A Coaching Model Created by Rachel McMahon
(Business Coach, AUSTRALIA)
Introduction
My story
As a marketing leader in the corporate sector for nearly 20 years, I have extensive experience in helping organizations grow.
Whilst I loved many elements of my role, I decided it was time to pivot my career. I noticed that many small/medium organizations have a desire and need to grow. Whilst the Founder or CEO of an organization may be highly proficient in their area of expertise, they don’t always have the business acumen or marketing skills and experience to achieve the growth they are looking for. I would like to help these organizations address this issue by working as a business coach, offering blended coaching.
A business coach engages in meaningful communication with individuals in businesses, organizations, institutions, or governments, intending to promote success at all levels of the organization by affecting the actions of those individuals. (Worldwide Association of Business Coaches)
Market Opportunity
My research suggests that there is a growing market opportunity for business coaches.
The market size, measured by revenue, of the Business Coaching industry is $13.4bn in 2020.…The the market size of the Business Coaching Industry in the US increased faster than the economy overall. (Business Coaching in the US Market Size 2005-2026, 2018)
This is especially so for coaches that have a track record and experience in the business.
Without question, the demand for business coaching is extensive and growing very quickly. The opportunities for high-caliber business coaches of all stripes are probably better than ever. (Prince, 2018)
Why me
There are a large number of business coaches operating in Australia and it is a growing profession, however, my research suggests that the majority of female business coaches seem to offer feeling and motivational based business coaching, rather than results-focused coaching.
The problem with many of today’s business coaches and coaching programs is that they are focused on mindsets, motivation, and emotions, and not on implementing proven best-practice systems, strategies, and action steps that will grow a business. (Clark, 2018)
I would like to touse my business qualifications, experience, and coaching training to offer outcome-focused programs. I will work collaboratively to help organizations develop both business and marketing strategies. I then plan to use coaching to help implement these strategies.
I will work with my clients to develop quantifiable targets and action plans to ensure they have a results focus. I have chosen to use an “arrow” in my logo to represent this focus, and plan to play on the idea of “goals” and “targets” in marketing my coaching practice.
Who I will help
I intend to target business owners and CEOs of existing small to midsized business to business organizations (10-200 employees) globally. Ideally, these organizations will have been established for over two years.
The majority of these CEOs are likely to be aged above 35 years old. They will be tertiary educated, however, their qualifications will be in their area of specialty rather than business qualifications.
I will help my clients by:
- Clarifying their vision
- Creating effective and appropriate actions to achieve them
- Overcoming challenges
- Offering guidance
- Providing support and accountability
- Driving the change that is needed to improve business results.
My Coaching Process
The Coaching Process
My coaching process will commence with a deep discovery session through a virtual discussion and online form to understand the client’s goals and expectations of me as a coach.
Based on the client’s business and desired outcomes, I will work with them to agree on an approach. In most cases, I expect this will involve completing a “business health assessment” to provide a holistic view of the business, establish goals, and develop a strategy to achieve this.
I have created several resources for the clients to work on in parallel to the coaching. Some of these resources include:
- The “Business Health Assessment”, a tool that I have developed based on the “Wheel of Life” concept but applied it to a business rather than an individual. The eight areas of the wheel include (i) employees and people (ii) customers (iii) Products & Services (iv) Marketing (v) Sales (vi) Revenue, Cashflow & Profits (vii) Technology (viii) Processes & Operations.
- Worksheets to help develop a vision, mission, value proposition, business plan, buyer personas, goals, marketing funnels, SWOT analysis, etc.
- Templates for developing business and marketing plans as well as management systems
Once specific, actionable goals have been established, I will use coaching to help my clients implement their plans and work towards the desired outcomes.
My Coaching Model
The TARGET Coaching Model
I have based my coaching model on a linear approach, similar to the “GROW” and “STEPPA” models.
Keeping consistent with the arrow theme in my brand, I have named my coaching model the “TARGET” model. TARGET is an acronym, using the first letter of each step.
Despite being a linear model, I recognize that the coaching process is not always linear. I do however believe that certain steps need to be taken for a client to achieve coaching goals. These steps have been listed in the model. Like the models shared in the ICA “Coaching Models” subject(ICA), the “TARGET” model:
- Establishes trust, open communication, and confidentiality.
- Formulates client-based, agreed to goals and expectations.
- Uses questioning and learning dynamics around the client’s goals.
Steps in the TARGET Coaching Model
The steps involved in the TARGET process include:
Topic & Target
This step involves understanding what the client wants to focus on for the session and setting a goal for the outcome of the session.
Awareness
During the “Awareness” step, I will seek to help the client understand the importance of resolving the issue.
Reality
During the “Reality” step I will help the client understand their current reality. Here the client will identify where they currently are and what they need to address to achieve their goal.
Generate Options
In this stage, the client will start to explore the various options available. I will help the client generate ideas and discuss how each option will address the issue, to help the client decide on how they address the issue, and achieve their desired goal.
Execution Plan
Once an option has been decided, I will help motivate the client to gain clarity around what needs to be done to help address their session goal. It is at this stage that the client will discuss and commit to specific action steps.
Thoughts
Summary where the client recaps what they have worked on during the session, including what the client has chosen to do and how they feel about doing it.
Conclusion
Throughout my ICA journey, I have been developing my “pure coaching skills” in parallel with working on my business.
Once I have graduated from ICA, I will apply for ICF certification and then work towards attracting paying clients from my target audience.
I am excited about this next step and am looking forward to helping organizations achieve the growth they aspire to.
References
Business Coaching in the US Market Size 2005-2026, 2018, accessed 18 June 2020
Clark, 2018, “Why (Most) Business Coaching Is A Waste Of Time”, Forbes Magazine, accessed 18 June 2020
ICA, Course Reading Material from Coach Foundation Module “Coaching Models”
Prince, A, 2018, “Why Business Coaching is Booming”, Forbes Magazine, accessed 18 June 2020
Worldwide Association of Business Coaches 2018, accessed 18 June 2020