Integral Coaches hold being practical (aid for the short-term) and integral (developing over time). This response meets a person exactly as they are at a particular moment in time. It is about what to do now and sees this instance as a particular manifestation of something larger. It is a way of coaching that feels doable for the client and provides long-term impact so that the client experiences richer, longer-lasting growth.

While outcomes are specific to each client, Integral Coaching® programs always aim towards three broad ends:

1. Long-term excellence This has two dimensions: competence and fulfillment. Competence is a capacity that endures. It is distinct from a goal, which is something you achieve, like getting a promotion or losing ten pounds. Competence helps us achieve particular goals but it stays with us afterwards. For example, speaking in a way that moves people to action can contribute to a promotion. It can also open up new possibilities for our friendships, family life, and health. We are fulfilled when we are held deeply by life, when what once burdened us has lifted. For the individual, the value of fulfillment is self-evident. For organizations, fulfillment is valuable because it promotes long-term commitment and superior outcomes among those working within the organization.

2. Self-correction When we are self-correcting, we have the capacity to observe discrepancies between what we intend and the actual outcomes, between our espoused values and our actual actions, and then bridge the gap. When clients become self-correcting, they are no longer dependent upon a coach.

3. Self-generation When self-generating, we have the ability to continuously renew ourselves by drawing upon resources from without and within. When clients are self-generating, the development of competence becomes not a final end state but a continuous process.

Although teaching, coaching, mentoring and counselling all share some key characteristics and skills, they are nonetheless quite different and it’s important to be aware of the differences.  Teaching and training involve an expert teacher who imparts knowledge to their students.

Although the best teachers will use participative and interactive techniques, like coaching, there is very definitely an imbalance of knowledge, with the teacher as expert knowing the ‘right answer’. Coaching involves the belief that the individual has the answers to their own problems within them. The coach is not a subject expert, but rather is focused on helping the individual to unlock their own potential. The focus is very much on the individual and what is inside their head.

A coach is not necessarily a designated individual : anyone can take a coaching approach with others, whether peers, subordinates or superiors. ‘Coaching’ is one of the essential leadership styles identified by Daniel Goleman . The key skill of coaching is asking the right questions to help the individual work through their own issue.

 Mentoring is similar to coaching. There is general agreement that a mentor is a guide who helps someone to learn or develop faster than they might do alone. In the workplace mentors are often formally designated as such by mutual agreement, and outside of an individual’s line management chain.

They usually have considerable experience and expertise in the individual’s line of business. A mentoring relationship usually focuses on the future, career development, and broadening an individual’s horizons, unlike coaching which tends to focus more on the here and now and solving immediate problems or issues.

 Counselling is closer to a therapeutic intervention. It focuses on the past, helping the individual to overcome barriers and issues from their past and move on. Here, the focus may be either internal or external.

Our coaching training is accredited by the International Coaches Federation (ICF) and is regarded as being the highest standard in the coaching profession.

The ICF is an internationally recognized membership-based organization of coaches based on the advancement of the coaching profession. ICF Credential-holders are part of a self-regulating group of elite coaches who provide accountability to clients and the coaching profession as a whole.

They pursue and complete rigorous education and practice requirements that provide unquestioned legitimacy to their commitment to excellence in coaching. Achieving credentials through ICF signifies a coach's commitment to integrity, understanding and mastery of coaching skills and dedication to clients.