At Coaching Unity we have vast experience across multiple disciplines which include coaching, training, consulting, mentoring and systemic team coaching. A key part of how we work is to first identify the root cause/s of the challenges that clients who approach us face. We then determine the most effective level to work at and what’s the best fit intervention to have a maximum impact in relation to time and budget.

One of the weaknesses in our industry is that interventions are often based on the practitioners’ strength rather than the organisation’s needs. If your only tool is a hammer every problem can look like a nail. At Coaching Unity we make sure that the intervention/solution is tailor-made to match our customers’ challenges and needs.

It happens way too often that a company experiences a great workshop or teambuilding exercise, only to realise shortly thereafter that the challenges remain and that little if nothing has changed when it comes to team dynamic and performance.

This is why we believe in the value of Systemic Team Coaching which emphasises the importance of spending enough time to ensure a thorough and accurate assessment of the company’s challenges and specifically the relationships between all stakeholders. We use this information to plot a roadmap on the best way forward.

The Coaching Unity partnership of Tim Goodenough and Michael Cooper has been improving performance and impacting lives for more than a decade. Over this time we have partnered with various top coaches, consultants and trainers on a wide range of interventions across industries including sports, entrepreneurial and corporate. Over and above gaining vast experience in multiple fields we now have a wide pool of expert associates who partner with us depending on the scale of projects we are involved in.

Here’s an example of a Systemic Coaching intervention at scale: 

BMW South Africa recently approached Coaching Unity to help with a major cultural shift in their IT division. Like many technology divisions, BMW SA has been told by head office to change their project management methodology to AGILE. They realised that this would be more than a process change. Most AGILE changes fail because businesses don’t address the people and change management side. Coaching Unity partnered with an AGILE process expert and brought in one of its expert change managers. What we are offering BMW is a truly unique solution. It is a Systemic solution that blends coaching, change, communication solutions, training and technical expertise.

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Systemic Team Coaching is not for everyone. It requires a significant commitment and real buy-in from a company or business’s senior leadership. A minimum intervention period is usually eight months to a year.

The process starts off with an in-depth assessment phase which includes one-on-one interviews, questionnaires and online assessment tools. This is followed by a 2 Day Management Workshop launch after which we schedule monthly half-day or full-day workshops with the management team.

Experience has shown us that Systemic Team Coaching can lead to radical change within a company when key stakeholders buy in to, prioritise and actively support the process. This goes beyond the focus on the individual and brings together the team to address the business at hand. So much of a business’s success lies in the success of a few critical teams. Are you giving your key teams all the support they need?

A key part of the in-depth assessment phase of Systemic Team Coaching looks at the company’s current programs, values and culture. We need to have a clear and accurate understanding of not only what’s been written down in policy documents as well as on posters, ads and stationary, but how this compares to every stakeholder’s lived experience.

For example, a company might pride itself on putting its people first, yet their employees and customers can cite multiple examples showing that profit and cost-cutting are much more important. 

Coaching is still an unregulated market and many individuals call themselves coaches when in fact their role is rather that of a consultant or mentor. Coaching is a practitioner skill and a good coach requires a competency-based coaching methodology which combines self-actualisation psychology and a rigorous training approach to develop coaching skills.

Our core coaching methodology is Meta-Coaching.  It’s a competency based school of coaching which requires coaches to demonstrate the skills of facilitation to attain and maintain qualification.

We suggest you look for a combination of these things. Qualification, experience, proven track record as a coach and a good cultural fit for your organisation.

Both Mike and Tim have spent more than 10 years in various roles within the Meta-Coach training system.

(Certification means nothing without results)

Coaching is still an unregulated market and many individuals call themselves coaches when in fact their role is rather that of a consultant or mentor. Coaching is a practitioner skill and a good coach requires a competency based coaching methodology which combines self-actualisation psychology and a rigorous training approach to develop coaching skills.

Our core coaching methodology is Meta-Coaching.  It’s a competency based school of coaching which requires coaches to demonstrate the skills of facilitation to attain and maintain qualification.

We suggest you look for a combination of these things. Qualification, experience, proven track record as a coach and a good cultural fit for your organisation.

Both Mike and Tim have spent more than 10 years in various roles within the Meta-Coach training system.

(Certification means nothing without results)

Coaching is the skill of facilitating an individual or team by using a series of questions to achieve set goals or outcomes. Coaching is needed and most effective when individuals and teams already know what needs to be done, yet for whatever reason,  are unable to do it. Through coaching, we address insecurities, fears and vulnerabilities to remove the obstacles in the way of success.

Mentoring is the process of a more experienced and/or skilled individual guiding a less experienced and/or skilled individual through telling and the sharing of experience. Mentoring interventions are best suited for organisations when there’s a significant gap between senior skills and experience and junior talent. We provide both mentoring training and access to a system which facilitates the high-quality matching of mentors and mentees.

Training is the process of teaching and developing a specific set of perspectives and skills. Organisations often experience a people skills gap which requires leadership training, coaching skills training and/or personal development. We combine our vast experience as executive coaches and corporate trainers to deliver a cutting-edge series of training workshops.

One of the huge advantages of working with Coaching Unity is that we are experts in all three of these modalities. We can help you see which is the best fit and then design a solution that works for you.

The systemic team coaching approach is designed to build strong and healthy relationships within teams and with external stakeholders. This approach helps to create equality, belonging and ultimately performance. Companies often lose out on the value of diversity when individuals do not feel equal in teams or feel that they don’t belong.

You need to work on both sides of the equation. Work on the system to make it friendly to diverse thinking styles and different cultures. You also need to invest in the individual so that they are strong enough and well equipped to handle any opportunity given them.

When people feel valued they are able to provide more unique insights, contributions and perspectives – thus multiplying the impact of any team. They are also able to disagree constructively, without fear of rejection which leads to more collaborative outputs.

We offer Executive Coaching as the premier support for executives by providing a safe and non-judgemental sounding board, external perspective and facilitation skills. Executive coaching has been proven to have a major impact in an executives productivity and sense of wellbeing.

This enables executives to deal more effectively with the many stresses, challenges and complexities of leadership, whilst developing a healthier work/life balance to boost their performance.

Our team coaching offering for executive teams is truly unique in that it not only focuses on the individual in their role but also the relationships in these key teams. The team coach looks at the dynamics between the members of the team, the team and the organisation and the team and the board.

It is very challenging for any leader to motivate others when he or she is not motivated themselves. To develop personal motivation we focus on helping people to connect with what is truly important to them, as well as helping them to unlock blocks and obstacles that are draining to motivation and general wellbeing.

Through a coaching process a leader will gain experience and insight to reigniting their own motivation. A motivated leader will then be equipped with the tools and mindset to also help others find personal and collective motivation.   

It’s very common for companies, especially those in the corporate sector, to experience a fun and adventure filled team building weekend that ends on a high, yet yields little to no change to office dynamics, politics and relationships. 

To effect real and lasting change, growth and performance within a team a longer, structured and accurate process is required. Systemic Team Coaching is the process of developing and enhancing the relationships within a team and with key stakeholders.

By working at a systemic level we are able to help teams deal with interpersonal blocks, obstacles and disagreements, whilst avoiding victimisation and blame shifting.

As stated before, Systemic Team Coaching requires a significant commitment and real buy in from a company or business’s senior leadership. A minimum intervention period is usually eight months to a year. This longer intervention is critical in embedding the learnings from any intervention. Each team has a unique character and rules. The coach brings these out and allows the team to tweak them to get maximum value.

Corporate Leaders and  Managers are increasingly suffering from burnout. This can mean that they check out emotionally, are prone to uncharacteristic outbursts, deal with a health scare or end up in hospital. As all styles of burnout affect the wellbeing of individuals it also leads to a drop in performance.

As coaches we first want to get an individual suffering from burnout back to being okay. Our intervention includes identifying the root cause of burnout/loss of motivation. Following that we help the client to either reconnect with their motivation in their current role or help them to identify a role where they will experience motivation/passion again.

Yes. Our blended solution is one of the most powerful ways to do this. We offer assessments, coaching and training as a multifaceted approach to equipping your managers to have the people skills they need to meet your expectations and go beyond them.

Yes. A culture like this takes time to develop and requires a few things.

• Leaders who can take feedback without getting defensive
• Staff equipped to give feedback in a way that does not attack or belittle but rather empowers
• A culture of openness and feedback with a desire to grow.
• A system which is flexible enough to allow change.

If these elements aren’t in place your people will see feedback as a waste of time or something that is too risky to give. We can help you develop a feedback culture through our proven blended solutions.

Yes. Over 15 years we have seen what works and what doesn’t. People thrive in an environment that offers the right balance of challenge and reward. Human beings need feedback. It is not difficult to set up processes that create this type of culture as long as the leaders and managers are modelling the new healthy behaviors which we can train and coach.  These leaders and managers need to be the first to get on board.