Coaching for Professionals

If you work in engineering, academia, medicine, IT, or most other professions, chances are that you don’t know much about coaching.

But you should.

Coaching isn’t about fixing deficiencies. Coaching is about getting what you want out of your life and career.

A coach gives you an edge. In a competitive, demanding, rapidly changing world, that edge matters.

Fortune Magazine asked Eric Schmidt, the Chairman and former CEO of Google,

“What was the best piece of advice you ever got?”

His answer might surprise you.

“Everybody needs a coach!”

Coaching for Professionals

What kind of people do I coach? Chances are, I coach people like you!

Successful, well-known astrophysicist to professional coach isn’t an obvious direction for a career to take. But those who have known me as mentor, teacher, advisor, colleague or friend would tell you that if anyone would take that step it would be me!

They might go on to say that I am nothing if not passionate, and that I am constitutionally incapable of doing something that I don’t believe in. I coach because I care about people, and because I have seen the coaching process work for clients again and again. 

From athletes, to artists, to business executives, most of the people who come to mind when you think, “top performer,” have personal professional coaches. There is a reason for that.

Quoting Fortune Magazine, “Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them. Clients say coaching brings out their best by helping them focus, break down tasks and clarify their values.”

I don’t coach job titles; I coach people. My clients have included well-established scientists and policy makers. But they have also included small business owners, mid-career engineers, tenure-track faculty, and recent graduates making the transition into a new career. I’ve even coached young people thinking about college.

So, what kind of people do I coach? Chances are, I coach people like you!

When it comes right down to it, after a successful and high-profile career, these days I coach because I enjoy it. Coaching is fun and it’s rewarding. The people who I work with find it fun and rewarding as well. 

We run hard to stay in the same place.

I began my career as a professor armed with a wealth of specialized knowledge. The future was full of opportunity. I was making a name for myself in a demanding and competitive field. 

Give me a few minutes to talk about life as a professional, and the ways that coaching can help you get what you want out of your life and your career.

Now I found myself an administrator, personnel manager, teacher, accountant, mentor, group leader, computer systems administrator, university spokesperson and more. I was devoted to my wife and three children. I lived on airplanes. Life was often a political mine field, both within the university and beyond. 

Little in my training had prepared me for this reality. I loved what I did, and opportunity only grew. But was I making the most of that opportunity? In the rush, I didn’t always feel in control of my own life. Considered decision making often took a back seat to getting through the day, or the week, or the year.

While the details differ, almost every professional that I have spoken with has some version of that same story to tell. And they all seem to agree on one thing. Life is too often reactive and too seldom proactive.

Life is full of decisions made at high speed. It can be a challenge to get from where you are to where you want to be. As your coach I can help you take stock, weight options, and get more out of the journey.

If any of this sounds familiar then a coach could make a big difference in your life.

In the business world, coaching has become the go-to strategy for executives who want to take it to the next level, while at the same time finding more balance in their lives. You may or may not have a corner office, but the expectations facing today’s professional are every bit as demanding as those facing a CEO. Even environments like universities, once considered low-key, are becoming more and more corporate. Stress and burnout are at epidemic levels, and quite often it is the best and brightest who face the greatest challenges.

Coaching is an hour a week, taking stock and planning, together with someone who is focused on your success.

A coach isn’t there to give you answers. A coach is there to ask questions, offer fresh perspectives, and help you set goals. A coach helps you identify resources and see opportunity and options more clearly. A coach is a sounding board, a thinking partner and sometimes an early warning system. A coach can help you turn aspirations and insights into real plans, then turn those plans into effective, sustainable action.

You don’t have to do it all alone. As your coach I am there in your corner. My only agenda is your success.

A very wise man once told me, “If you aren’t having fun you aren’t doing it right!” I can help you keep what began as your passion from becoming a chore!

Try it for yourself

But I’m not asking you to take anybody’s word for it. Good professionals are a skeptical lot. That’s a good thing. The only real way to know is to try it out.

So to let you see for yourself, I’m pleased to offer a coaching conversation free of charge or obligation. We’ll set up a call and talk for an hour. At the end of the conversation you’ll have a better idea of what coaching is, how you might benefit, and whether I am the right coach for you.

There’s nothing to lose, but there could be a lot to gain. I look forward to hearing from you!