hours of conversation and should be able to help you generate powerful and measurable results in both your business and personal life within the first 90 days of your work together.

Q.: Will this process be uncomfortable?
A.: Value does not always equal comfort. This is especially true with regard to professional coaching. There are times, for example, in any meaningful coach-client relationship where clients discover something about themselves that may challenge them to look at or handle things in a new way.   Girard & Associates' approach to coaching is that these revelations lead to meaningful breakthroughs that are respectful, worthwhile, and empowering to our clients.

Q.: How long before the coaching begins to work?
A.: For some clients, a two-hour session is all that is needed. Others may desire a “coach-on-call” experience in order to acquire support whenever and wherever it is required. Girard & Associates provides a varied range of coaching options and offers you the flexibility to design a custom program with the appropriate duration and support style that works best for you.

Q.: How do I know what type of coaching I need?
A.: Our wide array of programs and individual support packages provide a variety of individual, group and course options for you to select from. We can help you design a coaching plan that best meets your objectives .

Q.: What are the benefits of coaching?
A.: There are both Organizational and Personal benefits to coaching, specifically:

Organizationally:

• Aligning individual performance with team and organizational objectives
• Maximizing and leveraging your strengths
• Increasing and enhancing communication between your managers, direct reports and teams
• Helping individuals take ownership and responsibility for their behaviors and actions
• Encouraging individuals to stretch beyond their assumed constraints

Personally:

• You will have more freedom
• You will possess less stress
• You will improve your relationships
• You will achieve greater fulfillment