What is Coaching?

A Discovery call is a free, 30-minute no-pressure video call where you can learn about coaching, get all your questions answered, and see if it’s a good fit for you right now.

I’ll start by making sure you’re comfortable and we have everything we need to dive into things.

Then we’ll begin exploring your understanding of coaching and answer any questions you have.

We’ll go over what coaching is like and what you want from it.

Then we’ll cover the practical matters, such as scheduling, pricing, availability and more. Again, I’ll ask if you have any new questions at this time.

Lastly, I’ll check-in whether we both feel it’d be a good fit to work together, and if you’d like to proceed with coaching.

If we both feel it’s an enthusiastic YES, I’ll send a follow-up email with next steps. And if not, I’ll make sure you leave with all your questions answered and any further help or resources I’ve offered during our session.

For many people, it can be helpful to know what is expected of them in the Discovery call. You do not need to prepare anything and you do not need to know the answers to any of the questions asked in the call.

However, you may find it helpful to give each of the areas below some initial thought.

After we settle in and discuss what coaching is and isn’t, we’ll begin exploring your problem, challenge or aspiration, as well as why you haven’t resolved it yet.

We’ll also explore what you want to happen through coaching and what a successful outcome looks like for you. This may also include exploring what it could mean emotionally, financially, and practically to get what you want. This allows you to see why this is important to you right now, as well as later allow you to set meaningful goals with tangible outcomes.

It’s also good to understand how committed you are to reaching your goals and talk through any objections or challenges around that if necessary.

I’ll then explain clearly how I can help you achieve your outcomes through the coaching process.

If I don’t feel like we are a good fit, or that I can’t offer support that meets your needs for whatever reason, I will let you know this and either recommend another professional who specialises in that area or is otherwise better suited to what you may need.

It can be helpful to understand this, so you know what to expect, as well as to ease any anxieties you may have.

Any coaching session has four basic parts:

The catch-up: this is where we spend a few minutes getting comfortable and catch-up on anything new or relevant since we last spoke. If we agree to record our sessions, I’ll usually ask if it’s ok to turn on the recording toward or at the end of this part.

The contracting: this refers to us agreeing on what the session will be about and how we want to approach it. I usually ask the following questions during this part:

What would you like to think about today with me? If it’s a particularly big topic, we may zoom in to a specific area, e.g., Given that we have [x] minutes, what about that do we need to focus on?

What would you like to be different by the end of our session together?

How will you know you have got what you need out of this time?

How should we go about this?

Where shall we start?”

The coaching: This is where the thinking collaboration really begins. Here’s where you can share anything on your mind and we work through the thoughts taking an open, curious, and non-judgemental approach. I may ask questions to further your thinking or share what I’m noticing as you speak. I won’t interrupt you or lead the conversation.

The conclusion: here’s where we wind things down and reflect on the session. Did we reach our goal? Sometimes we don’t, and that’s ok! Regardless, I will ask about your insights and actions from the session. This allows you to synthesize and summarize things, and clarify for yourself what you got out of our time together.

Lastly, we’ll make sure we’re all squared away for our next session.

For more on what actually happens in a coaching session, from start to finish (and beyond), read here

While coaching shares some commonalities with therapy, there are some crucial differences too.

Like therapy, openness and honesty needed from both of us, which means that conversations may go deeper.

We also may go to the past. If you are not comfortable talking about something, let me know, and I will respect that boundary. Conversely, I am not a therapist and if our conversations focus too much on the past or go into areas that I’m not qualified to handle, I will let you know and we’ll redirect the conversation appropriately.

The crucial difference here is that therapy is primarily focused on the past and understanding how that is shaping who you are today. Coaching is primarily focused on the future and who you are today that helps get you to the future you want.

That is, the past provides useful context for understanding who you are now and how to plan the future, but we we’ll only discuss the past so long as it’s useful to the present and future.

I work with many people who are simultaneously in therapy and coaching. This can be a wonderful way forward, so long as all parties are aware of the relationships and boundaries are maintained as necessary.

If you’d like to compare coaching to therapy further, and to other methods of support such as mentoring, or training, please see this helpful coaching comparison table.

Coaching sessions with me are typically an hour, but sometimes they’re 30 minutes. Or up to 90. The price is the same.

That’s because I don’t charge by time; you’re paying for the result, not the number of minutes we spend in conversation.

In short, we will plan each session to ensure you get what you need from it.

And please don’t worry if you’re not sure what that looks like yet! We’ll figure this out together as we go based on what’s working and what’s not, how it feels, and any other factors such as schedule, sleep, travel, seasons, and more.

Because I coach people across the globe in all kinds of economic and employment situations, I now operate a fair pricing model.

This more equitable framework accounts for market realities, individual circumstances, and my desire to support people doing meaningful work in any place, space, or situation.

You can read more about my pricing philosophy here.

If there’s a question you have or a thought you want to share with me, please get in touch! I’m very friendly and open and I’d love to hear whatever you have to say. You can email me anytime at insight@witten.kim. Or book in for a short call here.