Coaching is a co-created activity. That means that I work with my clients to define an engagement structure that will
work for them, and there’s a lot of flexibility to play with. A typical engagement for both executive leadership and
career transition coaching will last about 6 months. We meet approximately once every two weeks, for a total of
about 12 sessions of one hour each. There will be work to do in between sessions, which we will figure out as we go
based on your goals and development style.

For executive leadership coaching engagements, there’s an additional layer of work based on the employer’s
expectations. We might, for example, meet with your manager at the beginning, midpoint, and wrap-up of an
engagement. I encourage a coach-facilitated 360 or stakeholder interview report to gather data on leadership assets
and development areas in this sort of engagement as well.

Some clients continue coaching beyond the initial 6-month engagement. In these situations we frequently revisit the
goals discussion to make sure that we are always focused on forward momentum.

In general, our discussions will be confidential to the fullest extent allowed legally, with some exceptions that I will
discuss with you at the onset of our engagement. Note that there are no legal privileges associated with our work (as
you might experience with a doctor or a lawyer). As an ICF-certified coach, I have agreed to abide by the ICF code of
ethics, which includes expectations around confidentiality. You can find the ICF Code of Ethics here:
https://coachingfederation.org/credentialing/coaching-ethics/icf-code-of-ethics/#ethical-standards

There are a lot of different types of coaches offering their services today at a wide range of price points. Coaching
fees vary based on experience level and professional background of the coach, the type of engagement, and other
factors. Unfortunately, pricing is opaque. I am happy to discuss my current fees with you when we connect.

Yes, coaching is a financial commitment, but it’s also a commitment of time, energy, and vulnerability necessary to
make transformation happen. There is no coach and no fee that can guaranty a meaningful development in you
without your commitment.

In my experience engagements haven’t worked out for a few reasons.  Sometimes there’s a misalignment between
the coach and the client on the offering.  Client might be looking to be told what to do, given advice, or otherwise be
given “solutions” to their “problems.”  While there can be some of that, in the work I do we focus on the client’s
personal development and finding ways to use behavior changes to drive toward that development.  Another factor
that can lead to an engagement going sideways relates to the client’s view of what happens inside vs outside the
session.  The work in the session is a place to reflect and process and advance our self-awareness of what happens
outside, but ultimately its changes in behavior outside the session that is going to drive the development.  Some
clients expect to make their development happen by talking for an hour every other week.  In my experience the real
sustainable development happens more through the behavior changes that go on outside the session.

I’m thinking of an engagement from about 12 months ago where I worked with a banking executive who was dealing
with some organizational changes, feeling disconnected at work, and trying to align herself more productively with the
job.  She was very structured in her approach and took to the work in a very engaged way.  She loved having goals,
plans, and behavior work to do and she really engaged with it.  This led her to broaden her sense of her leadership
and helped her to navigate some particularly difficult challenges with her boss and boss’s boss.  Some of the work we
did involved analyzing her strengths, exploring her purpose and motivations, and challenging some of her
preconceptions about what she was looking for from work.   A few months after we stopped working together she
sent me a note and wanted to give me an update.  She was thrilled to announce that she had landed on what she
wanted to do next — and it wasn’t banking at all.  Though she had basically forgotten this experience, she had served
as a volunteer at a midwife organization when she was in her late teens. At the time, she really wanted to go into the
profession but had been convinced that she should go into business and consulting instead.  In the rush of work and
life that followed, she had put this out of her mind.  But our work together allowed that door to reopen, and she’s
(re)discovered a passion and purpose.  Now as a later career adult, she has the resources to make this sort of a
change and is pursuing the education required to do it.

While I’m not against this, I want to caution you that my network is limited, and I don’t offer a “connection” service.
 There are people out there, mostly recruiters or former recruiters, who sell access to their network, but even there
you need a specific match in terms of the field for this to be effective.  So, if there’s someone in my network you’d like
an intro to, I can make it, but I don’t want you to think that is a meaningful part of the service I offer.

I always ask clients what they want from me as their coach.  I am by nature a structured person, so my inclination is
to define goals, identify behaviors, build a plan with milestones, and then track progress toward those goals.  We
could do something like that for you, and if you want it to be formalized, I have a structure we can work in.  Many of
my clients do not take this approach either because it’s not the support they need or (more frequently, in my opinion)
that problem is less with “accountability” and instead a lack of commitment to a goal or process in the first instance.
 Usually the coaching helps to uncover what the client really wants, what really matters to them, and helps them
understand better what’s in the way and holding them back.  Once we do this it is a lot easier to move forward.

 I will always be cautious about becoming the resistance point for my clients.  While I can hold you accountable, you
aren’t doing these things for me or to please me.  You’re doing it for yourself.  If you find you need an authority figure
to keep you moving, I’ll suggest exploring that need a bit more as we go.

When I work with career transition clients with storytelling, we inevitably work to incorporate that story into their
resume. I am not a resume consultant who is up to date on the latest styles or tricks on how to get noticed. Instead,
I’ll work with you on substantive content to be sure that the resume reflects your story, your strengths, and most
importantly serves as a compelling argument for your desired future.

I do work with my clients on interview preparation.  We anticipate questions and responses, and I offer my
perspective on how the client can demonstrate their strengths in the interview or position sensitive situations.  Many
clients going through interview process find this type of support very valuable.  What I do not have, however, is a
methodology or a format to use — I’ll encourage you to find something that you feel works for you rather than
prescribe one.  (A good place to start is the STAR method.)

Clients spend a lot of time with me on networking, especially those who come with a negative preconception of work
networking is and how to go about it.  The work I do is to help you reframe networking into a positive, productive, and
mutually beneficial activity and to stage your engagement with your network to get the most out of the conversations.
 I have resources on this that I can recommend based on what we feel your challenges might be with the activity.

For technical financial skills and similar job task related skills, I do not offer support.  I’d be happy to talk through what
you think you need, share my perspective on that, and then work with you as you investigate resources, but I don’t
have anything on hand.

When I work with clients, we spend a lot of time learning to tell their story: who am I, what do I offer, and what are the
challenges I’m seeking.  Techniques that show up in Designing Your Life, the Gallup Clifton Strengths assessment,
and Never Search Alone are useful for this work.  Some clients have a good sense of this already, but others need a
lot of work to put the story together.  In either case, it’s often worth bringing in outside data which you can get from
conversations with friends, family and former colleagues to augment your own views of yourself.    There’s an
iterative process that happens as you tell your story, tap your network, and learn more about your target roles through
applications and interviews.  We learn and refine as we go.

It’s important to note that I might – or might not – know much about your target fields, so I will probably not be in a
position to give you good and up-to-date information about them. Instead, I will support you as you gather data,
experiment, and align your vision with the specific needs of the career you’re pursuing.

I can say with confidence that when we do our work right (and that means both of us), at the end of 6 months you will
feel a difference and others will see a difference in the goals that you set for yourself.  There’s no magic to that
amount of time – some people get what they need faster, and others might be well on their way with more work to do.
 You will have more self-awareness, more confidence about where you are and the direction of forward travel, and
more capabilities to navigate complex situations independently after doing this work.  The key is setting the goals,
identifying changes in behavior to try, consistent reflection and effort, and the willingness to look inward rather than
solely outward as part of your growth.