An Executive Coach is a highly-qualified professional who works with leaders, executives and other high-potential employees to enable them to gain self-awareness, achieve professional objectives, get clarity of direction, remove barriers, and unlock potential.

A coach enables their client to achieve levels of performance which may not have been possible without extra support and guidance. This is achieved by:

• Helping the coachee identify and focus on what's important, accelerating success
• Creating an environment where they are able to understand themselves and their behaviours more clearly
• Helping the coachee identify the gap between where they are at present and where they want to be, and support them in developing a clear plan to get there
Besides the benefits of coaching on individuals and their teams, it has also been proven to have an impact on organisations' financial performance. Over 60% of organisations with team cultures report above average revenues according to a survey carried out by the ICF (International Coach Federation).

• Growth and development both on a personal and professional level
• Build up professional resilience: the strength to overcome and master any set-back or difficulty
• A genuine sense of improvement and wellbeing

Coaching programmes usually last 6 months, 9 months or 12 months. However, it is not unusual that a coaching arrangement is renewed after the initial agreement. In some cases, leaders and senior executives may decide to continue coaching on an open-ended basis, working with a particular coach over a period of years.

Sessions will typically last 2 hours, but this can vary from a minimum of 1.5 hours to half a day depending on the client.

Sessions usually take place every 3 to 4 weeks, but the frequency of the session will be agreed upon between Natalia and the client. It may also vary according to the programme objectives, the location of the client and their circumstances.

Telephone and Skype coaching can work well, particularly when the client is travelling or based abroad, but face-to-face coaching tends to be more effective. It is possible, however, that during a coaching programme one or two sessions might be conducted over the phone, though this is ideally only once a good rapport has been established.

For Natalia, coaching means change. The outcome of coaching does depend on the client's commitment to change, however. If he or she is ready to make the necessary changes and is committed to investing the time and energy required to achieve their goals, then they will undoubtedly achieve long-lasting results.

While there are no specific metrics or tools to measure the effectiveness of coaching, Natalia designs her programmes with her clients so that the results can be measured. For coaching results to be measured, goals need to be clear and regularly reviewed during the programme. Natalia always encourages clients to think about the desired outcome of the programme, and the impact that these outcomes will have on business results, the client’s interpersonal skills and, eventually, the rest of the team. For instance, if the client’s desired outcome is related to specific business results and performance, the client and coach will need to revise key performance indicators at the beginning and at the end of the programme to evaluate the change. On the other hand, if the client's goals are related to behaviour, cultural change in the workplace, leadership skills development or other related areas, then other measurement techniques such as self-assessments, one-to-one interviews with key stakeholders and leadership questionnaires will be applied to evaluate the programme's performance.

Everything we discuss in the sessions is completely confidential and stays between the coach and the client, unless otherwise agreed. The coach will not report back any information to the client’s line-manager, HR manager or anyone else in their organisation without the client’s knowledge and permission. The only reason that confidentiality might be broken is in the very unlikely scenario that the client might cause harm to themselves or others.