Coaching supports you at every level in becoming who you want to be. Coaching builds awareness, empowers choice, and leads to change.

ICF defines coaching as “Partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”

As coaches, we honour you as the expert in your life and work, and we believe that you are creative, resourceful and whole.
It is the coaches responsibility to discover and align with what you want to achieve, encourage your self-discovery, elicit solutions and strategies from you and hold you accountable and responsible.This process helps you to dramatically improve your outlook on work and life; while improving your leadership skills and unlocking your potential.

Coaching has traditionally been associated with sports; but in the last few years,coaching has become applicable in business, and in every aspect of life as well as sports. Now, it is quite normal to see a coach, to help achieve goals in life and work. A coach helps you to achieve your personal best, and to produce the results you want both in your personal and professional lives.

In the most straightforward terms, coaching means building your competence, to face your life situation. Practically speaking, successful coaching leaves you with 1.Long-term excellence, 2.The ability to self-correct, 3.Competence in being self-generating. In action, this means, a coach understands you with great depth and scope, converses with you in a way that opens up insights and possibilities, and offers a path forward that includes custom-designed activities.

According to the Sherpa Coaching Survey 2012 Earnings Report, a larger portion of the costs of executive coaching are being paid for by employers.

In a study by Olivero, Bane, and Kopelman (1997), in which 31 managers underwent training followed by 8 weeks of executive coaching, it was found that the training increased productivity by 22.4%, while the coaching improved productivity by 88%.

According to Bono et al (2009), 93% of US-based Global 100 companies use executive coaches. Jarvis, Lane, and Fillery-Travis (2005), state that 88% of UK organizations use coaching and Leadership Management Australia (2006), states that in Australia 64% of business leaders and 72% of senior managers report the use of coaches.

Research suggests that when training is well aligned with business needs, it becomes a strategic advantage for the company. The above mentioned trends are evidence that coaching is definitely becoming more accepted in business worldwide and is more likely to be seen as a business expense rather than a personal one, as business’s are starting to see the return on investment (ROI).

South Africans have faced power calamities; challenges related to violence, crime and political unrest, as well as constant interest rate hikes. Global and domestic competition have resulted in organisations downsizing and making huge efforts to reduce costs according to Ho (1997). These changes have had negative effects on overall employee well-being and health which has resulted in increased work stress, over-work and job dissatisfaction. Environmental changes and the impact of global warming have only increased the challenges pressurising organisations to ensure responsible business practice and good governance. There is much uncertainty and vulnerability for members of South African society created by the global and domestic macro trends and all of this has changed the way organisations do business.

It is estimated that on average South African’s spend 9.5 hours a day working five days a week, which adds up to around 190 hours a month at work which can show the work and work environment fills a large portion of peoples lives, (LexisNexis International Workplace Productivity Survey, 2010). Logan quoted in Maiden (2001) the work environment is as important as family life and that the helping professional must recognise it as an inseparable element of service delivery. Grint (1991) suggests that work in its most basic form gives objectivity to our world, providing value, status, economic reward, and is also a means to realise self-potential.

The health and wellbeing of employees is increasingly a legitimate and important management concern (Ho, 1997), progressive organisations recognise this and have created conditions that are helpful to personal and social growth. The people that make up an organisation are its most important resource and coaching has become known as one of the foremost organisational tools to aid in the personal and social growth of employees (O‘Flaherty, 2004).

And lastly, from a leadership development perspective, coaching is leading. Once you have the tools, you will find it is the most powerful form of leadership you can practice. Leaders with the proper coaching skills can motivate direct reports and work with both bosses and peers in a manner that reduces friction and enhances productivity.

To determine whether you or your company could benefit from coaching, start by summarizing what you would expect to accomplish in coaching.
When you have a fairly clear idea of the desired outcome, a coaching partnership can be a useful tool for developing a strategy for how to achieve that outcome with greater ease.

Since coaching is a partnership, ask yourself whether collaboration, other viewpoints, and new perspectives are valued.
Also, ask yourself whether you or your business is ready to devote the time and the energy to making real changes.
If the answer is yes, then coaching may be a beneficial way to grow and develop.

The length of a coaching partnership varies depending on your needs and preferences.
For certain types of focused coaching, three to six months of working may work.
For other types of coaching, you may find it beneficial to work with a coach for a longer period.

Factors that may impact the length of time include: the types of goals, the ways individuals or teams prefer to work, the frequency of coaching meetings and financial resources available to support coaching.

Overall, be prepared to design the coaching partnership with the coach. For example, think of a strong partnership that you currently have in your work or life. Look at how you built that relationship and what is important to you about partnership. You will want to build those same things into a coaching relationship.

Interview more than one coach to determine "what feels right" in terms of the chemistry.
Look for stylistic similarities and differences between the coach and you, and how these might support your growth.
Talk with the coach about what to do if you ever feel things are not going well.
Remember that coaching is a partnership, so be assertive about talking with the coach about any concerns.

Professional coaching focuses on setting goals, creating outcomes and managing personal change. Sometimes it’s helpful to understand coaching by distinguishing it from other personal or organizational support professions.

Therapy: The focus of therapy is often on resolving difficulties arising from the past that hamper an individual's emotional functioning in the present, improving overall psychological functioning, and dealing with the present in more emotionally healthy ways.
Coaching, on the other hand, supports personal and professional growth based on self-initiated change in pursuit of specific actionable outcomes. Coaching is future focused. The emphases in a coaching relationship are on action, accountability, and follow through.

Consulting: While consulting approaches vary widely, the assumption is the consultant will diagnose problems and prescribe and, sometimes, implement solutions.
With coaching, the assumption is that individuals or teams are capable of generating their own solutions, with the coach supplying supportive, discovery-based approaches and frameworks.

Mentoring: A mentor is an expert who provides wisdom and guidance based on his or her own experience. Mentoring may include advising, counseling and coaching.
The coaching process does not include advising or counseling, and focuses instead on individuals or groups setting and reaching their own objectives.

The coach provides objective assessment and observations that foster your self-awareness and awareness of others
Listens closely to fully understand your circumstances
Acts as a sounding board in exploring possibilities and implementing thoughtful planning and decision making
Champions opportunities and potential, encouraging stretch and challenge inline with personal strengths and aspirations
Fosters shifts in thinking that reveal fresh perspectives,
Challenges blind spots to illuminate new possibilities and support the creation of alternative scenarios
Maintains professional boundaries in the coaching relationship, including confidentiality, and adheres to the coaching profession's code of ethics.
It's the role of a coach to help you clarify your goal and then come up with doable strategies that will effortlessly get you to where you want to be.

100% committed to your success
Available in between sessions for email coaching to keep you continually supported
Constantly inspiring and motivating you along the way
Giving you a completely confidential service
A hand to hold or rocket fuel if you need it
Offering unconditional support throughout the process
Always providing creative ways of helping you
Believing in you even when you don't

Creates the coaching agenda based on personally meaningful coaching goals
Uses assessment and observations to enhance self-awareness and awareness of others
Envisions personal and/or organizational success
Assumes full responsibility for personal decisions and actions
Utilizes the coaching process to promote possibility thinking and fresh perspectives
Takes courageous action in alignment with personal goals and aspirations
Engages big-picture thinking and problem-solving skills
Takes the tools, concepts, models and principles provided by the coach and engages in effective forward actions

An individual or team might choose to work with a coach for many reasons, including but not limited to the following:

Something urgent, compelling or exciting is at stake (a challenge, stretch goal or opportunity)
A gap exists in knowledge, skills, confidence or resources
A desire to accelerate results
A lack of clarity with choices to be made
Success has started to become problematic
Work and life are out of balance, creating unwanted consequences
Core strengths need to be identified, along with how best to leverage them