WHY COACHING
In today’s busy offices (home and elsewhere) and labs, supervisors and human resources staff often lack the time and/or coaching skills to help individuals successfully tackle stubborn issues, such as:
- Leadership presence
- Conflict resolution and team dynamics
- Setting priorities and organizing and handling workloads efficiently
- Appropriate delegation, oversight, and empowerment of staff
- Communication and presentation
- Balancing professional and personal responsibilities
- Career development and transition management
- Emotional intelligence
HOW ENHANCE EFFECTIVENESS
SAS’s Joan Goldberg:
- Conducts assessments such as 360 interviews to identify weaknesses and strengths and set goals.
- Helps clients focus on what isn’t working and why, to develop and try new approaches.
- Discusses with clients what success would look like.
- Helps clients consider different perspectives.
- Listens and observes closely and reflects back what she hears and observes.
- Asks the right questions at the right time to help clients develop a new understanding.
- Helps clients commit to “homework” to expand observation, practice and develop new skills and behaviors, and be accountable (including addressing barriers to follow through).
- Shares workshop handouts, articles, books, videos, and other tools to enhance understanding/skill.
Typically clients commit to ten- or twelve one-hour sessions. Coach and client evaluate progress at the end of every session. During the pandemic, all sessions are held approximately once every other week by Zoom, WebEx, Skype or telephone.
HOW DOES SAS COACH JOAN GOLDBERG WORK
Typically, Goldberg meets by phone with potential clients at no charge for up to 30 minutes to confirm whether they would be a good match. Discussion centers on what the client would like to work on. Then Goldberg draws up a coaching agreement. Goldberg holds herself and her clients accountable, and maintains strict confidentiality and adherence to the International Coach Federation code of ethics.
During coaching sessions, Goldberg focuses on the matter at hand, mindful of the client’s immediate goal. However, she doesn’t lose sight of larger goals for the coaching engagement. She is available for brief between-session calls, and responds promptly to emails. She may meet with clients’ supervisors at the start or close of an engagement, and draft a progress report for the client’s use. The goal is to help clients see the wisdom they have within, and to build and celebrate successes while enhancing effectiveness.