Coaches4Causes

Welcome to coaches4causes. Please contact us if you are interested in our services. We have found the following criteria helpful in selecting causes with whom we think coaches can work in a mutually generative way. It is based on our experience with the causes we have worked with so far. Please also visit our coaches to get some sense if there could be a good fit.

• You are working towards the creation of a just and generative world through your specific personal efforts and your organization. Causes may, for example, include arts and culture based organizations, non-profit boards, executive directors, schools, government workers and social enterprises seeking innovative solutions to societal challenges.

• It would be difficult for you to access coaching assistance directly through your organization or other means.

• You probably feel that you have reached a point in your life or career where access to coaching advice would be of significant assistance in meeting current organizational or personal leadership challenges.

• Coaching will of course be provided to you on an individual basis but it is likely to be of significant benefit to the organization or the project or work that you are involved with.

• You are prepared to put effort in before and between coaching sessions to maximize their usefulness to you.

Getting the most out of a coaching relationship

Your coach will support you to develop the best way to work together and you may already have some experience of coaching. We thought it might be additionally helpful to offer you some guidance on how to get the most out of your coaching. There are also some parameters to know about that will help your work together.

1. A coach is someone who supports you to find the answers you are looking for. They are not a business consultant, advisor or expert in your field. As such, the responsibility for the decisions you make lies with you, not the coach. It is really important that you retain this perspective, it is your organization not theirs. 

2. Coaching works in three parts: the preparation you do before the session, the session itself, and the action you take afterwards.

3. It is a process by which you can move forward faster, more effectively and perhaps differently than you might on your own. It is important to have regular sessions and to make them a priority. Your coach will have invested a great deal of their professionalism, care, energy and support in this relationship and it works really well when you do too.

4. It is really important you feel a good connection with your coach and are excited to work with them. If that’s not quite there for you let us know and we will connect you with a different coach.

5. Our agreement with the coach is that they will commit to up to one year of coaching, i.e. 10 sessions of 1 hour each. We generally find that approximately 1 session per month works for most people but it is up to you and the coach to agree frequency and duration of the coaching sessions. As it is likely that your coach will be located in another country and possibly another continent and time zone most coaching sessions take place over Skype or the equivalent.

6. Your coach is very experienced and will work with you to clarify expectations, goals and how you will work together. It is helpful if you have given some thought before your first discussion however to issues such as:

• What your objectives are for the coaching?

• What would represent a successful outcome or progress for you?

• What your expectations of the coach are and how you would like to work with them?

• What your expectations are regarding confidentiality particularly with respect to the organization you are associated with or work for?

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