What to Expect During a Coaching Agreement
If you are entering into a coaching agreement or thinking about hiring a coach, you may be wondering what you can expect during these conversations. Coaching truly is a partnership between you and your coach. You become connected to one another as you work together in your journey.
So what can you expect in a coaching agreement?
In the beginning, you and your coach will establish a coaching agreement to lay the foundation for your relationship and the work you will do together. This agreement will define the roles, responsibilities, and rights of all parties involved. It may also state the length of your engagement, the frequency, and duration of your sessions, and the modes of communication to be used. This ensures that everyone is on the same page moving into the agreement.
Once these boundaries have been established, it's time to begin your first coaching sessions. We recognize that every situation is different and therefore every coaching session will be unique based on the individual and their situation. But most of our sessions will follow the below structure.
Foundation
The initial conversation will always focus on laying a strong foundation between you and your coach. You and your coach will explore the specifics of your situation and discuss your goals and expectations. This helps establish a baseline that both you and your coach can refer back to as time goes on.
Plan
As your coaching sessions continue over time, plans begin to be put into place. You and your coach will discuss opportunities for success through action plans and accountability. These discussions can be for both your personal and professional life. The planning phase is important as it will shed light on the next steps and actions.
Action
With each session, you will leave with an actionable plan to move forward. This plan will include self-accountability, tools to explore and foster your professional development and confidence to navigate difficult situations that may arise in the future. In future sessions, your coach and you will review the progress of these action plans and also monitor outcomes and performance.
It can also be helpful to understand your and your coach’s role in these coaching sessions. Understanding these roles may further help you understand what to expect. Let’s start by looking at the coach’s role. Your coach’s role in the partnership is to help you discover, clarify and align with what you want to achieve. This is accomplished by co-creating a safe, non-judgmental space in which the coach encourages you to examine your goals while they listen and remain curious about what you are saying.
During your time together, the coach may use powerful questions and tools, including personality assessments, to help you explore and brainstorm different possibilities that you can then use to create your own solutions and strategies. A coach may also give you “homework,” like journaling, between sessions to help you keep the momentum of your discovery and progress. You can expect your coach to keep you accountable for your goals.
During these sessions, your role is to work hard, be honest and vulnerable with yourself, and be willing to explore things that may make you feel uncomfortable. These should be the expectations you take into each coaching session. The safe space of a coaching session allows you to ask yourself questions and discover answers to those questions. If you are stuck, freely say and explore whatever you need to move forward. Then, you can take action toward your goals. If you are open to the process, experiencing transformational breakthroughs and achieving your goals might be easier than you think.
Remember that coaching is a partnership. As you move through the coaching process, be vocal about what you are experiencing. If you need additional help somewhere, let your coach know. You have the power to make these coaching sessions what you need them to be.
Celebrating your success,
Krista Ryan