by Kathleen Bradley

So you have made the initial leap – you have contacted a coach and asked for support in connection with a particular challenge area relating to your work or life.  What can you expect when you walk through the door or have your first call?

As with an athlete, your success is entirely up to you.  What your coach offers is a process for achieving peak performance; she doesn’t get out there and play the game or run the marathon for you.  So your coach will first and foremost focus on two key areas – the muscles you want to build and how committed you are to doing the training. Here are some of the questions that your coach may ask you during your initial session:

• What leads you to seek this coaching assignment?
• What does a positive outcome to coaching look like?  What happens or changes if the coaching goes as you hope it will?
• How would you describe your interest or motivation for seeking coaching?
• How intense is your interest or motivation for seeking coaching?
• What would indicate to you that the coaching is “working”?  What’s different or changed?  What would the impact of that be?  How would that affect you personally?
• What happens if the coaching doesn’t “work” this way?  What are the consequences to you?
• Who do you see as responsible for the success of this coaching assignment?
• What commitments are you making to the success of this coaching assignment?
• How would you expect your commitments to this coaching assignment to be assessed?  How do you plan to hold yourself accountable?

Once you and your coach have established some initial parameters for the coaching engagement, your coach will work with you just like an athletic coach works with an elite athlete.  You will together clarify and prioritize your goals, identify the specific areas that you wish to work on, and define an action plan to achieve peak performance. Subsequent coaching sessions will monitor your progress, provide motivation and support, and, most importantly, hold you accountable for what you have committed to do in order to win your career marathon!