What should I do before the first session?
- Your coach’s first job is to help you identify areas you’d like to grow in. You can help them by doing some reflecting before your first meeting. What constructive feedback have I gotten in the past? Do I currently have relationships I’m struggling with? Do I have a career goal in mind but am not quite sure how to get there? Anything you share with your coach right away will help them get to know you faster.
- Reflect on how you’d like to use your coaching space. Do you want to be challenged a lot? Or are you mainly looking for support? A little bit of both? Your coach will appreciate knowing about your expectations.
- Make sure you are ready to set aside two hours per month for your coaching sessions and be proactive in scheduling your sessions.
- You will likely be asking colleagues for feedback from time to time. Start thinking about whom could be qualified to give useful, constructive feedback about you.
- Ask questions! Don’t hesitate to ask your coach anything you’d like to learn about coaching, their own background, about Torch, our software, or whatever you’re curious about.
What happens in the first session?
- You can set expectations with your coach: what do you want to get out of it? It’s okay if you don’t have any, your coach can guide you.
- You will get an introduction to the 360 review process and how you will work together to set learning goals.
How can I get the most out of coaching?
Coach Fit: Work with a coach you feel comfortable with. Our proprietary matching algorithm works very well most of the time, but if you don’t feel a connection with your coach, request a different one. Fit is usually not only based on a coach having a similar background to yours, but on deeper elements.
Growth Mindset: Be open to adopting a growth mindset, the belief that we achieve mastery by persevering through challenges and setbacks, vs. innate talent. “Negative” (or constructive) feedback is an invaluable asset in this process. Your coach is here to help you, but can only do so if you are open minded.
Use Feedback wisely: Find the nugget of goodness in constructive feedback. Anonymous feedback about what you could have done better and where you still need to grow is hard to take in. A natural response is to try to find out who said it and invalidate the feedback in some way. Yet responding defensively robs you of an opportunity to grow, and makes it less likely that you will receive such valuable feedback in the future. Your coach can help you see opportunity in challenging feedback.
Do the legwork: Set specific goals and pursue them methodically, using our software. Your coach will help you think of specific actions you can take to develop new skills and ways of relating. Using our software platform and being explicit about goals and actions might add a little effort, but the rewards can be vastly greater.
Who will know about my coaching?
The content of your coaching sessions is strictly confidential. Your 360 may be shared with your manager or other stakeholders in your organization (see coaching guidelines, and double-check with your manager).
When you and your coach use learning goals on the Torch platform, the existence of these goals will be potentially known to your manager and / or head of people operations, but their details are private. Feel free to check with them!
We’re excited to support you on your leadership journey!