Frequently Asked Questions
Your most asked questions
What are the benefits of having a coach?
A coach brings many benefits to the client relationship - achieve clarity on your vision and goals; motivation and drive towards achieving those goals; a support partner to hold you accountable for your own growth and development; make SMARTER strategic business decisions. A coach is there to be your trusted business support, your sounding board, the person you can ask the tough questions and who will push you beyond your comfort zone, encouraging you to be bold in your own decision without being reckless.
What is the difference between a business coach and an executive coach?
While the ultimate goal of both a business coach and an executive coach is to improve business performance, there are some differences. In the case of the executive coach, it is more likely to be a corporate decision and the coaches role is to improve the personal performance of that executive in areas such as communication, leadership, motivation and performance management skills. In the case of a business coach there is a focus on all of the above but in addition they will also focus on a business function by function e.g. marketing, sales, finance, technology, risk and governance. Generally, a business coaching relationship tends to last longer than an executive coaching engagement, however this does depend on the level of the executive within the corporation.
How is coaching different to consulting?
Coaching and consulting are fundamentally different in that a consultant is hired by a business to be an expert and to give the business owner specific advice and solutions to specific problems in the business. They are usually hired because they have a background or expertise in a particular area. A business coach adds value in a different way. Often a coach will have a depth of experience that aligns with the client, however, the client is the expert in their own business and life and the business coach acts as a catalyst for improvement and change in the overall business and the people within that business.
Is this the same as life coaching?
Business Coaching and Life Coaching are fundamentally different. A life coach tends to focus on the individual first with the objective of having an overall positive impact on the business. A life coach can work with individual clients on an unlimited number of personal goals and challenges. A business coach, on the other hand, comes at the challenge with the goal of improving the overall business first and, as a consequence, improving the lifestyle of the individuals involved through improved profitability, business efficiencies, business promotion, better time management, improved team and leadership development.
How much does it cost to hire a business coach?
This really depends on where and how far you want to go and how quickly you want to get there. A number of factors need to be considered - how many people will take part in the coaching programme, what needs to be achieved, by when and what do the results look like. We discuss the individual needs of the business and decide on the investment, both financial and time, to be made together. If you would like to have an initial discussion on the needs you have in your business and to get an insight into any potential investment, please give us a call and we would be happy to discuss.
What does a business coach actually do?
A business coach is a trained individual who is there to support and lead you, and maybe your colleagues, on a process of improvement, moving from where you currently are in your career or business to where you would like to be. We do this by creating the time and space for reflection, analysis and planning for the future. This could be for one small topic or for a complete business journey. The coach then holds you accountable to grow, develop and ensure the achievement of the specific goals through an agreed system of support, problem solving and accountability. The highlight of the job is seeing the development, growth and success of our clients and being there to celebrate the wins as we progress.
How long am I committed to using your services?
A coaching relationship lasts as long as it is needed by the business. The first thing that needs to be right is the chemistry between the coach and the client. There needs to be mutual trust and respect and the ability to work together. For some clients, this relationship will be as short as 12 months - this is the minimum amount of time required to see results in most cases. We have some clients who have been with us for 10 years now and over this time we have worked with them on the evolution of their business. However, if there are unforeseen situations or the relationship is not working for either party, then we agree on this and one month’s notice is given on both sides to terminate the agreement.
Should I include my Team?
We encourage involving colleagues where possible. It is important that the coaching process isn’t occurring in a vacuum. Awareness from the team that you are working with a coach is usually a really positive step and creates some curiosity. As a business owner, we usually suggest working with your coach for a short period of time so that the coach gains an understanding of the business. Once you have started the planning process and made some commitments to the progress you would like to see in the business, it will be time to share this with your team through an alignment process or workshop. Ideally each of the team commit to supporting the business owner in the areas where they have the necessary skills and strengths and to help the business make progress towards stated goals much quicker.
Why should I use Prospero?
There are lots of good reasons to work with us at Prospero. Firstly, we are absolutely focused on your success and prosperity. This is at the very heart of our company purpose and values. Your success is our success and we truly know that we are only as good as our last coaching session.
Secondly, as a team we have 50+ years of business and coaching experience. This experience has come from Financial Services, Recruitment, Executive Search, Management Consulting and Professional Business Coaching. This experience has come from working in Global Multinationals, large Irish & UK firms, SME’s, M&A activity, Board membership and setting up and running our own businesses. Our track record, reputation and longevity of the relationships with our clients speaks for itself. Check out some of our Success Stories.
How does coaching work during Covid- 19?
A long time before lockdown and travel restrictions, we were running one to one coaching programmes virtually through Skype, Zoom and Facetime. Our clients are based primarily in Ireland but also in the UK and Europe too from Sligo and Donegal to Clare and Tipperary, from Dublin and Wicklow to Glasgow and Bristol, from Cork and Kerry to Rotterdam and Brussels. We totally believe in the statement ‘Geography is History’ and that all coaching is even more effective through remote communication. It is certainly more efficient for both parties in terms of time.
How do I know that this will work?
We are confident that Business and Executive Coaching will work for every business owner and/or executive as long as they commit to the process. We have the skills, processes and experience to ensure that engaging with us will benefit you. We ask that you commit to being open minded, commit to embracing change where relevant, do the work in between our coaching sessions and reflect on and celebrate the wins in achieving your business and life goals to maximise the value and return on investment that you should expect from the coaching process.
How do you measure success?
Success in measured in many ways and is a matter for each individual and business. We like using information that we can analyse and show to you in a quantitative way - for example, we have grown sales/profitability by x %, reduced costs and expenses by y% or employee satisfaction has increased by z %. Success can also be measured in non-quantitative ways such as improvement in staff morale, retention and loyalty of staff and a more favourable work/life balance.
Success to us is having a client that is happy to engage us on a continuous basis and is also comfortable recommending us and our services to other business owners and executives.
How much time do I need to put into this, weekly or monthly? How long does a coaching session last?
Each one-to-one coaching session lasts approximately one hour, there is an expectation that you will invest an additional 2-3 hours per week working on the tactical aspects of what we agree in order to see progress.
In addition, we recommend regular review sessions which happen quarterly. In these sessions, we pause, take stock and reflect together on what has been achieved in the previous 13 weeks, what were the wins and what were the challenges? We then revise, modify and reset the plan for the next quarter. It is this process that breaks the year down into manageable chunks. 13 weeks is long enough to achieve big wins and to make progress towards your goals and, at the same time, is short enough to make necessary changes if something is not working the way we had intended.
