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What is a coach?
A
coach is a trained guide that provides experienced insight and
practices to help you achieve your life goals. We partner with you
to help you clarify and overcome specific obstacles that prevent you
from having the life you desire, your “one wild and precious life.”
We help you interpret what’s in your way, then we help you transform
and manifest a new way of being in the world.
What
can a coach help me do?
Coaches are specifically trained to help you improve areas in your
personal, family, business, or social life where you are not getting
what you want. We’ll be able to provide insights and practices that
will help you achieve greater satisfaction, skills, and comfort.
For example, perhaps
you’d like to rid yourself of old habits of too much or too little,
or you’d like to find the rich ground between avoidance and over
involvement? Here are some of the things clients say when they come
to seek help from a coach:
”I have trouble with procrastination.” “I want to speak more
powerfully.” “I’d like to convey more of a leadership presence.” "I
obviously need to improve my listening skills.” “I can’t seem to
make time for exercise.” “My family feels as if my work is more
important than they are, which couldn’t be further from how I feel.”
“I can’t seem to make a relationship last.” “I have too many
relationships that aren’t satisfying.”
A coach can help you determine what resonates and works for you, or
conversely, what is working against you in a particular life
situation.
I
see that you are an “integral” coach. What’s that?
An
“integral” coach uses an integrated, experiential coaching
approach—meaning that we look at the whole person—not as someone who
needs to be fixed, but rather, as someone who desires something
greater. Integral coaching looks at all aspects that affect your
aim: cognitive, emotional, physical, and relational. We’ll uncover
new ways of looking at your own behavior, and the behaviors of
others; we’ll explore new practices and ways of creating an entirely
new interpersonal landscape, and then develop new skills for opening
up new possibilities in your life! Along the way, we’re always
looking for the most meaningful, direct way to achieve your goals.
Integral coaching is pragmatic. We may investigate different
approaches, but there will be no skipping through the fields! We’ll
quickly hone in on the most useful and custom-fit strategies that
benefit you. For more information on the history and
philosophical foundations of integral coaching go to the source:
www.newventureswest.com.
What’s the point or benefit of a whole
person approach?
Promoting change takes effort and awareness—this is
especially true for adults. To understand a whole person approach,
let’s take a look at what it is not:
Most of us have been socialized to function primarily
from our heads. A major part of our self-identity is often, almost
habitually, strictly connected to our thoughts, ideas, and speech.
However, what we think, believe, and say can become automatic, even
when it doesn’t bring us the results we want. For instance, what we
say, how we say it, and when we speak can become a physical habit
programmed to our personality, even when it doesn’t accurately
reflect our deepest self, our essence. And then to our detriment,
our identity becomes negatively connected to the very act of
speaking, even to the extent of thinking: “If I’m not talking how
will anybody know I’m me?” As if the very demonstration of words is
your essence. It is not.
To complicate things, we have come to believe that
insight or awareness, in and of itself, is enough to effect a
change. We have an intellectual insight and feel changed by it. But
awareness is only a first step. To truly make a change in your life,
it must be experienced as more than merely a thought, regardless of
how deep or urgent the insight might be. A whole person approach
draws on all of our ways of knowing: intellectual, emotional,
physical, and relational—to create a significant change in our
life. And just as we have practiced and integrated how to think
logically, we can also practice and integrate new ways to respond
physically and emotionally in order to have a richer, more balanced
life.
How
is integral coaching different from other types of coaching?
Integral coaching is a personalized approach rather than a
cookie-cutter—”do this”, “do that”—approach. We won’t just define an
arbitrary development path that has you working some pre-existing
program. We don’t check on whether you've done your “to do” list. And
we don’t look at you or your performance as something that needs to
be “fixed.” However, if you want to create or attract something
better into your life, or bring something new into your performance,
or fully express a hidden talent or desire, then the integral
approach is an excellent way to do it.
What’s the theory behind Integral coaching?
Integral coaching from a broad foundation which includes Ontology
being and what it means to be human and Phenomenology which examines how things appear to us in
our experience. This is a
broad view of experience, and takes in the significance of objects,
events, tools, the flow of time, the self, and others—as they arise
and as we engage with them in our "life-world". The integral
approach leads us to focus on how we relate to and engage with a
situation, and helps us understand our interpretations and “stories”
surrounding our specific experiences.
What
makes integral coaching useful, serious, or worth my time?
It’s pragmatic. That means there must be noticeable outcomes, and it
must make a difference in your life. Integral coaching is grounded
in the concrete reality we experience. If you are not getting the
outcomes you want, then we’ll need to refine our approach and
practices.
What
are the right kinds of topics to pursue? Who is the ideal
candidate?
You may be in a new position at work, or wish that you were. You may
be struggling with a professional or personal decision. You may have
some nagging dissatisfaction with an aspect of your
life—relationship, work, family, or self. Any of these situations
may be appropriate for a coaching relationship. Also, please see the
above question, “What can a coach help me do?” for more examples.
An ideal candidate for coaching is someone who
recognizes that they are not where they want to be in their life.
This might mean that you have new responsibilities at work but don’t
exactly know how to manage them. Or, perhaps you feel frustrated,
disappointed, or stagnated in some aspect of your life. The only
requirement is that you need to be ready and willing to take action
to change your life and to say “yes!” to your dreams. The point of
our relationship is for you to feel supported and guided as you
explore your topic. A coach is not a parent, a nag, or someone who
tells you what to do. What an integral coach can do is help you create a course of
intention, action, practice to get you to where you want to be. and support you as you pursue your plans.
What’s the process? How do you work? What are the logistics? How
long will this take? Do we have to meet in person? How frequently
will we meet?
Initially, we’ll talk briefly to determine the general nature and
complexity of your situation and discuss ways that I might be able
to coach you toward the change you are seeking. There is no charge
for our initial consultation. During our initial meeting we will
discuss what you might want to work on and we will also both
determine if working together seems to be a good fit. Establishing
mutual respect and strong trust is essential to a successful working
relationship. If you’d like to go forward, we’d also discuss time
commitment and cost. The next step is to spend one to one and a half
hours reviewing your situation in detail—what you want to work on,
and your point of view, and your beliefs, thoughts, values, and
goals. After this first session, I develop an assessment that builds
on the themes and issues raised during our conversation and I
suggest a preliminary plan that we can discuss at our next meeting.
At our next meeting, which takes from one to two hours, we’ll
review the plan to ensure that it meets your intention, and then we
will refine it and map out activities or practices that become paths
to your goal. Usually we’ll meet for one to one and a half hours
every other week to see where you are and to make any necessary
adjustments as you pursue your goal. Our meetings can be either in
person or via phone. The average overall time commitment is six
months—though it is really dependent on your goals and your
timeframe for achieving them. We’ll define a timeframe in our
initial planning sessions.
What’s the difference between coaching and therapy?
The goals of coaching are different and more specific than the goals
of therapy. As a coach, I deal with what your life is now and
specific ways you’d like to improve it. We will practice specific
ways of examining and strengthening less developed ways of
understanding and insight—be it cognitive, emotional, physical, or
relational. And lastly, I can’t prescribe any medication—other than
chocolate.
What
does it cost? What will I get for my money? How will we know when
we’re done?
Cost varies by individual situation and will be determined at our
first session. Please see the above question “What is the process?”
for additional information. Your
results will be based on our customized plan for realizing your
specific goals. Since you will be a full participant in the process
of determining what our coaching objectives are, and since you must
agree to the plan to get to the outcome, you will have a great deal
of control over what you get. And remember, integral coaching
is pragmatic. So although the process will surely involve new
insights and awareness, it is for the benefit of making a real
change in your life. As we review the assessment and refine the
suggested plan, we will specify the outcomes that define success.
Your goal may be to acquire a specific new competency, or to
integrate a new way of looking at a situation, to learn to speak
more courageously, or to be more physically active. Your goal will
be specific to you.
What
if I’m not happy with what I get?
Integral coaching is
participatory and experiential. I won’t be simply advising you. You
will need to be fully engaged in the process and express any
concerns you have—while you remain open to a process that may take
some weeks to unfold. Clients who fully engage in the process are
happy with the result. Most have felt that the experience far
exceeded their expectations.
I’ve
got too many problems. Where do I start? Will you help me focus? And
how will you determine the solution?
During our initial meeting we will look at your current concerns and
our conversation will help you focus what you want you’d like to
work on first. I can suggest approaches, exercises, practices that
will help you discover the path to the point you seek. However, I
can’t choose the topic for you—it’s got to come from you to be
meaningful to you.
How
can I fit in being coached with what I’m already doing?
This is a very interesting question. To which I would respond: Why
can’t you find time? What’s getting in the way? We are always in the
midst of our lives, but sometimes a concern or issue becomes so
pressing it can no longer be ignored. That’s when you’re ready to be
coached.
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