IntoFocus
will
work primarily by phone with you, thus enabling coaching to take
place regardless of your location.
Getting started for individual phone coaching is a three-step process:
The
first step:
Contact
IntoFocus to discuss your coaching requirements. In this
discussion Carolyn will want to hear about your current business and personal challenges and where you
want to go from here.
You will have time to understand how IntoFocus
coaching might be
able to help you get there.
Everything you talk about is confidential in all
coaching sessions.
The
second step:
At the
end of this discussion you will give you information about how
to go further and start individual practice coaching.
If you have a
sense of your readiness to go forward, you and IntoFocus coaching can talk
logistics — and decide on the times for your first call.
The
third step:
Make
arrangements for credit card billing prior to your first session.
Prior to
each coaching session, email your Prep Form (IntoFocus coaching will give you
this form by email) to help focus and structure each call.
That's
it!! You are on your way to building your ideal private practice, with
the help of individual business coaching.
Purpose
IntoFocus
provides individual coaching to develop and implement strategies to help
our clients reach personally identified goals of enhanced business
performance and/or personal satisfaction.
Business coaching is proven to work when there are two
factors present:
-
You are
willing to make changes in your professional or personal life, and
-
There
is a gap between where you are now and where you want to be.
That is all that is necessary for the coach and client to
solve professional or personal challenges, turn a business around,
and/or design and implement a plan of action. Through an interactive and
developmental process, we will help you pursue strategies and solutions
designed to move you towards the rapid and satisfying attainment of your
professional and personal goals. Our coaches respect, acknowledge, and
protect the vulnerability and confidentiality of each client, while
constructively holding clients to high standards of self-responsibility
and self-accountability.
Feedback
If, at any time, you feel that your needs are not being
met or you are not getting what you want out of the individual coaching,
please tell your coach, so we can discuss your needs and adjust your
coaching program, as needed.
Sessions
Coaching is scheduled at the mutual convenience of the
coach and the client. The day and time for the next call will be
confirmed at the close of each coaching session. Coaching by phone is
paid in advance of each series of coaching calls. Services requested by
the client, in addition to coaching calls, will be billed at a prorated
hourly rate agreed in advance.
The client will call the coach at the pre-arranged time
and telephone number as scheduled, and pays the telephone charges for
the call. Please remember that you must give 24 hours prior notice if
you need to cancel or change the time of an appointment, otherwise you
will be charged for the session in full. The coach will make reasonable
efforts to reschedule sessions, which are cancelled in a timely manner.
Either party may end the coaching relationship at any time, by giving
written, email, or verbal communication of their desire to end the
coaching sessions.
Confidentiality
As licensed therapists who are also coaches, we adhere to
the letter of our licensure in regard to confidentiality with our
coaching clients. We will only release information about our work to
others with your written permission, or if we are required to do so by a
court order.
There are some situations in which we are legally
obligated to breach your confidentiality in order to protect others from
harm, including (1) if we have information that indicates that a child
or elderly or disabled person is being abused, we must report that to
the appropriate state agency and (2) if a client is an imminent risk to
him/herself or makes threats of imminent violence against another
person, we are required to take protective actions. These situations
rarely occur in coaching practices, but if such a situation does occur,
we will make every effort to discuss it with you before taking any
action.
Although, during the course of our coaching, we may
discuss your future plans, business affairs, customer lists, financial
information, job information, goals, personal information, and other
private information, the coach will not voluntarily communicate the
client's information to a third party.
Coaching versus Therapy
There are some similarities between coaching and therapy,
but we do not conduct therapy with our coaching clients. Although both
coaching and therapy use knowledge of human behaviour, motivation,
behavioural change, and interactive counselling techniques, there are
major differences in the goals, focus, and level of professional
responsibility. Because of these differences, the roles of coach and
therapist are often in potential conflict, so we believe that it is
ethically inappropriate, under most circumstances, for us to play both
roles with a client. In some situations, we may recommend that you enter
therapy as a condition of continuing coaching.
Professional
Boundaries
Coaching is a professional relationship and we will make
sure to maintain our professional boundaries during and after our work
together. Considerable experience shows that when boundaries blur, the
hard-won benefits gained from the coaching relationship are endangered.
Intellectual
Property
In order to honour and protect the coach's intellectual
property, the client agrees not to disclose or communicate information
about the coach's materials, written articles, or methods to any third
parties without express permission.
Every coach has his or her own coaching style. Here is a
brief description of the IntoFocus approach.
-
We commiserate with and agree with my clients.
We make my clients feel good, show them that I care, and help them to
believe in themselves (because I do!).
-
We share what I’m sensing from my clients.
We intuit, point stuff out, and tell the truth if it needs to be
looked at.
-
We ask the obvious questions.
We want facts, feelings, and preferences, and I want my clients to
know these as well.
-
We step back, look for the whole picture, and discover
how their situation or problem is perfect.
In other words, they’ve gotten themselves where they are for some
reason. We want to know that reason, because it provides the context I
need to have a clear perspective.
-
We talk about the state my clients want, the most
perfect place for them to be, or the most ideal result they want.
Most clients have never had someone do this with them to this extent.
-
I tell my clients what I think is going on.
We provide words for what we see going on. We help them to label these
things, so they can see the events, situation, or problem objectively.
-
We ask our clients what they need or want from us right
then.
We want them to use us as they want to. We need to know their needs
and our role.
-
We present, and we discuss, several strategies or
solutions—often unconventional.
We like to offer simple advice that fits perfectly and is tailored to
their personality, priorities, and resources. Sometimes our advice is
counterintuitive, but it usually works.
-
We sense and share the next evolutionary step for our
clients.
We listen for missing distinctions and for shifts that the client is
ready to make. We look for the next step of an Evolutionary
Progression.
-
We ask our clients to do more than they would do on
their own.
We like to stretch them when the timing is right.
Want to get started
with coaching?
Here is a list of questions. Please take time to answer
them as truthfully as possible. Mail, fax or e-mail these to your coach
ahead of time, so that they can be part of your initial free session.
-
Where do you get your energy from?
-
Where are you most personally limited?
-
What do you love about your work — being a consultant, health
professional, coach, or other skilled professional? What are your
unique strengths and talents?
-
What is your current situation regarding your work?
-
What is going well? What are you proudest of? What are you
passionate about?
-
What challenges and problems regarding your small business are you
currently facing? What challenges and problems in your personal life
are you currently facing that add to your stress?
-
Of these challenges, which need attention immediately? Which are
low priority that can be corrected over time?
-
What are the 5 business opportunities that you are currently not
making the most or anything of?
-
What are the 10 goals you want to accomplish in the next ninety
days?
-
What should I know about you in order to best understand the
challenges you face now? How can I best coach you (strong feedback,
gentle encouragement, listening, direct suggestions, information,
advice, accountability?)
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