COACHING
Coaching is at the heart of everything we do. We bring together a diversity of expertise to support professional services firms.
We work with our clients to drive growth through insight at an individual, team, strategic, or firm level. Coaching is the secret ingredient that your firm has been missing!
​Whether you are looking for 1:1, team, or group coaching, we have a solution for you. Find out more about our coaching offering below:
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Continuous Development
The learning from coaching continues beyond the time we spend together. Between sessions, clients are given behavioural experiments to put into practice what they have been working on. We also provide reflective content between sessions for you to draw on. When working with teams, we encourage professionals to form peer coaching groups, to embed the learning even further.
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Additional Support
We have access to 360 feedback tools, psychometrics, leadership and team tools, all of which can be used to increase awareness and support you or your firm with its specific aims.
Coaching helps develop leadership skills (the ICF has found 86% of organisations who used coaching saw ROI in terms of leadership development).
65% of staff in companies where coaching is valued are highly engaged. (ICF/HCI RESEARCH)
Leaders who are self-aware are better able to recognize and manage their own emotions, which can help them respond more effectively to difficult situations and conflicts. (FORBES)
Coaching can stimulate innovative thinking and creativity.
Coaching helps individuals and teams set goals, and align their efforts to achieve them.
WHAT WE OFFER
We have 4 types of coaching offerings:
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Coaching programmes for businesses
Where a firm is looking for access to a panel of coaches who can coach a cohort of employees.
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Where one or two of our coaches work with a team within your business. This is often at the most senior level in a firm.
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These are programmes open for individuals to join. They will form part of a peer group that will learn together.
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Individual coaching programmes
This is where you work with one coach as an individual. For more information on our one-to-one coaching options get in touch at info@clienttalk.co.uk.
COACHING PROGRAMMES FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FIRMS
OUR COACHING PACKAGES
COACHING PROGRAMMES
Why should you roll out a coaching programme?
In our recent Legal Pulse Survey, we found that firms understand the value of coaching. Over 94% of legal leaders agreed that they saw value in coaching. This isn’t surprising, many studies have shown the benefits that coaching can bring. This includes greater self-confidence, enhanced communication skills, and enhanced contributions to teams. Of course these benefits aren't limited to legal!
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Firms are increasing the amount they spend on coaching in order to address some of the key internal challenges they face. Through initiatives such as the 0-Shaped lawyer, firms are starting to realise that developing lawyers self-awareness and EQ is fundamental to be more attractive to clients and as an employer.
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See above for more information on the journey you will take on our coaching programme. We have a panel of coaches who we can match to your professionals, ensuring that they get the most from a coaching relationship.
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Who for?
For firms who have, or want to create a coaching culture. Hiring one coach, or numerous coaches is time consuming and high-risk. All our coaches are accredited and many have been professionals themselves so understand the landscape.
Leadership Coaching
Many partners in Professional Services firms have missed out on the human skills development needed to be great leaders. They have the technical skills in spades. Coaching helps to increase self awareness of the impact they have as leaders and enables a more flexible approach.
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Our leadership focus helps firms create the leaders of tomorrow. Our leadership programme covers:
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How we lead ourselves.
Self-awareness is the foundation of coaching and of emotional intelligence. It can provide insights into why we are how we are and can improve our ability to get the most from diverse teams.
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How we lead teams.
High performing teams deliver better results for the
firm and for the firm's clients.
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How we lead clients.
Clients want more. In order to be a trusted advisor, lawyers need to deliver more than just technical excellence, they need to provide added
value and lead for the future. We combine our business development expertise, the insights we have from regularly speaking to clients with coaching to change the conversations that are happening about clients.
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How we lead for the future.
The future is uncertain. Business is no longer
focused purely on profit. The question for lawyers is increasingly "should we?"
rather than "can we?". This requires a shift in mindset.
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EmpowerHer
Coaching Female Talent
Our group coaching programmes bring together groups of individuals from a range of firms to form a peer group. Participants learn both individually and together.
What is EmpowerHer?
A six-month programme designed to empower your female leaders and future leaders. The programme will be led by Claire Rason, author, podcaster and sought-after coach. Participants will receive a combination of individual and group coaching and will explore a range of topics including: authentic leadership; business development; feedback and delegation; and limiting beliefs. This isn't about changing women to fit a broken system, it is about empowering women to bring their authentic selves to thrive. ​
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Who for?
This option is ideal for the females in your firm who are thinking about whether partnership is right for them. We explore their choice in the context of common challenges and explore the impact of gender bias on the choices we make.
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Why?
The benefits of group coaching are:
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Enhanced systemic awareness
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Learn from collective intelligence of the group
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Heightened emotional intelligence
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Coaching is proven to help individuals navigate gendered organisations and thrive. For more on gendered organisations and how this may show up in professional services firms, read our latest report here.
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For more information click here.
Individual Coaching Programme
Individual coaching sessions will be used to identify individual strengths, areas for improvement and focus areas.
Our accredited coaches will then work with your professionals to increase self-awareness and empower growth.
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Coaching leaders
We have extensive experience coaching leaders, partners and executives . A knowledge of the system in which leaders find themselves is often central to the issues we explore, making our professional services knowledge so valuable! Our coaches have been selected for their experience as coaches, but also their experience outside of the world of coaching, which enables them to quickly build a rapport with our coaching clients.
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​Skills coaching
Skills coaching involves the development of specific key skills or competencies. Given the focus of these sessions, coaching programmes tend to be shorter, and solutions focused. We often use this type of coaching to support our training programmes.
​​Career coaching
We are experienced working with professionals who are transitioning in their career and need career coaching to help them develop the skills needed to be a success or to find direction.
Who for?
The thinking space that a coach can create, coupled with incisive questions and
coaching tools and techniques, has clear benefits for the coachee. Everyone who needs a space to think could consider coaching!
1:1 coaching is powerful, to find out more, book a free no-obligation chemistry session.
TEAM COACHING PROGRAMMES
Team coaching helps enhance the performance of teams. Given how crucial team performance is to an organisation's success, team coaching can deliver big results.
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Our coaches are experienced working with teams within professional services organisations. Partnerships in particular have complex group dynamics and can offer suffer from many leaders but a lack of leadership.
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Team coaching is not about a short-term fix, it is an investment in the long-term. When teams learn together and are more aligned and motivated the benefits accrue over time.
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This is more than team-building it is about improving the performance, dynamics and effectiveness of teams. The client is the team and the coach works in benefit of the team.
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Who for?
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This is ideal for teams that want to enhance their performance. It isn't just for teams that aren't working well together - of course team coaching can help there, but it is for all teams that want to unleash the collective power of the whole.
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There is no universally accepted definition of coaching. Although, it is often described in terms of what it is not! It is not mentoring (which is often an informal arrangement where the more experienced party shares their knowledge to guide the other), it is not teaching (which has a set purpose and again relies on one person imparting knowledge to another) and it is not counselling (which is more therapeutic in nature).
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Coaches rely on a series of tools and skills that help the person being coached unlock their potential. The key skill for any coach is the ability to listen – and this goes beyond mere active listening. Coaches strive to be empathetic listeners where “the coach is able to play back the thoughts and feelings that are on the periphery of the coachee’s awareness” (Hawkins and Smith).
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Our coaches can work with individuals within your organisation or with teams of professionals to help maximise their potential. Get in touch to find out more…
Coaching is..
The art of facilitating the performance, learning and development of another.
(Downey)
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Unlocking people’s potential to maximise their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them.
(Whitmore)
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Empowering people by facilitating self-directed learning, personal growth and improved performance.
(Bresser and Wilson)
COACHING FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q. Isn’t coaching just for people who are performing badly?
A. The short answer to this is no! The greatest sportspeople in the world use coaches to make sure they play at their best. Harry Kane doesn’t need to be shown how to kick a ball – Serena Williams doesn’t need to be shown how to volley – but their coaches help them bring their best to each game. At Client Talk, we believe that professionals should be doing the same!
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Q. Does it help if the coach knows my business?
A. Whilst coaches don’t have to have a deep knowledge of the challenges facing the coachee to help the coachee reach their potential, we believe that in certain circumstances it helps. All our coaches have experience working in professional services firms or with professionals from professional services firms. This means that at Client Talk we understand your challenges. We can, where helpful and with permission from the coachee, bring into the coaching session experiences that others have found useful.
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Q. How do I know if my coach is qualified?
A. At Client Talk we believe that it is important that you know that your coach has training and accreditation. As such all our coaches are accredited with one of the major coaching bodies. This means that they adhere to a code of ethics, have continuous professional development and regular supervision.
This gives you peace of mind that you are working with the best!
Whilst coaching has grown in popularity, there is no requirement that coaches be trained in coaching before they offer themselves up as a coach. There are numerous one day courses that are offered to enable people to acquire the basic skills needed. Sadly coaches do not need to be regulated or accredited.
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Q. What if I don’t like my coach?
A. Chemistry is important. Before each coaching session with Client Talk, the professional is invited to attend a chemistry session free of charge. If it is felt that the coach isn’t the right fit an alternative can be offered.
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Q. What is the difference between coaching and mentoring?
A. Coaching is often confused with mentoring. Mentoring is where someone with experience in a particular field helps someone by giving guidance and direction. Coaching is about supporting an individual to find their own answers. A coach doesn't have to be someone with experience in the field of the coachee. Coaches come with a set of skills and approaches that are intended to help the coachee optimise their performance.
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Q. What is virtual coaching?
A. Virtual coaching is simply face-to-face coaching that is conducted in a virtual setting. That could be over the phone or via video conferencing. Virtual coaching can provide useful where the coach and coachee are in different locations - opening up the choice of whom the coachee can choose to coach them. They have been found to provide all the benefits of face-to-face coaching and can often be offered at a reduced cost because of the travel time saved.
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Q. How can coaches help manage change?
A. Coaches are trained to manage change. Their job is to help individuals or teams maximise their performance and affect the changes needed to achieve that. Coaches are often trained in behavioural change; they often have a deep understanding of psychology. Coaches work either on a systemic or individual level to manage change.
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Q. What is a coaching culture?
A. There is no one definition of coaching culture. On the one hand, it could be interpreted as an organisation that understands the importance of coaching and which uses coaches to enhance the performance of its employees. On the other hand, coaching culture can be interpreted as an organisational culture that embraces some of the key skills of coaching. Listening. Empathy. Curiosity. An organisation with a coaching culture is likely to be non-directive and have a high degree of psychological safety. Its leaders are likely to adopt a coaching style.
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