Frequently Asked Questions

Learn more about coaching and mentoring
Frequently Asked Questions

How can coaching help me?

Coaching in general empowers people to identify, work towards and achieve desired results, with structure and support, more successfully and efficiently than if they did it alone.

Some of Anna’s clients will come to her not even knowing what their desired results or goals are, but with guidance and support are able to gain clarity. Some know what their goals are but for many reasons are unable to move to the next steps.

Anna’s coaching for women in journalism, media, social and tech enables her clients to realise the potential within themselves, to build up confidence, and to trust in their abilities to create the change they want. A coach ‘walks alongside’ their client through the journey they are taking, supporting them to create and follow manageable ‘actions’ with agreed timescales to move them towards what they want to achieve.

The women Anna coaches are motivated and challenged by her to overcome any barriers, setbacks and ‘limiting beliefs’ along the way. Personal goals, careers, relationships, work-life balance, self-confidence, health and emotional wellbeing are just some areas that can greatly improve with coaching.

Coaching for women in journalism, media, social and tech is about feeling empowered in the workplace, gaining success and achieving a healthy work-life balance with confidence. It is for successful women who want to become more successful, or those requiring a boost to get to where they want to be, as well as those who may be stuck in one of life’s ruts.

What is the difference between coaching and mentoring?

Coaches do not give their clients any advice. They instead use professional techniques and models to draw on a client’s own resources and knowledge to help them get to where they want to be.

Coaching models and tools have a certain amount of simplicity attached to them but can be extremely powerful.

A mentor, however, can offer practical advice and support because they have expert experience in their field, while still allowing the client to draw on their own final conclusions and action plan.

Mentors should only offer services in areas in which they have experience and expertise. Anna’s fields of expertise for mentoring are:

Journalism
Media
Leadership
Management

How is coaching and mentoring carried out?

Most people prefer coaching and mentoring to be carried out over the telephone or over Facetime audio/Skype audio. However, if you wish to have a video session, this is also possible.

The aim is that you feel at ease wherever you are being coached, most commonly in the comfort of your own home.

Sessions last 75 minutes each, which allows Anna and her client time to look back over the previous session and review what is working best. It also allows clients to “warm up” and get the very most from their time being coached and mentored.

To commence the process we would carry out an ‘intake session’, where we would settle into the coaching and mentoring relationship and talk about your goals.

What can I expect during a session?

You can expect to be asked questions, you can expect to be listened to in a totally confidential and non-judgemental environment. You can expect to be challenged in your current way of thinking to find the paths that make you feel more in harmony with aspects of your life and work.

Coaching can fundamentally change the way of your current thinking surrounding certain challenges. It can locate unhelpful thought patterns and discover a more resourceful state.

You can expect to discover manageable steps and agree some actions to move you from where you are now to where you want to be.

Coaching and mentoring sessions are completely confidential and the coach/client relationship should be mutually respectful and non-discriminatory at all times.

Anna does not coach or mentor on illegal activities. If a client steers a session this way it will be flagged up immediately and the conversation stopped.

If a client is self-harming or going to harm someone else, then the coach/client confidentiality agreement is immediately broken and Anna will seek emergency help.

What is expected of the client?

Responsibility falls to the person being coached and mentored to carry out and follow up any action plans agreed in a session. If clients do not follow through with actions then the reasons why this might be happening can be discussed in sessions, however, the coach cannot take responsibility for non-action.

Coaching works best when a client is completely honest with themselves and what they are trying to achieve.

A client may come to Anna with a particular goal, or area of their life in mind, but may quickly realise they in fact wish to focus on a completely different area. They may never have realised this was important to them before coaching.

The overall result, however, is always beneficial to the client, helping them to work out which values and goals really drive them.

What coaching is not:

Coaching is not counselling but instead focuses on moving forward with action plans. If during a client’s initial consultation Anna believes counselling is a more appropriate course of action, then she will help point the client in the direction of the help they need.

Coaching works on the premise that clients have all the answers they need and Anna assists by tapping into your internal resources to get you from the place that you are now to where you would prefer to be.

How do I start?

Please get in touch with Anna to book a free session, and discover how coaching can work for you.

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