Coaching and Mentoring

The term “coach” and “coaching” is experiencing inflationary usage and practicing this activity is not protected or regulated. Even some “certificates” that are in circulation are awarded through organizations whose training methods and awarding practices are dubious to say the least.

Therefore, here are a few words on how to understand coaching and intervention at iuvare:

  • 1

    Coaching is a process that emerges and develops in dialogue with the client. The collaboration takes place on a voluntary basis and is characterized by mutual trust. This means that the “chemistry” should fit and the values or moral concepts of coach and coachee should at least be compatible.

  • 2

    Because personal information is usually necessary for problem solving and defining development goals, the coach assures discretion for the ongoing process and the time afterwards.

  • 3

    Despite the life advice books and “guides to happiness” suggesting a recipe for relief, coaching is not a linear process. It is based on the client’s needs and it is up to the coach to work with the client to find solutions to the individual problem. Nevertheless, the rules for working together are established beforehand.

  • 4

    According to the above, it is clear that the client is not presented with something like a “guidance booklet” by the coach which he or she should then simply implement. Rather, the coach provides assistance on how the client can achieve his goals on jointly worked out solution paths (or reviews his current goals once again together with the coach). So don’t expect “classroom teaching”, but a dialogue at eye level.

  • 5

    Contrary to the widespread classical consulting approach, where the consultant exits the process after the plan has been worked out and leaves the client on his/her own, at iuvare the cooperation does not stop: you will continue to be accompanied during the implementation of your goals in order to make the lasting success of the intervention more likely. This also applies to the business support by iuvare.

  • 6

    The coach needs profound knowledge and qualification from different disciplines to be able to support effectively. Depending on the task and the social embedding of the assignment (private environment, profit or non-profit organizations, branch), well-founded and proven knowledge from psychology, human resource development, leadership, management, business administration and last but not least a self-acquired, comprehensive life experience are necessary to achieve results that will satisfy the client.

  • 7

    Intervention: Depending on the problem, psychological assistance that has proven itself in the day to day practice of work- and organizational psychology can be applied to find adequate solutions. However, coaching is not a psychotherapy. If necessary, appropriate specialist support would be recommended by the coach in the course of the collaboration. Intervention here means rather to actively work on promising (behavioral) changes in the daily life of the coachee and to follow up on their consequent implementation.

Organizations and Individuals are supported on the following Levels

1. Individual

Just as the skipper on a ship is responsible for the yacht and integrity of the crew, the manager in an organization has to take responsibility for the company,
a department or a division and its “crew”. The thereof resulting situations require attention in all directions:

How do I find my way into this role (which I may have assumed just recently only), what directions do I set, should I be the one that sets them at all, how do I put the crew together to achieve the goal, is everyone pulling in the same direction, and if not, why, and what can I do about it?

Or as a member of a group:

What is expected from me, from my team or my supervisor, where is the distress I feel coming from, what can I do against it?

The “chemistry” is not right with another person, something has changed for the worse but I don’t know exactly what, I am dissatisfied with my professional environment but have no clear plan on how to deal with it….

These are examples for situations where professional one-on-one coaching can reveal solutions.

Improve your leadership quality

Get to know yourself better and explore behavior changes to become a better leader

Onboarding / Navigate into a new environment

Companionship / Supervision / Reflection during the takeover of a new task, a new function, or when starting with a new company to avoid launch failures

Intervention at interferences in communication

… or distortions in co-operation with colleagues, supervisors; contact persons in general

Sparring partner

… in phases of new personal orientation, for reflections and stages of further development

Offering alternative perspectives

… and views of an existing problem

Conflict mediation

Burn out prevention

Considering your private situation

… considering the current professional context and support in developing solutions

2. Team

The better a ship’s crew plays together and complements each other when on the sea, the faster and more relaxed it reaches its destination and the more positive the common experience resonates.

The same applies to teamwork in organizations. Effective teams contribute at least as much to the overall success of a company as an exceptional performance by individual employees.

Ensuring sustainably successful teamwork is a complex undertaking because of the dynamics and interactions that occur in groups.

Here are some examples of possible interventions offered to support team development and performance improvement; at all organizational levels, i.e. for management and operational teams:

Improving team performance

on all organizational levels

Communication within the group

Detect intra group dynamics and potential interferences resulting thereof

Relationship between team lead and group members

and vice versa

Intra – group relationship

Clarification of roles, responsibilities and tasks. Explore different perspectives, work out a common base for co-operation

Sparring partner

… for situations where an easy solution is hard to find. Challenging, requesting, fostering of new perspectives

Conflict mediation

3. Organization

If we look at an organization as an interaction of several groups with different tasks but a common goal (namely the one of the “organization”), it is easy to see that another level is added to the ones of “individual” and “team”. This increases the request for a good leadership, i.e. through a professional coordination of the several teams; in addition, further tasks arise in which expertise is required in connection with maintaining and developing a “healthy” organization. Listed here are examples applicable to all shapes and sizes of organizations, such as business enterprises, non-profit organizations, social institutions, health care, and the like:

Corporate Culture

You can measure the quality of your corporate culture by the feeling you and your employees get on Sunday evening when thinking about the job and what to expect on Monday morning after entering the office door.
The impact of the way of working together, the identification with and the cohesion in the organization on the success of organizations is often still underestimated. We support you in developing a culture map and climate surveys and work on the thereof resulting need for action

Integration of new acquisitions

Here, too, in addition to the business implementation part, we can offer professional support in dealing with uncertainties and anxieties, as well as with internal and external communication.

Reorganization

Here, too, in addition to the business implementation part, we can offer professional support in dealing with uncertainties and anxieties, as well as with internal and external communication.

* Note: This coaching is not psychotherapy. The coach is qualified and trained to recognize the need for it. If necessary, a recommendation for alternative support will be made.