Working with SLC to begin your coaching journey

Coaching could be described as having a personal trainer for your leadership muscles, but I believe it offers far more than just professional development. It fosters profound personal and professional growth, creating lasting transformations. Selecting the right coach is crucial. Your coach should be someone you’re comfortable with, who creates a positive atmosphere built on trust and openness. It’s not about finding a friend, but about establishing a supportive and engaging relationship.  

The logistics

Before embarking on this transformative journey with me, there’s some paperwork – the not-so-exciting part, but important nonetheless. This paperwork includes a contract, the first payment and the Discovery Form. The contract ensures everyone is on the same page about processes, timings, payments, confidentiality and expectations. This foundation of trust and openness is vital for an effective coaching relationship, especially if your coaching is being funded by your school or organisation. It ensures clarity on the level of information that will be shared and with whom.

Reflect on your goals

Now, let’s talk about the Discovery Form – my favourite piece of paperwork! It’s not just a form; it’s your chance to reflect on where you are now and what you hope to achieve through coaching. It also helps me understand you better before our sessions even start, enabling us to dive right into the good stuff during Session 1!  

In the Discovery Form, you’ll outline 3 to 5 goals you’d like to achieve during our coaching sessions. These goals are flexible; they might change as we progress and that’s OK. We’ll revisit them regularly, and if they need tweaking, we can adjust them to better suit your evolving needs. 

Finding fresh perspectives

Each session revolves around a specific topic or theme you’d like to explore. It could be related to your overarching goals or something you’re currently grappling with. I’ll help you clarify this at the beginning of each session, ensuring you know what you aim to achieve during our time together. My role as your coach is to guide you toward new perspectives and innovative thinking. I’ll listen, ask questions and use visualisations, creative tasks and even moments of silence to support this. You’ll let me know in your Discovery Form the type of activities you find motivating and, where possible, I’ll use those in our sessions together.

Navigating challenges to embrace growth

There will be challenges! Sometimes, I might push you outside your comfort zone but it’s all in the spirit of helping you grow. If at any point you don’t feel up for the challenge or there is a direction you don’t want to go in, you can let me know. I might explore this a little further just to double check you’re not avoiding a difficult question but if it’s not helping you, we move on. If something comes up that is outside my expertise as a coach, I’ll let you know and may be able to refer you to another practitioner. 

Sustainable change that lasts

The best part of all of this is that the learning doesn’t stop when our session ends. It continues in your real-life situations as you apply your newfound insights and strategies, making this journey incredibly rewarding and, dare I say, even fun! Coaching is a brilliant blend of personal and professional growth, leaving you not just better at your job, but better at life!  

Are you ready to get started on this transformative adventure together?