Coach Yourself!

2My Coaching Philosophy and Process

What got you here won't get you there.

—Marshall Goldsmith

My coaching philosophy and coaching process are integrated and mutually reinforcing.

My Coaching Philosophy: Motivated and Sustainable Change

I believe motivated people are capable of abundant learning and development.

I navigate with my clients through purposeful conversations to support them in:

• exploring their challenges and opportunities, and clarifying their goals.
• assessing behaviors, skills and values.
• exploring their goals and options.
• building their plan for change.
• taking actions, gaining feedback, trying again.
• holding themselves accountable for achieving tangible and sustainable outcomes.

Sometimes a prospective client will ask me about my coaching philosophy. The preceding is it in a nutshell—super practical, actionable, and with heavy emphasis on accountability to the process and the results. While my philosophy is not tied to a specific ideology, I ground my approach in positive psychology: “a scientific approach to studying human thoughts, feelings, and behavior, with a focus on strengths instead of weaknesses, building the good in life instead of repairing the bad, and taking the lives of average people up to ‘great’ instead of focusing solely on moving those who are struggling up to ‘normal’.¹ Martin Seligman is considered the founder of positive psychology and his work has been extremely influential in promoting an emphasis on strengths rather than on deficits ...