Questions and answers about coaching

Why should I get a coach?
Whenever a person reaches their peak performance, whether in the world of sports, within a company or on the stage, they have had a coach supporting them. Companies are increasingly providing coaching for their employees – and with good reason: it lets them ensure that their managers and teams can reap the benefits that coaching has to offer. As a private individual, you can take action and make sure that you make progress towards achieving your life goals.

What can a coach help me achieve?
All kinds of perspectives are possible – the only limits are the limits of your imagination. In our coaching sessions you will clearly formulate your intentions and goals, and I will help you to achieve them more quickly and efficiently.

What is Systemic Team Coaching and what can it help me to achieve?
Systemic Team Coaching focuses on what a team and its stakeholders can do better together instead of individually. By focussing on relationships rather than on individual elements, we are able to depersonalise challenges and activate the power of collaborative learning and growing. This leads to added value that goes beyond the achievement of goals and to an internal attitude that can be carried forwards into the future.

What do I get from a coaching session?
You will receive undivided attention – it’s all about you and your desires. I will listen attentively and ask meaningful questions about your needs. You will receive feedback and we will develop new perspectives together. I will make sure that you remain focused and exploit your full potential to the greatest extent possible.

What do I need to bring to a coaching session?
You just need to bring a willingness to talk about your challenges and set new goals. Expect to develop new perspectives.

What is a coach?
I am your sparring partner and develop realisations with you along the way. I see myself as a guide who helps you discover or develop new perspectives that you can then use to move closer to your goals and achieve them.

What a coach is not?
I am not a trainer who teaches you about a specific subject. Nor am I a consultant who will provide you with finished solutions, nor a psychologist who will look into your past, nor a psychiatrist who will heal emotional pain. I am not a therapist.

What methods do coaches use?
As a general rule, I follow the Code of Ethics of my professional association. Within this framework, each coach has their own individual tool kit and techniques that they have learnt and developed over time. You can learn more about the methods that I apply on the Services page.

Who is the right coach for me?
You should go with your instincts and try it out. In the introductory session, or even perhaps in your first few sessions, you will know whether or not you and your coach are on the same wavelength and whether you feel that you have benefited from a coaching session.

How will I know if my coach is a professional?
A professional coach, such as myself, will have many years of experience in questioning techniques, in working with models and strategies, in mechanisms for change processes, and in specialist areas. I am also a member of a coaching association, the International Coaching Federation (ICF), which was founded in 1995 and operates around the world. I also take part in regular training, have my own coaching supervisor, and am certified according to a professional standard set out by the ICF.

Is getting a coach a sign of weakness?
Absolutely not – quite the opposite, in fact. By having a coach as a partner, you are taking responsibility for yourself and taking control.

What is the format of a coaching session?
To start with, you will bring your current desires or set out what you want to achieve in the session. Using active listening, target questions and occasional feedback, I will support you in developing a range of different perspectives. You will then decide what you want to take with you and what you want to implement in your life. The session will end with us defining concrete approaches.

What is the difference between business coaching and life coaching?
It depends on your general situation. If you are the client, then you will pay for the sessions yourself and choose your own topics for your coaching session. If your employer is sponsoring you, then your topics will primarily relate to your working environment and your work objectives. All discussions between the coach and the coachee are and remain confidential.

What is the right type of coaching for me (by telephone, by video or in person)?
It depends on what you prefer. We can discuss what you have in mind and together we can find the best method for our collaboration.