What is coaching?

The ICF (International Coaching Federation) defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential”.

I view coaching as an equal partnership between coach and coachee to concentrate on the individual’s growth to define achievable objectives, the development of awareness, the creation of options and lastly the choice of an action plan that goes in the direction of the objectives.

My coaching style is transformational, enabling self-actualization, the full realisation of one’s potential and one’s true self. I help those who want to go through a change in their life, with a focus on the person’s attitude and perception of themselves (clarity + confidence + action = transformation). Far more than ‘options-strategy-action’ to attain goals or clarity or to get better at something, transformational coaching dives deep into an individual’s psyche, focusing on who that person is and desires to become. Transformational coaching is therefore an ontological approach because it is about ‘being’ rather than ‘doing.’

As a coach, I assist clients in the discovery of their own objectives through active listening, powerful questioning and providing feedback. Whatever your ambitious objectives are, e.g.: an improvement in your work performance, a redesign of your professional life, more economic satisfaction, resolving an issue pertaining to your personal growth, your family, your leisure time, an improvement in your physical form, a better handling of your emotions, I can help you see things from a different point of view, modify what you think and do habitually, to focus on new alternative possibilities of action and define concrete steps to reach your aims, by leveraging resources that you already have and by building new ones.

Mental fitness

As a certified positive intelligence coach (trained by Shirzad Chamine, author of the New York Times bestseller Positive Intelligence, and Bill Carmody), I combine positive psychology, neuroscience, cognitive psychology and performance science to help my clients:

• become aware of their sources of negative emotions, i.e. their saboteurs, which try to motivate them through negative emotions like fear, stress, anger, guilt, shame, insecurity;

• develop mental muscles to shift to the sage perspective in response to negative events, and so recover faster from setbacks, reduce anxiety and stress, increase resilience and performance at work, achieve physical health and wellness;

• develop self-command muscles.

Coaching is like a gym for your brain: the more you exercise it, the more negative thinking neuropathways will atrophy and positive thinking synapses will invigorate. Success requires intense initial practice - you cannot defeat a gang of ten bandits by sending one new fighter per day for one hundred days.

Within six to eight weeks, brain rewiring starts to occur, which means that grey matter will decrease in parts of your left brain linked to negative emotions (i.e. your survival brain, brainstem, limbic system), and increase in areas of your right brain linked to positive intelligence (your middle prefrontal cortex); this has been proven through MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging).

The more you practise, the faster you will recover from tough challenges, and the speed and depth of the shift will depend on the strength of your mental muscles, and how difficult the challenge is.

Benefits

For organisations, the benefits of coaching include:

-      empowers individuals and encourages them to take responsibility

-      increases employee and staff engagement

-      improves individual performance

-      helps develop high potential employees

-      helps identify both organizational and individual strengths and development opportunities

-      helps to motivate and empower individuals to excel

-      demonstrates organizational commitment to human resource development

For the individual, the benefits of coaching include:

-      Clarity, commitment, visualising success

-      Self-reflection is encouraged

-      Strategies and goals defined to suit individual needs

- Accountability and commitment for empowerment

What clients are saying

"You have made me realise that I have the resources and the power to act to find a solution rather than feel like a powerless victim". Senior manager, Product Marketing, global financial services firm.

"You have made me feel welcomed and understood through the melody and the tone of your voice". Senior manager, Business Development, global financial services firm.

"I will be eternally grateful for your help and support in managing a very difficult situation at work". Teacher, secondary school.

"Coaching can truly transform people in a short time". Team manager, marketing / consulting services firm.