What is coaching?

The International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines coaching as partnering with participants in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.

  • Coaching is a “thinking partnership” based on a two-way conversation. A coach helps you identify and set goals that are meaningful for you in your life and the changes you want to make.
  • A coach will work with you to develop a plan for how you can achieve these goals over time and reach your potential.
  • Coaching focuses on the future. A coach will support you to use your own strengths and capabilities to get from where you are now to where you want to be in the future.
  • A coach will support you to learn new skills and/or strengthen the skills you already have.
  • Coaching is different from training, counseling, or mentorship. A coach will not give you advice or work with you to heal things from the past. Your coach is there to listen and ask powerful questions that will support you to uncover your own insights and answers.
  • Coaching is a process; coaches are trained to work with anyone but will not necessarily be an expert in your chosen field of work.
  • Coaching involves awareness and action. In each session, you will come up with the actions to take between sessions that will move you forward and what will best support you to keep going.

It’s up to the client to take charge of their career – not someone else!

Working with a career coach means working with someone who genuinely shares the same ultimate goal that a client has, while creating and adding excitement during the process! The one-on-one career coaching experience is an excellent way to:

  • receive personalized support and guidance when making career decisions.
  • determine what steps to take and strategies to use.
  • come up with a customized plan that will keep the client on track to accomplish what they set out to do.
  • improve self-confidence and build resilience

Coaches undergo over 125 hours of formal standardized training and possess at least 100 hours of professional coaching experience before being certified by the International Coaching Federation. As part of the certification, coaches are vetted through the coach’s professional sessions, in order to ensure the coaching Core Competencies and Code of Ethics are followed and appropriately delivered.

Coaching is our key ingredient

In contrast to periodic job training, mentoring, or interview preparedness workshops, Up with Women’s program leverages the transformative power of 12 months of one-on-one coaching to unleash the potential in our clients’ lives. Coaching is a proven methodology that focuses on the client’s unique path and interests through probing questions and personal accountability