Coaching Call Prep Guide
What to Expect on Our Call
First, I'm glad you booked some time together. Just doing that is a sign of the commitment you have to yourself and your goals.
Before we talk, I want to set the frame so you get the most out of our time together.
This won’t be a casual chat. Our call is real coaching. We'll go straight into what's actually going on for you, and my intention is that you leave the conversation having gotten real value, whether or not we ever work together again.
Many coaches out there focus on fixing you. That’s not the kind of coaching I do. What I do is called “unfoldment”. It’s rooted in the belief that you aren’t broken. You don’t need fixing. You are already whole and complete, and you have an innate wisdom about the right next steps for you. That said, there may be things getting in the way of you seeing that. This work is to help you remember.
My Commitment
I'll be fully present, nonjudgmental, and direct. I'll be your coach, not your friend, which means I'll say the things a friend might be too polite to say. I'll ask questions no one else is asking you. We'll go deeper than feels comfortable, because the thing you come in with is almost never the whole thing. My job is to create a container where you get to see and feel what you haven’t been able to see or feel on your own, and I take that seriously.
What I'll Ask of You
Come ready to do real work. Bring a core question or challenge you’re currently sitting with for us to explore together.
What I ask of you:
Radical honesty, in three directions: be honest with yourself about what you actually think/feel, be honest with me rather than self-editing, and I’ll be radically honest back about my questions/reflections/observations. Everything you share is confidential (I occasionally share details with my coaching supervisors)
Focus on being, not just doing — look at how you're relating to/creating the problem, not just strategy. You control the direction and depth that we’ll go to; we don’t have to go any deeper, or down any roads, you don’t want to.
Shared responsibility — both of us show up as imperfect partners figuring this out together. Neither of us are waiting for the other to perform magic.
Please be on time and be somewhere private and quiet. This work is best done where you don’t have to worry about anyone else observing you, and you won’t be distracted.
I set a high bar for who I work with, and I'd guess you set a high bar for yourself, too. I believe there’s a reason we’re coming together at this moment in time. I can’t wait to see what unfolds.
Warmly,
David