What is coaching?
Your SLC coach will
- help you set better goals and then reach those goals. At SLC we focus on your Ho‘ohana (your work as value-alignment within your life).
- ask you to do more than you may have done on your own, and hold you accountable until you cultivate your own self-discipline with accountability.
- help you focus better to more quickly produce results. We help you distinguish between being busy, and being accomplished within stress-free performance.
- provide the tools, support, and structure to accomplish better results from your efforts. At SLC we utilize the toolbox of the ‘Ohana in Business model of Managing with Aloha
- help you consistently improve your communication skillset
- help you inventory the workplace partnerships which help you achieve your best results
How is coaching different from consulting and therapy?
Unlike consulting, a coach stays with you to help implement new skills, changes, and goals to make sure they really happen, and to coach your learning process. People will normally hire a consultant for quick answers in areas that are not core competencies for them. You hire a coach because you need to learn that competency, and weave it into your own skill learning and applied knowledge base.
Coaching is not therapy: we will not delve into the past to diagnose human behavior, but rather look at going forward in the best possible way for future effectiveness. A management coach does just what an athletic coach or music teacher does, only in a more comprehensive way blending your work, your livelihood and lifestyle: a coach can be someone to hold you accountable for your life, helping you live up to your potential.
What is the basic philosophy of coaching?
Simply put, that we humans are great, have abundant ability and capacity, and we’re always within a process of discovering what life can offer us. At times we can get to what we want better and faster with the help of a coach who’s been there, can relate to our profession, and can help guide us.
For SLC in particular, Managing with Aloha best describes the philosophy we bring to all of our coaching and training programs. We believe that managers have a far greater capacity to make positive changes than they realize they have, and we coach them with the intent of bringing their innate talents and strengths to fruition. We coach you with the assumption that you will in turn coach others you manage in what you have learned.
More of the SLC philosophy is revealed in our Mission and our Vision.
Who hires a coach and why?
SLC was specifically founded to coach managers and leaders. Managers will hire us because they want their job to be more rewarding, they want to continually learn and grow, and they want to be more effective with their staff. They want their employees to feel they are treated well and managed well, and they want to be respected for it.
At SLC we do advocate a reconstruction in what traditionally has been the role of the manager in most organizations. You can learn more in this article: The Reconstructed, Rejuvenated, Newly Respected, and Never Underestimated Role of the Manager
With our specific cultural training and experience, we specialize in Hawaii’s service and hospitality industry. However our passion is in coaching managers who manage through other people. This is a common denominator universal to most business professions and locations, and we do have clients outside of Hawaii who we work with via telephone, email, and web-based inter-active learning environments.
What is the difference between working with a coach and my boss?
The key difference is that we are partners, not boss and subordinate. A coach may evaluate your performance, and give you some tough love, but only with the goal of helping you improve.
We know there is a fuzzy line between one’s personal and professional life; work is personal. When appropriate, and when you desire it, a coach will work with you in the grey areas of both realms, not just the black and white of results-based job performance. You are free to accept or decline the advice, opinions and suggestions that are offered in coaching, for ultimately, you must be the one who takes responsibility for action.
Why does coaching work?
Coaching can work for several reasons:
- Synergy results when a good relationship is set between you and your coach, and that synergy will create both energy and momentum for you. Synergy seeks to create new, more attractive alternatives.
- Better goals are set: they are goals that naturally appeal to you versus goals that may be handed down as the givens in one’s profession.
- Many people are tired of or frustrated by what they “should do” or “are expected to do” and want to move toward what they “want to do.” A coach is the safe and knowledgeable person who can help with that transition. SLC can help with the honesty of whether management is right for someone or not, or determine which facet of management or leadership is best suited to an individual.
- Managers often find they are too involved in situations to be fully objective or completely able to explore all possible solutions. Coaching uncovers options and opens the lid on thinking. A coach will ask you questions you may not think of asking yourself.
- Our coaching is completely private and confidential, and managers will discover a freedom to talk openly they may not enjoy consistently on the job.
Can I hire a coach just for a short-term, special project?
Yes. In our very first conversation we will determine exactly what your needs are and proceed from there. In many cases managers will keep working with a coach as new goals are progressively set, however that is your choice.
What kind of things will we talk about and work on?
Our coaching is customized: a program will be proposed for you after a preliminary complimentary session in which we simply “talk story” for about an hour. During that informal conversation your coach will ask you questions to determine your needs and key in on what you may be looking for or find helpful. To get a better idea of our coaching scope, refer back to our list of services and training programs.
How long must I commit to your program, and will I have to sign a contract?
We normally will suggest you plan for a three or four month commitment, finding that time is necessary to provide you with measurable results-much like managers who put their new employees on 90-day introductory periods.
We will not ask for a written agreement or contract in the A‘o Alaka‘ina: program, and you can end your coaching with us at any time you feel it isn't working for you.
When you enter into a coaching partnership, you are making a commitment to work on YOU in a focused way. The more you give the process, the more you get out of it, and the shorter the coaching will be! We are giving you a coaching program, however it works when you take ownership of it, and internalize performance habits.
What is the cost involved, and how do we get started?
Fees vary for the different programs we offer. For example, the A‘o Alaka‘ina Program was designed for the telephone to keep it both convenient and affordable.
Scheduling (i.e. session frequency) will also be a factor. Fees can be customized to the coaching plan and timeframe designed with your needs and preferences in mind. The first coaching session is complimentary, and whenever possible, we will meet in person or via a video Skype call. Based on its results you can then decide if you’d like to begin your coaching program or not.
The easiest and quickest way to start is with a telephone inquiry, however you can send us an email with your questions first if that is your preference. Call 808.883.9122 or email us.
