All the answers to our
most frequently asked questions

It is perhaps easier to start with what does not happen: you will not get advice; you will not be given a solution; you will not be told what to do; you will not receive suggestions on what to do; you will not be guided.

What will happen is that your coach will work with you in a specific way so that you develop the insights necessary to see new possibilities that you were previously unaware of.

Once you have seen the situation in the light of these new possibilities, your coach will work with you to develop practices and observations that will enable you to build your competence such that you can find the solution to or resolve your challenge or problem yourself.

A practice is a small exercise grounded in habitual behaviours, which is designed to enable you to practice some new skill or competence. E. g., a sitting practice is designed to develop your ability to sit still for a while every day, to become more mindful of your body and to just stop for a while.

An observation is where we start in building your self-awareness – or rather, your ability to observe yourself in the moment, whilst in action. An example could be to notice, in the meetings you attend over the next month, how often you speak in comparison to others. Your coach would ask you to jot this down and to reflect on this at the end of each day, but NOT to take any action. Just to observe your habitual behaviour when it comes to speaking.

Ask a coach how long they have spent learning, studying, researching and practicing the art of coaching. How many training courses have they attended? Who are these courses accredited through? Developed by? Run by? What previous experience does the coach have? At what levels? In which industries? How do they feel about the work that they do? What has their previous work experience exposed them to?

In some respects the power of coaching lies in its simplicity:- a coach coming from an integral approach would explore your current situation, your way of being in the world, and would dialogue around what you wish the outcomes of the coaching programme to be. These outcomes need to be clearly articulated and agreed upon by both coach and coachee. Once this is done, work starts on the way in which these outcomes can be reached.

The recommended minimum time is 6 months and many people choose to work with their coach for 9 – 12 months. Ideally, the length of your coaching programme depends on the depth and complexity of the challenges you wish to work on. A minimum of 6 months is recommended to, for example, develop a new competence such as handling performance assessment sessions constructively. A longer period of 12 months or more is required for addressing issues of fundamental change such as a questioning of your life purpose.

If you are experiencing a particularly turbulent or challenging life period, then you might well need a coach for 12 – 18 or even 24 months. But if, after 24 months you find you are still feeling the need for a coach, you might well wish to ask yourself if there is a chance that you are becoming dependent on your coach. This could happen if, for example, your coach was blurring the boundaries between coaching and mentoring or consulting. In this case the coach might be taking the role more as advisor and expert guide instead of coach. Then by all means, if you receive valued advice, and wish to continue, do so – just don’t call it coaching!

Most European coaches prefer face-to-face coaching, with one session every two weeks for a minimum of 6 months to a maximum of 12 months. Each session lasts one to one-and-a-half hours. For those clients living futher away, one can mix telephonic and face-to-face coaching, and for more remote and international clients, coaches do all sessions telephonically, barring the first one or two, which are face to face.

We believe that it is important to have at least established a personal chemistry between coach and coachee, as well as a visual image of the client to work off for the remainder of the programme.

Only you can decide if you are ready to be coached. You have to want to do this, because your coach is going to need to ask you to apply your attention to areas of your life which you may have ignored or avoided in the past. Ideally, you are ready to be coached if you are curious about yourself and your relationship with the world around you; curious about how you learn, grow and develop. Most importantly, you need to be open to new thoughts, concepts, feelings, ideas and possibilities in all areas of your life.

Coaching grounded in an integral approach takes a holistic approach to personal and professional development by taking into account the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of a client – so that true insights arise and lasting growth can take place. Other forms of coaching may only focus on one aspect of a person – e.g. your career – and work on that area in isolation.

It involves the development of increasing competence in the person being coached. One of the key ways in which this is done is through enabling a coachee to notice how their ‘way of being’ enhances or hinders what they want to accomplish.

Coaching grounded in an integral approach takes a holistic approach. to personal and professional development by taking into account the mental, emotional and physical aspects of a client – so that true insights arise and lasting growth can take place. Other forms of coaching may only focus on one aspect of a person – e.g. your career – and work on that area in isolation.

Participants meet as a group for three modules. Learning takes place in many different ways:

Group sessions – flow and philosophy of coaching; exploration of coaching models.

Individually – reflections, assignments, your own development as a coach.

In small groups called Learning Pods – supported by your Mentor coach, who is a Professional Coaching Course (PCC) graduate.

In pairs with a self-chosen Buddy Coach from the class.

The balance of work between modules is self-paced, including readings, written assignments, and three detailed case-study applications of this coaching method with clients.

Each delegate receives written feedback on each of their assignments – a rich source of learning and reflection

There is on-going support provided by the Centre for Coaching faculty over the six months.

For over 15 years, the Centre for Coaching is now clearly established as a centre for excellence, based at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business, a world top 100 executive graduate school. Today, the Centre for Coaching is present in South Africa, Australia and Switzerland, in addition to linking to over 25 years of cutting edge coaching course development through its alliance with New Ventures West in San Francisco.

This course is ideal for those who are interested in evoking excellence in others while also being open to receiving coaching themselves so they too can bring forward excellence in their own endeavours.

60% of participants in this programme are not necessarily aiming to become coaches themselves, but rather are looking to become more effective at what they do by building the capabilities of the people with whom they interact. Participants who have gained value from CfD include but are not limited to:

• Advisors, coaches, and human resource specialists looking to expand capabilities throughout their organization.
• Consultants and private practitioners wanting to deepen or develop their coaching skill set as they support client growth.
• People willing to freely question their assumptions and try out new methods
• Those wishing to obtain an ICF-credentialed coach certification
• Those wishing to step into a different career path

Imagine what you could accomplish with the power to build capabilities and evoke excellence in others within only 6 months.

Contact us to set up a call with one of our directors to explore if the Coaching for Development is the right fit for you.