Coaching Conversations : CASE STUDY BUSINESS START-UP

Monday, 15 March 2021

CASE STUDY BUSINESS START-UP

CASE STUDY BUSINESS START-UP

CLIENT

The client was an entrepreneur looking to develop a business and an App.

SESSIONS

The sessions explored the business strategy (product and market) and the App development (form, function, development)

REFLECTIONS

The sessions at times were a little like mentoring rather than coaching in-so-far-as the coach shared some models and thinking for the client to consider, including for example LEAN Canvas as a tool (and others) to map the business and App proposition. Arguably this is still coaching because they were empty frameworks for the client to experiment with and not a prescription nor recommendation.

LEAN Canvas
https://medium.com/@steve_mullen/an-introduction-to-lean-canvas-5c17c469d3e0

The sessions were not prescriptive nor targeted but a space for the client to run through their thinking and explore possibilities without fear of commercial risk or disclosure.

COACHING V MENTORING

Mentoring is when a senior colleague, seen as more knowledgeable and worldly wise gives advice and provides a role model. Mentoring involves wide ranging discussions that may not be limited to the work context. A mentor is a sponsor with great professional experience in their client’s field of work. Both mentoring and coaching are concerned mainly with achievements in the present and the future.

Coaching has been defined in many ways. The essence of coaching is:To help a person change in the way they wish and helping them go in the direction they want to go; Coaching supports a person at every level in becoming who they want to be; Coaching builds awareness empowers choice and leads to change. It unlocks a person’s potential to maximise their performance. Coaching helps them to learn rather than teaching them.

IMPORTANT NOTES

The Coach engages in training and continuing education pursuing and/or maintaining ICF (International Coach Federation) credentials. All coaching conversations are confidential and the abbreviated case above has been amended so as to protect the anonymity for the client whilst providing evidence of coaching practice, reflection and learning, for the purposes of ICF education, supervision, or oversight.

All coaching engagements follow ICF Policies and Principles Resources, Terms and Conditions https://www.adaptconsultingcompany.com/coachingtoolkit/client.php

Glossary

Person-centered coaching
The goal of Person-centered coaching is to provide clients with an opportunity to develop a sense of self where they can realize how their attitudes, feelings and behavior are being negatively affected.

Useful reference
https://positivepsychology.com/client-centered-therapy/

Psychodynamic coaching
The psychodynamic approach includes all the theories in psychology that see human functioning based upon the interaction of drives and forces within the person, particularly unconscious, and between the different structures of the personality.

Useful reference
https://www.hrgrapevine.com/content/article/2014-08-07-5-top-tips-to-systems-psychodynamic-coaching

Behavioral coaching
This approach seeks to identify and help change potentially self-destructive or unhealthy behaviors. It functions on the idea that all behaviors are learned and that unhealthy behaviors can be changed.

Useful reference
https://www.businessballs.com/coaching-and-mentoring/cognitive-behavioural-coaching/

Existential coaching
Existential coaching emerged from existential therapy, which focuses on the human condition as a whole. The approach is informed by existential thinkers such as Sartre, Kierkegaard, De Beauvoir and Fanon, and is the only form of psychotherapy based in philosophy. Existential work looks at what it means to be an individual, how we can use our inner wisdom to resolve issues, and how we can view our struggles as inherently human rather than as dysfunction or defect.

Useful reference
http://www.plexworld.com/coach02.html

FEEDBACK FROM CLIENTS

“I have really enjoyed working with Tim for a few sessions. After the chaotic 2020 we have all experienced, the thoughts in my head felt like the insides of a tumble dryer. I knew I had the solutions for some of the challenges I was experiencing, I just couldn’t tease them out. Speaking with Tim helped me to unravel some of the strands of my thinking and follow them through to identify several potential options as well as talk through the role I play in each scenario. Having someone listen without judgement and ask inciteful questions was invaluable at the time that I needed it the most. I have recommended him to others.”

I found Tim's approach to coaching extremely helpful in exporting ideas and thinking of solutions. Tim really helped me to identify the cause of a particular stumbling block I had, thus enabling me to address it and move forward.

Tim's approach will always help you explore and reveal more options and solutions. Tim knows how to motivate and guide you to find and achieve your goals. His ideas and way of thinking are built to help you eliminate any challenges you might face. Happy to have worked with him and would warmly recommend to anyone.

It’s great working with Tim, it took me a few sessions to understand that there was almost nothing he couldn’t help on. He’s encyclopaedic on concepts that aid all areas of working life. His ability to be a head of the conversation creates a clear and effective pathway for any idea or challenge that is presented to him. He helped me with understanding the potential of myself, improved how i communicate and manage information, whilst maintaining a deep integrity for detail and complexity. Like with all excellent educational experiences my first thought is, how I wish more people can access it. He’s helped specifically in two areas, to present a systems approach methodology to a governmental group, and to rationalise my ideas for a small food business that I am a director of.

Tim's style, manner and pragmatic approach has been very valuable. His contribution will have a positive and lasting effect on the way we work as a team.

Tim Rogers independent and external view provided an excellent sounding-board and some practical challenges to the delivery of the IT Strategy and the development of the Service Delivery Plan and related Key Performance Indicators. What was particularly helpful was the use of a coaching and collaborative style that kept us in the driving seat, but allowed us to call on Tim’s experience at strategic intervals. We believe this allowed is to achieve on 6 weeks what might otherwise have taken 6 months