EMPOWERING THE MASON COMMUNITY THROUGH
COACHING
What We're About
Mason's internal Workplace Coaching Program provides university faculty and staff the opportunity for personal and professional growth. Coaches partner with a coachee to facilitate awareness, clarity, accountability, and action toward desired outcomes. Our program is positive and developmental in nature—we aim to support an individual's growth through self-initiated change. We believe that people are experts in their own lives, capable of generating their own solutions and strategies.
Workplace coaching is not performance-based or assigned. Instead, it's self-motivated and must come from the coachee's own interest in growth and change. (In performance coaching, conversations usually focus on areas of needed improvement in an employee's work position. These types of coaching-style performance conversations to support behavior change are managed by the Employee Relations team.)
Learn more about our mission, vision, and values.
What is Coaching?
The International Coach Federation (ICF) defines coaching as "partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential." Coaching is a conversation for change. Coaches help break through barriers so people can see themselves and their situations in new ways—giving the gift of clarity and inspiring the confidence to act!
Coaching is confidential, personalized, and conducted one-on-one for a defined period of time, usually with a specific purpose in mind. The primary focus is on creating actionable strategies for achieving specific goals in one's professional or personal life. Coaches are thinking partners who expand people's capacity to learn and grow. Coachees can explore issues, share aspirations or challenges, and develop a plan for getting the results they want.
Coaching is...
Coaching is not...
Watch these videos for more information!
What is Coaching? by Smith Leadership
What Coaching Is by Entrepreneur Impet
Best Coaching Conversation by TheMattDr
Benefits of Coaching
Through coaching, Mason employees can gain:
- Increased job and life satisfaction, self-confidence, and self-efficacy
- Improved relationship-building, communication, conflict management, time management, and decision-making skills
- Leadership development and career growth
- Attainment of professional or personal goals
- New perspectives that facilitate change
- Improved overall health and well-being, including lessened stress and anxiety
What Our Coachees Are Saying
Coaching helped me reframe, revamp and redirect my career!
Coaching provided me a space to feel safe to talk about insecurities I wanted to improve without fear of judgement.
Coaching promoted a setting in which I was able to reflect on my issues/needs through conversation and to arrive at a solution or path to a solution.
Meet Our Coaches
Internal Coaches
Mason’s Workplace Coaches are a team of skilled internal coaches (Mason employees). Our coaches are highly experienced and/or credentialed through the International Coach Federation (ICF). They utilize the ICF Core Competencies and follow the ICF Code of Ethics. They are passionate about coaching and committed to serving their community. All of them share a desire to help others overcome challenges and achieve goals to create greater well-being and fulfillment in their lives.
Partner Coaches
In addition to our internal workplace coaches, we are excited to partner with recent graduates of the Leadership Coaching for Organizational Well-Being program who are eager to apply their coaching skills and share their knowledge. They come from a variety of professional backgrounds and have agreed to work with us for a limited period to support human development—theirs and yours! Most of our partner coaches are working toward their ICF certification.
Ready to Get Started?
Coaching engagements will consist of 4-5 x 1-hour sessions, scheduled virtually or in-person at your convenience. This resource is offered at no cost to you or your department. A typical workplace coaching engagement follows an intentional sequence designed with a beginning, middle and end.
Once you've determined that you're ready to work with a coach, please submit a request. The program manager will process your request and send a pairing introduction email to connect you and your coach.
Submit Your Coaching Request
Instructions:
Complete the Workplace Coaching Intake Questionnaire.
Return the form to Laura Phelps, Program Manager, at laura@phelpscoaching.com.
In your email, please include your first and second choice coaches based on the information on the Meet Our Coaches page.
Coach Availability
Please be aware that every attempt will be made to pair you with the coach of your choosing. However, there may be times when your first and second choices are not available, and you'll be added to a waitlist. The program manager will contact you to discuss your options.
Confidentiality
For operational purposes, your name, contact information, position title, and the date of your request will be recorded. All other information provided in the questionnaire will be kept strictly confidential and seen only by the program manager and the assigned coach at the time of pairing.
Questions?
If you have any questions, please contact Laura Phelps, Program Manager, at laura@phelpscoaching.com.