Leadership Coaching

Mike Elliott, Director of Leadership Coaching

Leadership coaching with ADVISA

ADVISA’s Leadership Coaching practice is an invaluable resource to leaders of all experience levels throughout Greater Indianapolis and abroad. ADVISA offers coaching for culture leaders (executives), people leaders (managers of teams), and even emerging leaders (high-potential individual contributors). You can learn more on the Coaching section of advisa.com.

Think of your Coach as a front-seat passenger in your car. You’re driving the car; your coach helps you read the map/plan and navigate the trip ahead. They help you spot the roadblocks you might have missed and think through the best way to navigate to your desired destination; You decide where you go. 

What coaching is (and isn’t)

Coaching IS…

A thought -provoking partnership.

Your coach’s job is to ask the questions that make you think differently, challenge your “default” settings, and hold you accountable to the leader you want to become. 

Coaching is NOT…

• Therapy: We focus on the future, not the past. 
• Consulting: We don’t hand you a manual; we build your solution. We are not going to tell you what do. 
• Mentoring: Your coach is not here to tell you they did it, but to help you find how you will. 

Drawing out and pouring in

Your coach will spend most of the time “drawing out” your perceptions, experience, knowledge, and creativity. At times, they will “pour in” as a reminder of a leadership framework or mindset you have learned in your ADVISA training or introduce a new one to guide you. 

What to expect in your session 

1. Setting the Target (5 –10 mins): Connect and define the agenda for the sessions. We define exactly what success looks like for the session. We don’t just “chat”; we aim. 
2. The Conversation (40 mins): We look at the challenge/opportunity from new angles to find the most effective tool for the job.(new insight, new awareness, broader than just a tool) 
3. Shifting to Action (10 mins): Insight is useless without execution. We end by turning our talk into concrete next steps with 1 –3 high-leverage actions you’ll take before we meet again.

Tips for a great coaching session

Pregame
To get the most out of your session, we recommend a 5 -minute “pre – game” routine to shift gears from doing to thinking: 

Be Curious
Come ready to be a student of yourself. Trade your “expert” hat for a curious one —growth lives in the space where we stop defending our current habits and start wondering about new ones. 

Pick Your Focus
Come with a specific topic or challenge. (Just jot down your gut reactions): 

1. The Roadblock: Where are you currently “spinning your wheels,” and what is it costing you? 

2. The Unlock: If we could get total traction on just one thing today, what would it be? 

3. The Real-World Shift: How will your work or your team look different tomorrow because of this conversation? 

In case you were wondering… 

Confidential 
Everything we discuss is strictly confidential; anything shared in your session will stay in the session. If your Manager, Program Owner, or Sponsor asks for information about your development, we will only share if you are present and your level of participation. We encourage open conversation with key stakeholders about your development, but it is up to you what you share about your coaching sessions. The only time we will break confidentiality is if you share that you are going to physically harm yourself or someone else. 

Ethics 
We follow the International Coaching Federation (ICF) Code of Ethics . If you ever feel your coach is acting unethically or creating a space that makes you feel uncomfortable, please email ADVISA’s V.P. of Delivery, Kate Shuck. 

“Not Your Manager” 
We are not your manager. While we care about your day-to-day objectives, we do not hear status updates about your projects or KPI’s. As a coach, we are here to be a neutral, candid partner in your growth.

Questions?

Please don’t hesitate to email any questions to Leadership Coaching Project Specialist, Mark Carter.