Like most physicians, you probably have huge demands on your time. Beginning a coaching program is an investment in yourself, but it’s important to give yourself the time needed for real and lasting growth.
My coaching program is designed to get into the tough work fast, so you’ll need to do some reflection before the first session. Here’s what you can expect — and what’s expected of you — as you begin coaching.
The Pre-Coaching Discovery Session
Before you begin my physician coaching program, we’ll have a complimentary discovery session. Typically running about 30 to 45 minutes, we’ll cover what you know about coaching, whether you’ve been coached before, the outline of the program and ground rules.
When you work with me, you can expect complete confidentiality. Everything we discuss goes in the vault, never to be revealed to anyone (that includes your supervisor, even if they’re funding your coaching).
I’ll also set expectations for accountability in the discovery session. Coaching is very different from the kind of support you would get from peers, mentors or family. Part of my job as your coach is to check that you’re doing the work and making progress.
Preparing for Your First Session
Between the discovery chat and your first coaching session, you’ll have some homework to do.
I’ll send you some exercises to be done ahead of the first coaching session, including a personal inventory, the Wheel of Life and the Core vs. Aspirational Values exercise. On average, it takes about 30 to 60 minutes to complete this pre-session work, but you shouldn’t rush it.
These exercises are the foundation for the work you’ll do throughout the coaching program, so it’s important to give yourself an uninterrupted chunk of time to complete them. It’s not the kind of work that can be done in dribs and drabs.
The Work You’ll Do in Session 1
Your first coaching session, which can run up to 90 minutes, is all about clarifying key themes and deciding what you want to explore in depth throughout the program. Authenticity is key. I need to know who you truly are — but, more importantly, you need to know this. Being open to all possibilities is also really important.
We’ll delve into your pre-session homework to define your value systems, beliefs and what fulfillment looks like for you. This will help us identify any disconnect between your values and work situation, which can lead to frustration and dissatisfaction. We’ll also talk about challenges contributing to a lack of fulfillment in your work.
You’ll be doing a lot of the talking in the session. My job is to listen and ask the right questions to help you tease out what’s going on. It’s like taking a history from a patient who’s providing details from all aspects of their life — their job, their life, relationships, people they met on the bus… I’ll get to the root of things with a simple question: “When did you last feel well?” This will usually identify a change that can help us discover what’s causing their symptoms.
Similarly, you may be so immersed in your work situation that you can’t see what has triggered your “symptoms.” So, if you’re experiencing burnout, I’ll ask questions to define what’s driving it: What has changed at work? What are the challenges you’re dealing with? What’s going on around you? Your responses will reveal clues that help us pinpoint what changed. It might be a new manager who you don’t gel with, or a new workplace policy that’s increasing your workload.
Understanding what’s going on — what caused it — is the first step to finding solutions. My outside perspective helps you look at situations with fresh eyes, but you ultimately direct the conversation and decide what we’ll focus on throughout the program.
You may leave your first coaching session with more questions than answers. But you’ll have opportunities to explore them in the program, and I’ll encourage you to do plenty of reflection between sessions. The work in any coaching program is driven by you, the client. You have the answers, I just help you unlock them.