The intake meeting is where the coach meets the coachee one-on-one to understand where they're coming into coaching. This is an illustrative outline of what it covers.

What we cover

• 1Introductions and background. How the engagement came about, and space for the coachee to introduce themselves, their role, and what's going on for them right now.
• 2Current context (20-30 minutes). The coachee's context, challenges and goals - what they're struggling with, what they hope to change through coaching, and any expectations they're bringing.
• 3How we will work together, and agreeing the way forward. The coach explains how they coach, the coach and coachee discuss expectations, and together they agree on fit and how to go forward.

Take your time with these. There are no right answers - the more honest you are, the more useful the coaching will be.

The coach, the coachee and the coachee's manager meet together to agree what the engagement is for. Holding it as a three-way conversation means everyone commits to the same goals in the open. This is an illustrative outline of what it covers.

What we cover

• 1The goals of the engagement. What the coaching is for, and what success looks like for the coachee, the manager and the business.
• 2The measurement outcomes. What we'll track, and what will tell us the work is landing.
• 3What needs to shift, and what will be different. The specific changes everyone wants to see, named openly while all three are at the table.
• 4Agreeing goals and expectations. Through the conversation we land on what the goals look like, along with any other expectations, so everyone starts aligned.

After this, the coach meets the coachee one-on-one for the intake conversation.

Setting clear, measurable goals so that your leaders have accountability to clear outcomes.

Examples of measures that goals are set against:

Delivery and execution

The business outcomes this leader is accountable to. Supporting the leader to define how they'll achieve clear, outcome-driven goals and work with other stakeholders and areas of the business.

Leading a team

The team this leader is accountable to build. How this leader builds the team around them. Goals will be set against factors like engagement, retention of high performers, span of control and depth, delegation, and handing over decision rights.

Leadership

How they lead, and how they're experienced. We'll determine the gap through a 360 leadership survey, manager feedback and stakeholder feedback in the business.

Personal development and well-being

What does this leader need to lead with more clarity and confidence? These goals are set in private with the coachee, based on what they need to work on personally to help them achieve their goals.

Personal indicators to shift

Alongside these goals, each coachee names a few personal indicators they want to shift and self-scores where they're starting, on a simple 1-6 scale. The real indicators a coachee chooses aren't shared outside coaching. The example below is illustrative, based on a real client, and shows the intake point only.

The questions

• 1At their best, what does Alex bring as a leader?
• 2What could Alex be doing more of?
• 3What could Alex be doing less of?
• 4In six months' time, what is the observable shift Alex could make that would demonstrate these changes?

Synthesis note

Cluster the responses into 3-4 themes. Share the themes with the leader, never attributed comments. Lead with strengths, then the shifts that would make the biggest difference. If only one person raised something, hold it lightly.

Engagement health

Goals on track

Note: Leadership 360 completed. Alex will lead the walk-through of the report and initial development plan.

Focus areas this quarter (agreed with coachee)

Observable shifts

Colleagues in the midpoint check-in noted Alex is delegating more visibly and stepping back from detail. Early, but directionally clear. Deeper work on peer-level influence is underway and will show over the next quarter.

Where the organisation can help

The biggest enabler right now is org-side: giving Alex genuine air-cover to let their team make (and occasionally fumble) calls. Growth here is as much a system change as a personal one.

Personal indicators (coachee-owned)

The coachee is tracking a set of personal indicators on a 1-6 scale. The movement is shown below. The indicators themselves stay in coaching, and the coachee decides what, if anything, is shared here.

The last 6 months in a paragraph

Alex came in leading brilliantly at the level below the one the company now needs. Over six months the centre of gravity shifted from being the best engineer in the room to building a room that doesn't need them to be. The work isn't finished but the direction is now self-sustaining.

Where things moved

Strengths to keep leaning on

Rare technical credibility, genuine care for their people, and a willingness to be coached - which is itself a leadership strength.

Areas to continue working on

Peer-level influence under pressure, and resisting the pull back into detail when a quarter gets hard. Both are habit under pressure, not capability. Alex shows a high level of self-awareness and has increased his ability to see where these behaviours are holding him back. (Refer to attached development plan for further details.)

Go forward plan

• A monthly self-review against the two goals, blocked in the calendar.
• A peer or mentor to pressure-test the hard calls - the coach's role, redistributed. Alex to determine with Kelly.
• One standing delegation: a decision Alex commits to never taking back.

Personal indicators (coachee-owned)

Movement across the personal indicators the coachee chose to work on, start to finish. The indicators themselves stay in coaching; the coachee decides what is shared here.

Your personal indicators, start to finish

During intake, the coach and coachee talk through what's going on and what feels like it's holding them back. The coach's job isn't to question how they're feeling or how they define it - imposter syndrome, for example, is a label, not a description of what they're actually experiencing or what it is stopping them doing. The coach explores what it means to them, where they get stuck, and how it affects them, then looks again at the end for movement.

For a company investing in a specific senior leader - a new exec, a high-potential VP, someone stepping up a level. Fixed scope, fixed fee, clear boundaries.

What's included

• ✓Chemistry conversation
• ✓Three-way contracting with the sponsor optional
• ✓Leadership 360 or psychometric, and/or confidential stakeholder interviews optional
• ✓One-on-one coaching, targeted at fortnightly sessions across the engagement
• ✓Coach available between sessions when needed
• ✓Midpoint sponsor review and close-out report
• ✓Leader development plan

Investment

Invoiced 50% on commencement, 50% at midpoint. Excludes travel where in-person is requested.

The essentials

Confidentiality: session content stays with the coachee; the sponsor receives progress and themes only. Cancellation: 24 hours' notice to reschedule without charge, and up to 2 sessions can be rescheduled last minute without charge - life happens. Beyond that, sessions are charged, to keep the engagement honest and respect everyone's time. Term: six months. Any unused sessions finish at the end of the engagement.

Larger engagements

Where there are more leaders to coach, the work runs as an embedded model on a negotiated retainer. One coach working across the team builds context a single engagement can't, and the approach and reporting stay consistent. Scope, reporting and pricing are shaped to the engagement - every one is different.

For scale-ups that want senior coaching available to several leaders continuously - a standing part of how the leadership team develops.

How it works

• ✓Two days per month, embedded and flexible
• ✓Coaching across up to 4 leaders, allocated as needs shift
• ✓Advisory access for the sponsor on team dynamics and org design
• ✓Quarterly aggregate read-out on leadership themes

Investment

Invoiced monthly in advance. Unused days don't roll beyond the following month.