How We Work

How We Work Together

What’s it like to work with me? For a start, you’ll reach for much more than you ever thought possible.  On this page, I will give you an overview of what you can expect when we work together.

“The day I found Amanda Alexander as a coach transformed my working life.” Gloria Ruto

What is coaching anyway?

Coaching/life coaching/business coaching/executive coaching/leadership coaching/success coaching…

The word “coaching” has many different qualifiers. Coaching means many different things to many different people. And let’s be honest, the coaching profession also covers a multitude of sins!

Coaching is an enormously powerful, collaborative relationship designed to support you in achieving your personal and professional goals.

Coaching creates an environment where you focus your daily actions on the most important issues in your life, breaking down barriers to success and enhancing life skills.

Like an athletic coach, a personal coach’s role is to challenge you to be better tomorrow than you are today, to provide you with the expertise needed to reach your goals, and to hold you accountable for living up to your full potential. Serious athletes depend on a coach to maximize their success in whatever sport they engage in; likewise, a good coach can help you maximize your success, no matter what activity you choose to undertake or what challenges you’re facing.

Or, to really boil it down to basics – I help you get from A to B much faster than you would on your own (had you done so at all).

The Dangers of Coaching

It’s important to be aware that the difference between masterful coaching and poor coaching can be the difference between make or break for you as the coachee. I have worked with far too many clients who have told me about bad experiences with coaches: Coaches who tell them what they “should” be doing, coaches who ask their client to promote them off the back of their client’s success, coaches who don’t seem to care about the success of their clients.

In other words, buyer beware!

When you work with me you get the benefit of 13-plus years of coaching experience as well as 10 years experience prior to that as a Project Manager working globally within the IT industry. That means you get a Coach who has a lot of experience in bringing out the best in people as well as a lot of experience of “real world” working in challenging and complex business environments.

My previous career means that I’m not sitting in a gilded cage. I know what it’s like dealing with corporate politics, impossible milestones, errant sub-contractors, the work-life juggling act, the childcare conundrum, being taken seriously, dealing with conflict, not feeling valued, suffering from burnout and all the rest of it!

By working with an ICF Accredited Coach, you are hiring someone who is bound by a professional organisation to act in a professional and ethical manner at all times. You can be confident that, as your coach, I have had to demonstrate competency in several recorded and assessed as well as live coaching sessions and that I have the ability to engage with clients in a way that produces positive outcomes for them.

I try not to take myself too seriously, but I DO take my profession as a Coach seriously! As a member of the ICF (International Coach Federation) and one of few coaches to have achieved Professional Certified Coach level, I adhere to a strict Code of Ethics. In other words, whilst you can expect to thoroughly enjoy your coaching sessions, we’re here to focus on big results for you and to do so within a professional and ethical framework.

What to Expect When You Work With Me

Part of our journey is discovering and acknowledging who you REALLY are. While this may not be the initial goal or intention of a client when they first enter this world of coaching, it often becomes one of the most powerful aspects of coaching. It becomes a matter of determining how your world should be based on your internal world, as opposed to the external “shoulds”. This discovery allows you to live congruently with who you really are, and is reflective in your entire way of being.

In coaching, we look for gaps – where you are today and where you want to be. As partners, we work to help you create a vibrant and strong intention that will move you forward. Once you identify what you want and believe it to be in alignment with who you really are, we strategise in order to get you there.  My job is to coach you to identify and create resources along the path, whilst assisting you in overcoming challenges along the way.

Why does this work?

  • I ask powerful questions that perhaps have never been asked of you before that
    allow you to think in different ways
  • I have a genuine belief in you
  • My agenda is purely to support you
  • I have the ability to hear what you’re not saying and will bring this to your attention!
  • I mirror your words to enable you to hear yourself
  • You have a partner who is totally devoted to and focused on your success
  • I will help you  to squash the fears that may have been holding you back up to now
  • I help you blast through your limiting beliefs that prevent you from moving forward

Please know that I listen well. If I hear something that just is not right, I will raise it with you and explore it. These become vital opportunities to resolve big issues and move forward.

I will be there for you. If you have a personal problem or an issue of whatever nature, you can share it with me. This is a part of what coaching is all about.

6 things you can expect when we work together:

  1. We will have fun and laugh a lot along the way – this should be joyful and not tedious!
  2. I will strictly adhere to my promise about confidentiality
  3. Our relationship is a completely safe place in which to be yourself (you can take off the mask!)
  4. I will be forthright and honest, but also kind in what I say to you and how I am with you
  5. We will continually seek to simplify your life by removing energy zappers and space clutter so you can use your energy and space in ways that are meaningful to you
  6. That this is your time and your agenda, period!

10 things I expect from YOU:

  1. You come to our scheduled sessions on time and ready
  2. Your are ready to address your progress, challenges and agenda during our time together
  3. You will afford me the honesty to tell me if something in our coaching is not working for you
  4. You honour our financial agreement in a timely fashion
  5. You open your mind and heart to new possibilities and visions
  6. You are ready to take action when appropriate
  7. You tell me what you need from me if I am not providing it to you
  8. You share with me how I can best encourage you in a way that inspires and empowers you
  9. You tell me what is not being addressed or is holding you back
  10. Laughter, at least on occasion!

Results you can expect

You’ll reach for much, much more because of the support and structure within a formal coaching relationship.

You will achieve your dreams and goals more quickly than you would on your own within this structure.

You’ll make better decisions because you can run your ideas by an objective listener

Coaching will work when there are two factors present:

  1. You are willing to grow
  2. There is a gap between where you are now and where you want to be

As your coach, I am:

  • Your motivator, when you need to move forward and not give up
  • Your collaborator, in designing a compelling life and future for yourself o Your unconditional supporter, believing in you all the way
  • Your sounding board, when making choices
  • Your advisor, with great ideas when you need them
    

As your coach, I will help you:

  • To decide what is important to you and what you really want
  • Expand your awareness so that you can expand your options
  • Take more, better and smarter actions
  • Bring new meaning into your reality, to help you see it from a fresh perspective
  • Have more time, energy, money, focus, direction
  • Have a balanced life that works well, because you designed it
  • Solve problems
  • Help you set and accomplish the goals you really want
  • Have a lot more sustainable energy

 

I will do this by:

  • Asking a lot from you
  • Being unconditionally constructive
  • Keeping you focussed on your goals and dreams
  • Providing structure and helping you plan your desired outcomes
  • Supporting you to uncover your own answers
  • Encouraging you to make the most of yourself and your opportunities
  • Challenging you and asking you thought provoking and insightful questions
  • Sharing my own experience and knowledge with you, where appropriate
  • Providing you with information and contacts
  • Offering ideas that you might not have thought about

Now you know how we work, click here to learn more about the options for working together