
Answers to common questions about executive coaching and mediation.
Executive Coaching
Executive coaching brings leaders to life. It provides personalized professional development for business owners, partners, and people who manage people. It’s designed to ease the stress of dealing with day-to-day communication problems, decision-making, and even crisis situations by working with your coach to build your innate skill and confidence as a Fearless Leader.
The impartiality of an outside coach allows for a frank appraisal of your current leadership approach and frees you to work on personal development in a confidential, supported, and encouraging setting.
You may be encountering interactions you’ve never dealt with before, experiencing conflict or miscommunication, and finding that those ‘tried-and-true’ techniques are no longer working. Executive coaching can make a real difference in your work life if you’re willing to take a deep dive into your leadership strengths as well as your shortcomings. We’ll address your active, real-life situations, try new approaches and learn from the results. If you’re ready to become a more effective and confident leader, I’ll help you get there.
It’s good to have executive coaching in place to help when you run into an interaction that stumps you, when you find yourself going in circles in a relationship, or when you encounter a leadership responsibility that’s uncomfortable, stressful, or new to you. Coaching centers on personal interactions, with people you supervise, your clients, or even your leadership team.
My clients find immense value in a long-term, trusting commitment to coaching. They know sustained effort is what it takes to reset their approach to problem situations, learn to read warning signs early, and engage with calm confidence. Coaching may be used to work on:
- Feeling overwhelmed
- Persistent leadership struggles
- Unfamiliar leadership challenges
- Unresolved interpersonal conflict
- Unproductive meetings
- Difficulty in decision-making
- Communicating goals and decisions
- Communication breakdown
- Preparing for a difficult conversation
- Leading in the virtual workplace
Additionally, as your coach, I'll be your accountability partner, fulfilling your need for impartial reality checks.
Coaching follows your lead and is designed to address both burning issues and day-to-day encounters. Some of the conversations I’m having with clients include:
- A situation at work or at home that’s impacting leadership.
- Challenges with decision making, giving feedback, or hiring and firing.
- Misunderstandings and communication breakdowns that impact productivity and the work environment.
- Tracking the morale and emotional wellness of individual team members
- Leading through the parallel crises of the pandemic, financial uncertainty, and project slowdowns.
- Staying connected in the remote work environment.
- Managing overwhelm
Each coaching plan is tailor-made and adjusts to your changing needs as we go. It typically involves a combination of weekly hour-long working sessions, 15-minute support phone calls, and periodic meetings that may include your leadership team.
While longer coaching sessions are best in person, currently all my coaching is conducted on video and phone calls. Phone calls are 15 or 30 minutes; video calls are typically 60 minutes. Initial Leadership Assessments are currently done by video and take 90-minutes.
In a working session we identify situations that are causing difficulty and stress; then we ask, ‘Why?’ Through inquiry I help you understand these situations more deeply, explore options, and prepare your engagement plan.
In follow-up sessions we debrief on the week’s interactions, see what went well and what needs additional effort or repair. We sustain focus on the more challenging areas, building up your personal cache of tools, skills, and confidence.
In between sessions, in our 15-minute coaching calls you can get support or accountability, troubleshoot an unexpected problem, or fine tune a planned action. I’ll check in on your stress level and help you shift gears to stay on course.
We’ll also celebrate moments of calm and of confident self-awareness, and notice how you got there so you can do it again!
Typical coaching commitments start at 3 to 6 months. Many clients choose an annual contract which allows me to provide on-call, ongoing support. I often become an integral part of the team; a trusted advisor as challenges in your professional life continue to evolve.
That said, as a Fearless Leader you'll need less coaching as your innate skills and confidence emerge.
I follow standard confidentiality practices among professional coaches and mediators. Here’s what you can expect:
- One-to-one calls and email correspondence are always completely confidential so you can speak freely with me about what’s really going on and on your mind.
- When working with a leadership team, individual calls are confidential. You’re free to share with each other what you discuss in our private conversations, but I won’t.
- Participants in team calls or group meetings maintain mutual confidentiality unless everyone on the team specifically agrees otherwise.
- I recognize that matters discussed in interviews or in sessions may be sensitive or proprietary to the firm, and ensure strict confidentiality.
- Exceptions to confidentiality are threats of harm to self or others, or illegal activity. As a professional mediator I’m required to report these things.
You’re in charge. I have a variety of á la carte services and ‘all-in’ packages available depending on your needs. You’ll build a custom bundle of services after our initial meeting. You may change or add services as we go. We evaluate monthly and you may swap or stop services or go to á la carte rates anytime.
To find out if my approach is right for you, book a free, confidential 30-minute ‘fit’ phone call here.
Mediation
This is your process. My role is that of an impartial facilitator. While you talk with each other, I address power imbalances, guide participants from states of high emotion back to their thinking selves, keep the discussion courteous and on track, ask questions that probe for possibility and see that proposals are well considered as you forge your own solutions.
Unlike an attorney, a mediator can assist multiple parties simultaneously. I do not advocate for any person, give advice or take sides. Rather than make decisions like a judge or arbitrator, I assist you in making your own agreements.
Facilitative mediation follows a simple structure with a few rules of conduct. Each party has uninterrupted time to describe the situation from their perspective. I'll help you build an agenda and then explore solutions and negotiate each issue. When agreements are reached, I write them up.
Mediation is voluntary, so no one can be forced to attend, unless court ordered. I can help you propose mediation and will answer questions from anyone you invite. Once informed, most people see the benefits of participating and choose to attend.
Virtual mediation is available. Arrangements can be made for out-of-town or confined participants to join by phone or video. I set up and manage this process, ensuring everyone has the opportunity to participate.
Time and cost depend on the complexity of the issues to be addressed, the extent of documentation needed, and how prepared and productive the participants are. Mediation requires preparation time and at least one or two sessions. For example, I charge a $350 flat fee for an optional 90-minute introductory meeting which starts the process and results in an agenda for subsequent meetings. A typical 3-hour single-session mediation costs $850. A common three-session mediation with document preparation can range from $2500 to $3,000.
To learn how we can help, contact Nora. Our initial conversation is informative, confidential, and free of charge.