To help you get a better sense about the power of coaching here are three success stories from clients I have worked with. Each story demonstrates how executive coaching can be used to reach your goals, achieve your dreams and untap your potential. #1 Small Business Owner #2 Mid-level Manager #3 Professional in Transition   #1 Small Business Owner Problem: Mary was just starting her financial counseling business. She had left the corporate world and wanted to find success with self-employment. Starting her own business raised many issues and concerns for her. How could she define her target market? How could she best promote her services? What other streams of income could she generate as she built up her individual client base? Could she cover all the bases of running a business, from marketing and managing to administrative tasks? Mary had a strong work ethic and had difficulty closing the door to her home office. Her high expectations sometimes created procrastination problems. Creating time for 'fun" was at the bottom of her schedule. She admitted to getting discouraged pretty easily when she didn't experience immediate results in her efforts. Coaching Solution: First we had Mary create a strategic vision for her business. She then knew what she wanted to manifest with her business. Because coaching is results oriented and results driven, I had Mary make a 90-day goal list that included all aspects of her life. This was important since she was so business oriented and she felt her life was out of balance. The goals kept her focused on what she wanted to achieve. Prioritizing her "to do" list helped her do the most important things first. Mary enjoyed teaching so we brainstormed different ways she could do that in her business. She decided to do lunchtime Brown Bag series of mini educational workshops. I encouraged her to do her first one even though she only had five people signed up. She had fun teaching and the participants learned a lot. To keep a more positive attitude during her slow times we worked on affirmations specific to her. She could then reframe situations and emphasis the positive aspects and de-emphasize the more negative thoughts. Results: Mary saw her business in a professional setting, not a home office. She leased an executive office in a large suite of professional offices. She has met many other professional business owners and as a result has expanded her referral network. Her lunchtime Brown Bag workshop series have become a good revenue generator for her business and continues to build her client base. She feels energized when she teaches and the participants value her programs. One of the best results of her visioning process was her decision to only work four days a week. This created more space for fun in her life. Mary is a successful small business owner who diligently used executive coaching to help reach her goals of starting her own business. Coaching helped her tap into her potential to make her dream of self-employment come true. #2 Mid-level Manager Problem: Jane was referred to me for executive coaching by her department manager. Complaints had been brought to the department head suggesting Jane was a difficult person to work. She was being perceived as too rigid, defensive, officious and uncommunicative. The department valued her expertise and knowledge plus her contributions to the larger organization were also valued. Her department manager decided it was time to invest in one-on-one executive coaching for her. Jane had attended a couple of management training programs. She didn't feel they were had been very effective. She was unclear as to how executive coaching could help her but she was open to finding out. Coaching Solution: In this case, Jane's in-depth assessment turned into a true self-discovery process. Two important pieces of information were gleamed from the DiSC and the FIRO-B. The DiSC confirmed her preferred behavioral style. The FIRO-B helped her see what needed and wanted but wasn't getting from her work environment. Her reflective answers to my coaching questions allowed her to see the impact her behaviors were having on others. She could see herself through the eyes of her peers. Much to her credit she was open to exploring different ways of responding and being more collaborative with others. Results: Jane monitored her own defensiveness and softened her tone when she felt she was getting defensive. She noticed how her conversations weren't escalating into heated arguments. When she realized her job was to provide accurate information not solve problems she no longer needed to defend her position. Her manager was pleased because their communication process improved. Jane was pleasantly surprised with the results of the coaching process. Her doubts about the process eased as she gained confidence and felt more comfortable with her new behaviors. She was an excellent candidate for executive coaching because she was willing to examine her behaviors and make changes to enhance her performance in the department. #3 Professional in Transition Problem: Pat was feeling trapped and burned out in her career as a Speech Pathologist. The joy and passion of her profession was gone. She had successfully built a business that was viable for growth. During that process she worked long hours seeing clients at her office and doing paper work on the weekends. She was working seven days a week. Her zest for life was disappearing along with her joy and passion. Pat had an artistic side that had gotten lost. She was unsure of whether to restructure her practice and continue her profession or transition into a new area of interest. Of course, she had not idea what that might be. Coaching Solution: Pat's burn out needed to be addressed before she could explore her choices. Although she thought it would be impossible to work fewer hours, she was willing to say no to new patients until she had an opening in her schedule. Setting limits for her workday was a new concept for her. She felt she had to see everyone who wanted to see her. Next we had her reconnect with her hidden creativity. Using Julia Cameron's book The Artist's Way Pat started doing some of the exercises in the book to stimulate self-exploration. She started getting in touch with the "wants and don't wants" in her life. She was finding the real Pat. She started drawing illustrations for a children's book she had been thinking about years before. She also realized she had an interest in restoring an old house and creating a place of beauty. Results: Pat learned how to work less and not feel guilty about it. When she took a day off to play she knew she had passed an important self-test. Eventually she decided to sell her business and move into the house restoration business. She had done her homework before she made that decision. She took real estate classes at the local community college and she interviewed contractors who specialized in restorations. Pat knew she could use her artistic flare in restorations. She was moving into a new career and she did it with her eye's wide open.   Next Learn more about our company Contact us today! Just send an email to info@coachexecs.com or call our office headquarters located in Northern California at (925)933-1051.