Nowadays, you can Google ‘’online business coaching’’ and find a myriad of choices - all promising the best solutions to your professional development. With so much information out there, it can be overwhelming - especially when it can be difficult to differentiate the professional business coaches from the disingenuous, quick-fix coaches.
At Session, we pride ourselves on hiring highly qualified business coaches who come equipped with relevant education and more than 5 years of coaching experience in a business context.
And - what else sets us apart “from the rest of the pack”?
It’s our values and guiding coaching principles. Session business coaches each bring their own background, style, education, and training. What makes us unique and identifies us is the way we look at human development in organizations!
We approach coaching journeys through a strengths-based lens, and hone in on the power of our imagination and curiosity. We care about people and the organizations they work for, and always keep the business context in mind. We encourage our clients to try things out in real life settings right after the sessions. And we show up with presence and help people stay present too.
In this guide we give you a deeper dive into our coaching philosophy laying the foundation for the way we work. This will help you get a clearer picture of what you can expect when engaging with business coaches from Session or if you should ever consider joining our team. Enjoy the read!
Strengths Focus
“Never trust your fears, they don't know your strengths” - Athena Singh
At Session, we focus on strengths. We hone in on the strengths of our coaches, clients, and employees to produce optimal results and ensure positive outcomes across the board. Our coaches are well-equipped at bringing out the best in individual clients. We:
- ask clients strengths-based questions to discover their most valuable skill sets.
- provide practical steps on how the individual can bring their strengths to play in everyday work, and to amplify the strengths of others.
- focus on positive reinforcement of the client’s most powerful strengths and are well-versed in the language of abundance - understanding that life and work is never a net-zero game.
- identify problems and challenges that clients are facing and use a strengths-based approach to help overcome them.
- look for strengths in the team, the overall organization and the surrounding society of our coaching clients, and build on these strengths to help our clients solve business challenges and problems.
In summary:
We deliberately look for and identify strengths in people, systems, and structures. We build on strengths to overcome barriers and challenges. We spot the positive things.
Imagination and Curiosity
“All sorts of things can happen when you’re open to new ideas and playing around with things.” — Stephanie Kwolek
At Session, we look beyond the existing moment and into the future. We imagine: “What if?” “What’s possible?” “What’s emerging?” Together with our coaching clients, we imagine the next new and ask curious questions about the present as well as the future. Our questions move the clients and the organizations they are part of.
When we stay curious, we can keep an open mind and see the world from different perspectives. This is especially important in the times we are living in right now, where intercultural awareness and diversity is as important as ever before. Diverse and new perspectives simply bring us further in a more sustainable and caring manner.
In summary:
We look beyond the existing moment and into the future. We imagine: “What if?” “What’s possible?” “What’s emerging?”
Experimentation
“If you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.” - Erica Jong
What we do is what we get. Thoughts, feelings, even just being - will not move us forward without action. It might move us, but not in the physical reality of everyday life. We need to act, do, and experiment in order to learn.
Change happens - when people try things out, experiment, and play with new ways of doing things. We encourage trying things out, gathering feedback, learning, adjusting and moving on - one step at a time. What we talk about needs to be tried out - sooner rather than later, and yes, this sometimes takes courage, but as the quote above says, if you don’t dare or risk something - you risk even more... It is through failure and trying things out and gathering feedback that you learn.
In summary:
We encourage trying things out, gathering feedback, learning, and adjusting - continuously.
Care
“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” - Ruth Bader Ginsburg
People are at the heart of every business. We are passionate about helping others succeed in the world of business. At Session, we believe that organizational success is inextricably linked to individual success, and vice versa. We know that every individual is important to an organization - and that every individual can positively - or negatively - influence business outcomes.
We are here to help people make a positive difference. Our coaches have deep knowledge and experience derived from many years of coaching in modern organizations. They are skilled at helping clients resolve specific organizational challenges and reach strategic goals. Our coaches have business acumen - and help clients see themselves as part of the system and business - not as opposed to or victims of what is happening in the organization.
In summary:
We are passionate about helping others succeed. We love organizations and business life and care for the people working in them.
Presence
"Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity." - Simone Weil
Presence is - a presence. Being fully present means actively listening to one another without distractions or judgment. This creates a safe space for open and honest communication and lays the foundation for a trusting relationship as well as for the ability to read nonverbal cues like body language and tone of voice. When we stay fully present for one another, we might understand emotions and underlying needs more intuitively and can use those cues to make wiser judgements and decisions.
Presence and mindfulness goes hand in hand, and many of Session’s coaches are experienced mindfulness practitioners. Presence is a cornerstone of effective coaching. It creates a safe and supportive environment for exploration, growth, and transformation. By being fully present we help our clients unlock their potential, achieve their goals, and live more fulfilling lives.
When coaching online, it is perhaps even more important that coaches know how to show up with presence. Fortunately, Session’s coaches do. We are trained in the art of staying present in the moment, and helping others stay present too.
In summary:
We stay present in the moment and help others stay present too.
Wrapping It Up
At Session we know that a continuous journey strengthens the coaching clients ability to focus on continuously progressing, instead of journeys which only have sporadic check-ins. In the words of Amabile and Kramer, authors of “The Progress Principle”, the continuous coaching sessions strengthen employees' “inner work life” over time, leaving them better suited to thrive and perform. Our coaching journeys:
- Address the specific needs of the individual and business
- Match the learning style of the individual
- Begin from the starting level of the leader or employee
- Don’t waste employee time with ineffective one-size-fits-all approaches
- Progress each individual in a tailored direction at a pace that suits them
- Extend the coaching process so that the learning can grow into new habits
Many online business programs exist today, and it can be hard to know which one is the right choice for you. Session’s coaching philosophy differentiates us from the crowd and sets our coaches, clients, and employees up for long-term success.
Reach out to learn more about our coaching programs - we are happy to help!
