Building a Coaching Culture

Introducing coaching to a whole school takes time and begins with a first step.

What is a coaching culture?

When we think about building a coaching culture, we think about ‘the way we do things around here.’

Culture (the way we do things around here) + Coaching = Coaching Culture.

A coaching culture can be defined as the majority of people in the organisation using coaching techniques and principles. Importantly this includes: strong listening and questioning skills, to bring out the best in individuals and teams.

In addition, the coaching approach is the common way of engaging in conversations. In contrast to telling people what to do, giving advice, mentoring and other techniques.

Developing coaching skills in the workplace has become increasingly important because:

Organisations are calling on people to deliver more with less resources
Managers have great technical skills but are sometimes lacking in people skills
People enjoy being motivated and engaged at work;
Coaching taps into the potential of people to grow and develop them

Articles:

Dealing with objections to change

Accountability Conversation Format

Developing a Leader Mindset

Diagnosing Underperformance

Role Clarification Process

Productive Conflict Protocol

Decision Making Formats

Future Focus Protocol

Promoting Professional Behaviour

Solution Focus Protocol

WHAT PEOPLE SAY

Cathy exceeded my expectations completely. Her guidance in enabling me to put my thoughts to paper and visualise what I required in moving forward within my business was refreshing. I would highly recommend Cathy’s services, Thank you Cathy.

Coaching has allowed me to work through a process which equips me to find solutions to situations that are potentially challenging. It helps provide solutions to inform my approach to my work and this has been particularly helpful as I am new to this position. Being able to tap into Cath’s experience within the organisations through the coaching process really helps me to align system messages with my role as an Educational Officers and gives clarity to my work.

Being involved in the Coaching Process with Cath was instrumental in guiding me to change my mindset. She led me to see a difficult situation as a chance to formulate and achieve a goal in my role as Curriculum Support Teacher. She helped me identify an opportunity for change in my practice and engaged me in conversations that inspired positive action and built my energy to undertake the work necessary to achieve my goal.

I have really found great benefit in the coaching sessions we have had so far. I appreciate Cath’s flexible approach and ability to listen and ‘go with flow’ to explore ideas. I find the process provides clarity for me. I am able to dedicate time to think through something that has been on my mind and then am able to ‘let it go’ a bit as I have a plan in place and clear direction. I also find that the next day, with a clear head, I am able to come up with another idea or solution and things seem to have a ‘snowball’ effect. The coaching process continues, even after the session, having an effect on the way I am thinking, improving my leadership capabilities.

Working in a coaching scenario enabled me to "think aloud" and get immediate feedback, whether it be about a curriculum matter, professional development or my personal career path. With Cath's experience and knowledge, I felt like I was receiving invaluable advice and guidance. It also enabled us to work collaboratively in developing planning and learning sessions. Without a doubt, I will seek Cath out to continue working with her as coach.

After speaking with Cath, I always felt that I had a number of good ways forward in working with difficult staff members. The coaching sessions assisted me to grow in my capacity as a leader within a large primary school setting. The learnings I will take away will assist me in my professional ability to provide effective leadership into the future.

Participating in the coaching process with Cath enabled me to visualize success in a new and unknown work situation and to explore strategies to achieve this. The coaching method empowered me to come up with my own solutions to the challenges and concerns identified. Cath expertly led me through the stages of coaching offering encouragement, helping me articulate and clarify my thoughts.

Being coached by Cath was a real eye-opener because she helped me to see that I had all the answers, I just needed help to organise my ideas and to work systematically. As well as a strong background in education (which was extremely helpful for my situation), Cath also draws from an extensive variety of strategies and approaches. She listens carefully and is very responsive – providing both compassionate support and action-oriented plans which helped me to move forward.

Coaching with Cath enabled me to distinguish the most appropriate path to take to achieve the desired outcome. Sometimes these choices were not obvious to me until the coaching sessions. Cath helped to tease out all the possibilities and then I was able to reflect on which would work best in my context.

The feeling I have when I leave my coaching session with Cath is what keeps me coming back! Cath's coaching expertise assists me to see a complete view of my 'current state' and in turn supports me to prioritise and solve complex challenges through re-interpreting and reframing. Cath listens deeply and tactfully questions in order to facilitate me to reflect before developing relevant and realistic actions. I always feel re-energised and 'on track' at the end of our coaching session. I highly recommend Cath.

Cath is an excellent coach who provides a clear strategy to develop your own thinking. Cath is able to succinctly analyse and summarise individual contexts and work with the client towards a workable and suitable outcome. Cath is very knowledgeable in all facets of education and uses her expertise to gently guide the client to consider all possibilities.

Cath provided an articulate, focused and stimulating professional process for me to reflect on and explore my leadership style. She listened for the unique patterns of my own experience and helped me to develop creative and practical ways to leverage these for the real-life contexts in which I lead. Her style is particularly effective because she is able to frame it within a deep cultural understanding of our mission and values.

The coaching that Cath provided helped me to identify specific goals and create various strategies that I could implement with fellow staff to achieve these goals. What began as a ‘problem situation’ resulted in a school-wide project with innovative practices that continue today, some 2 years later.