Intensive Coaching Skills

Five Days, non-residential.
Can be stand-alone or the essential first step to the Diploma in Coaching

• You already have some experience as a professional coach but are looking for a reliable framework and a way of filling known or suspected gaps in your practice
• You have a background in training or HR and now want to step into coaching
• You believe you are already informally using activities such as mentoring and now see coaching as a possible new career
• You are a manager who is passionate about developing the talented people around you by coaching them

What you will learn

• How to distinguish coaching from mentoring, counselling and therapy
• How to negotiate and maintain a strong partnership with your clients so that the boundaries are always clear
• How to manage the inevitable moments of discomfort in coaching
• What the common traps are in coaching, even for experienced coaches, and how to avoid them
• Why the best coaches rarely give advice and what works instead
• The key skills and attitudes involved in building trust with your clients
• How to make a joint assessment with clients of what they need from the coaching; reliable techniques for doing this
• A foolproof way of setting goals in coaching
• A tried and trusted step by step approach that will produce success in the majority of coaching sessions
• How to ask the powerful questions that cut through the ways of thinking and behaving that have been keeping clients stuck; getting clients past their blocks and barriers
• How to develop a unique presence and style with your clients and yet know how and when to keep yourself out of their way
• Practical tools and techniques for working with clients on relationship and behaviour issues
• Handling strong emotion in the coaching room: dealing effectively with a client’s tears or anger

How we work

We keep the group small enough to ensure a high level of personal attention. Our framework is underpinned by robust psychological theory, but the emphasis of the course is on carefully-structured practice and feedback. Your skills will build as the week goes on. You can expect a high level of feedback, both from tutors and from other participants.

This is a very safe and supportive environment in which to learn though we know that participants also report finding it very challenging. There is no role play. All the practice coaching we do is based on real issues so you need to come prepared to work at the same level of honesty, challenge and openness that you ultimately expect from your clients. There is much to be learned from being in the client role and you will find yourself in this role as often as you are working as a coach.

On the final day of the course you will work with an external practice client. Again, there is no role play - the clients have genuine issues on which they want coaching. Your work here will be assessed. For people going on to do the Diploma, this forms the first formal assessment of your work and you will leave the course with the beginnings of your portfolio already achieved.