Introduction
Nowadays, you can Google ‘’online business coaching’’ and find a myriad of choices - all promising the best solutions to your professional development. With so much information out there, it can be overwhelming - especially when it can be difficult to differentiate the professional business coaches from the disingenuous, quick-fix coaches.
At Session, we pride ourselves on hiring highly qualified business coaches who come equipped with relevant education and more than 5 years of coaching experience within a business context. We offer 1:1, tailored coaching journeys because we know that no two individuals are the same. We approach the coaching journeys through a strengths-based lens and hone in on the power of our imagination and curiosity. We always keep the business context in mind. We encourage our clients to try things out, and not just talk about them. And we act with integrity - of course! In the following guide, you can take a deeper dive into our coaching philosophy which lays the foundation for the way we work with coaching clients.
Strengths Focus
“Never trust your fears, they don't know your strength” - Athena Singh
At Session, our focus on strengths sets us apart. We hone in on the strengths of our coaches, clients, and employees to produce optimal results and ensure positive outcomes across the board. Our coaches are well-equipped at bringing out the best in individual clients. We:
- ask clients strengths-based questions to discover their most valuable skill sets. provide practical steps on how the individual can bring their strengths to play in everyday work and to amplify the strengths of others.
- are well-versed in the language of abundance: our coaches do not focus on what the client is ‘’lacking.’’ Instead, they focus on positive reinforcement of the client’s most powerful strengths.
- identify problems and challenges that clients are facing and use a strengths-based approach to help overcome them.
- look for strengths in the team, the overall organization, and the surrounding society of our coaching clients, and build on these strengths to help our clients solve business challenges and problems.
Imagination and Curiosity
‘’I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.’’ - Albert Einstein
Session is an organization that thrives on a mindset of imagination and curiosity. We look beyond the existing moment and into the future. We imagine: “What if?” “What’s possible?” “What’s emerging?” Together with our coaching clients, we imagine the next new and ask curious questions about the present as well as the future. Our questions move the clients and the organizations they are part of.
When we stay curious, we can keep an open mind and see the world from different perspectives. This is especially important in the times we are living in right now, where intercultural awareness and diversity is as important as ever before. Diverse and new perspectives simply bring us further in a more sustainable and caring manner.
Experimentation
“The right time is always right now”. - Casey Neistat.
Change happens - when people try things out, experiment, and play with new ways of doing things. We encourage trying things out, gathering feedback, learning, and adjusting and moving things in the right direction one step at a time. What we talk about needs to be tried out - sooner rather than later.
We believe in keeping things simple and not postponing tasks, even if they are not ‘’perfect’’. We know that ‘’practice makes perfect’’ and encourages clients to try out new behavior or ideas discussed in the coaching sessions. This is also why clients will have assignments between sessions.
Business and People Care
“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” - Ruth Bader Ginsburg
People are at the heart of every business. We are passionate about helping others succeed in the world of business. At Session, we believe that organizational success is inextricably linked to individual success, and vice versa. We know that every individual is important to an organization - and that every individual can positively - or negatively - influence business outcomes.
We are here to help people make a positive difference. Our coaches have deep knowledge and experience derived from many years of coaching in modern organizations. They are skilled at helping clients resolve specific organizational challenges and reach strategic goals. Our coaches have business acumen - and help clients see themselves as part of the system and business - not as opposed to or victims of what is happening in the organization.
Presence and Bodily-awareness
“The mind's first step to self-awareness must be through the body.” - George Sheehan
When coaching online, it is paramount that coaches know how to show up with presence and mindfulness - and our coaches do! They are trained in the art of staying present in the moment, and helping others stay present too. Presence requires bodily awareness, therefore we encourage listening to and caring for our bodies.
The body has so many wise things to tell us. That's why we talk about our “gut-feeling”. So many things are happening inside our body as a reaction to what we experience in the moment. The body is translating this into bodily feelings, which can tell us what to do and what not to do - if we learn how to pay attention to it, which our coaches can help with.
Collaboration
“If you want to go fast, go alone - if you want to go far, go together” - African Proverb
In the world we live in today, collaboration is key. When a coaching client presents us with a problem, we ask questions like: “Who are your role models? Who has solved something similar to what you are experiencing right now - with success - whom you can learn from? Who can you collaborate with to get further and move on?”
We explore what possibilities there are to do things with others, find partnerships and inspiration from others. Collaboration is all about reaching out, connecting, asking for help, and offering help to others. And by doing this, we find that business problems become solved and our coaching clients thrive.
Integrity
“Integrity is choosing courage over comfort; choosing what is right over what is fun, fast, or easy; and choosing to practice our values rather than simply professing them.” - Brené Brown
At Session, we act with integrity, as a default. We believe in the importance of keeping our promises and keeping things confidential. We do what we say we will do, and act ethically. Period!
Wrapping It Up
At Session we have chosen a subscription model to offer continuous coaching journeys for leaders and employees. We know that a continuous journey strengthens the coaching clients' ability to focus on progress, instead of journeys that only have sporadic check-ins. In the words of Amabile and Kramer, authors of “The Progress Principle”, the continuous coaching model strengthens employees' “inner work life” over time, leaving them better suited to thrive and perform. Our coaching journeys achieve the following:
Address the specific needs of the individual and business Match the learning style of the individual Begin from the starting level of the leader or employee Don’t waste employee time with ineffective one-size-fits-all approaches Progress each individual in a tailored direction at a pace that suits them Extend the coaching process so that the learning can grow into new habits
Many online business programs exist today, and it can be hard to know which one is the right choice for you. Session’s coaching philosophy differentiates us from the crowd and sets our coaches, clients, and employees up for long-term success. Reach out to learn more about our coaching programs - we are happy to help!