01. What is coaching?

Coaching is a professional service that, through fundamental questioning and observation—on the part of the coach and the client—provides the client with feedback, insights and guidance from hitherto unexplored perspectives. It is an ongoing collaborative partnership built on taking action and providing distinctions to establish in the client:

• Long-term excellent performance
• The ability to self-correct, and
• The ability to self-generate/improve

02. Why do I need a coach?

Coaching enables you to improve and integrate all areas of your life: spiritual, emotional, psychological and physical health, family, financial, work and relationships. Specific moments when people consider hiring a coach include:

• Making a career transition
• Seeking to remain or become competitive
• Starting a new business
• Re-engineering an existing business
• Aiming to become fitter & healthier
• Embarking on a new project
• Feeling dissatisfied
• Re-evaluating life choices
• Starting or reinvigorating a relationship, or
• Simply looking for personal and professional breakthroughs.

03. How much does it cost?

To discuss fees and fee structure, please contact Lennox Cornwall

04. What experience do you have?

With respect to life experience, I spent ten years as a corporate banker and management consultant in England, where I also managed pubs for three years. I am the author of On the Eighth Day God Created Time and Prison Food Ain’t So Bad, both of which are concerned with issues about our world and how we “are” in it. Finally, I am the creator of “Truth Consciousness,”—a practical philosophy that empowers individuals to make effective decisions yielding positive change and the means to live a purpose-driven life. In fact, I am so passionate about the efficacy of Truth Consciousness that I have made it the subject of my next book.

05. Who else have you coached?

My coaching services are strictly confidential, so ordinarily I would be unable to name other clients. However, several clients have agreed to provide testimonials, which are posted on this website.

06. How long does it take?

There is no set time. It depends on the degree of fundamental change the client is aiming for and how willing and able the client is to make the changes sought. Typically, however, it is a shorter time frame than one would experience in therapy.

07. Is coaching just another name for motivational pep talk?

No, it is quite the contrary. A good coach works in partnership with the client to elicit changes for which the client takes full responsibility. Coach and client are accountable to each other for the client’s adoption of this responsibility. I like to equate it with teaching a person to fish rather than giving that person a fish. In the former case the teacher’s aim—like that of the coach—is to make him or herself obsolete, whereas in the latter, without the benefactor, the person will surely starve.

08. How does coaching differ?

It is usual for consultants and mentors to be experts in their client’s field and as such point out what is wrong. On the other hand, counselors and advisors tend to “heal” the past.

Coaching does not require the coach to have personal hands-on experience of the client's job, profession or occupation. The very absence of this experience can add to the effectiveness of the coach who can hold a more objective view of the situation. This is especially important given that the role of the coach is not to give advice, prescribe how to live life or determine how to reach a certain goal.

Coaching differs from counseling and advising by creating a future the client chooses. It presupposes that the client is in control of his or her own destiny without being shackled by the past. Although as a coach I will have a good understanding of how your past has created your present being, the focus of every coaching session will be on where you are now and where you want to be in the future.

09. What is the coaching process?

The most fundamental step is to create mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual freedom of expression. Without these there is no basis for coaching.

During regular (usually) weekly office or phone sessions, I, as coach, will provide a structure for accountability and support and facilitate your personal assessment of where you are now and how you want to change. This may include several self-observation exercises. I will also assist you in discovering what is blocking you from achieving your goals and dreams. Together we will create your personal blueprint for change and keeping you on track and personally responsible for achieving your goals. Working with me on a weekly basis, or as required, ultimately increases your momentum to achieve and be the person you long to be.

10. Can you coach my partner and me together?

Yes, providing we are able to establish the fundamental base of mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual freedom of expression.

11. What are the benefits of coaching?

Coaching is a refreshing approach to problem-solving and decision-making. It presupposes that we all create our own reality based on what we believe about ourselves, our world and how the two interact. Beliefs can be changed or modified to create the experiences that we desire. As a coach, I work in partnership with my clients. My skill is eliciting answers that enable my clients to make the choices that are right for them, their relationships, and business activities and so on. I provide a road map, so to speak, and assist my clients in overcoming the roadblocks along the way from where they are now to where they want to be.

In this powerful alliance my clients find themselves:

• Achieving more than they would otherwise
• Paying better attention to what they really want
• Creating momentum and consistency
• Taking more effective and focused actions
• Becoming more balanced and fulfilled
• Staying focused and effective in rapidly changing environments
• Remaining calm and in control of stress in the midst of the work, home or sporting arena
• Identifying core values and unearthing hidden beliefs as well as determining whether they are helping or hindering them
• Building self-esteem
• Creating, self-correcting and managing long-term business, personal and loving relationships
• Discovering their true passion and living their dream
• Increasing productivity by reducing activity
• Leveraging scarce resources to maximize effectiveness

12. Is there a personality type best suited to coaching?

No, not really. However, it is important that you remain open to change, new ways of thinking, and being challenged and occasionally feeling uncomfortable; remaining in your comfort zone is the very antithesis of you creating a new life for yourself.

13. Can I quit whenever I want to?

Yes, but if you go into it with the idea of quitting as an option, then perhaps you are not quite ready for it.

14. I am currently in therapy. Is coaching OK for me?

It depends on what you are being treated for. A dialogue with your therapist may be necessary.

15. What about confidentiality?

Whether initiated and paid for by you or sponsored by a third-party (e.g. an employer or loved one) the coaching program is confidential. In the case of a sponsored coaching, the coach, the client and the sponsor agree to the scope of confidentiality before coaching can begin.

16. Do you have a written agreement?

Yes, it outlines the responsibilities, commitments and accountabilities of the client and the coach in the client-coach relationship.

17. What are the respective responsibilities of client and coach?

I. Joint responsibilities

1. Joint responsibilities
2. Sign an agreement
3. Mutual trust, respect & freedom of expression
4. Integrity, honesty and sincerity

Client responsibilities

1. Remain open-minded
2. Create space in schedule
3. Complete assignments to best of ability
4. Remain accountable for progress

Coach responsibilities

1. Remain fully present during sessions
2. Design courses of action and chart progress
3. Remain accessible at all reasonable times
4. Hold client accountable for progress

18. What guarantees are there?

There are no guarantees in the traditional sense. I promise trust, respect and freedom of speech, and commit to abiding by the responsibilities outlined in the answer to question 17.

19. How do I know if you’re the right coach for me?

During the initial free consultation you will decide whether I am the right coach for you, and I will decide whether you are the right client for me.

20. Will you agree to deliver tangible results?

Yes, to the best of my ability. One of the difficulties in agreeing on specific results is that during the coaching process I may help you to reframe questions, goals and challenges that you had identified as most pressing when hiring me, but as a result of the reframing are no longer so. Nevertheless, we will cover your specific needs in some detail during the initial assessment.

21. Are there any downsides to coaching?

You may prove to be resistant to change. I will, of course, be empathic and supportive, but the coach-client relationship would be compromised if I did not confront you about your continuing with habits that are clearly holding you back.

Also, you will need to invest time, effort and money to fully obtain the benefits of coaching. In fact, if you demonstrate that you are not committed to the coaching process, I do reserve the right to terminate the coaching.

22. Is coaching regulated?

The International Coach Federation (ICF) is the independent global professional organization that provides for coaches a forum for professionalism, standards and ethics. The ICF now has over 8,300 members in 34 countries.