I realised recently that I don’t talk much about my power hour service. More often than not, they happen after someone messages me, secret squirrel stylee, asking if I do them. This is a bit nuts, because I love doing them and for clients they can provide some of the most flexible, impactful and cost effective support they can get from me

So when someone enquired last week I figured it was high time to lift the lid on what they are, when they work best and how to make the most of them. Here’s the lowdown

What even is a Power Hour?

Power hours are the name I give to my single, ad hoc coaching sessions. It’s an hour of my undivided time and attention with one simple aim in mind; helping you tackle whatever thorny issue needs tackling in your business or leadership career right now in order to make most progress, most quickly

Broadly speaking, they fall under two headings; response based sessions and future planning sessions. Response based sessions tend to be reactive; they come about because of a setback or when you’ve got something whirling round in your head that just won’t leave you alone. Examples of recent Power Hours like this have included

·       ‘I’ve had a launch that didn’t go to plan, I need to pick myself up again’

·       ‘I’m maxed out with client work, taking on an employee feels scary. Should I do it or not?’

·       ‘One of my team said I was micromanaging them and now I’m second guessing myself left, right and centre. How can I recover my confidence?’

·       ‘I feel totally overwhelmed with everything that’s on my plate, I need to make a simple plan of action but I honestly don’t know where to start’

Future planning sessions tend to come about when people are thinking to the future and need to gain clarity in some form or another about something that hasn’t happened yet. Think of scenarios like

·       ‘My business focus is shifting, I need a sounding board as I’m clarifying my new niche’

·       ‘I’ve got to do a presentation to the CEO and senior leadership team. I am confident in what I’m saying, but how can I make sure I get their buy in?’

·       ‘I’m reviewing my pricing; how do I make sure I get it right?’

·       ‘I’ve got my annual plan, I need to work out what needs to happen in the next quarter’

Why do I offer them?

Not all coaches offer Power Hours. I didn’t when I started out. When I trained as a coach I remember the guidance that to get the most from coaching, clients needed to commit to change. And change rarely happens overnight. The majority of my work still happens in ongoing coaching relationships where my clients have me in their corner for a minimum of a few months, but I see things slightly differently now for a number of reasons

1.     Power Hours are incredibly cost effective for clients

Sometimes, you don’t need ongoing support. Sometimes you might love to have ongoing support but simply don’t have the budget for it. Regardless of the reason, Power Hours put the 80:20 rule into action (80% of consequences come from 20% of causes). When you tackle a few important things you can see big shifts in results for a relatively small investment

2.     They can add an extra layer to your existing support

You might have a coach or mentor already who gives you the majority of the support you need. But for *this* thing, you need to shake things up a bit and try an alternative approach. Maybe you have a coach provided by your employer, but you didn’t get to choose that person and you want a different or independent perspective. Or you might be doing an online or group training programme which is great in the most part but 1:1 support isn’t part of the deal. Any or all of the above might lead you to look for some targeted to support to complement what’s already working well

3.     You get to try me out before going all in

As helpful as discovery calls or chemistry chats can be, the best way to feel confident that you’re going to gel with a coach is to be coached by them. If you’re thinking of working with me (or any other coach with a minimum term or set programme) the commitment to the whole investment can make it feel risky. Several times, clients who’ve signed up for regular support or my 12 week programme have originally been Power Hour clients. When the time is right, that decision is much easier when you know the coach you’re going to be working with is the right one for you

4.       I love them

From a selfish perspective, I love offering Power Hours. I love the variety it brings. I love the opportunity to work with clients who wouldn’t otherwise be clients. And I love the impact that one hour can have to detangle someone’s spaghetti brain (that’s a client quote, not me being rude)

What preparation should you do if you book one?

So if you book a Power Hour, how do you make sure you get most bang for your buck?

·       As far as you can, get clear on what you want to get out of the session. Have one decision you want to make, or one question you want to answer for yourself (along the lines of the examples I’ve given above)

·       Send me any context to that scenario that will make it easier to get into the stuff we need to cover within the session. This saves you spending the first 15 minutes giving me the background to what you want to talk about and maximises the time we actually have to talk about it. Before now, clients have sent me a copy of their business plan, a link to a sales page for the programme they are launching or just an email summarising what they need to discuss and why

·       Consider what approach will be most helpful for you. Generally I’m on the more ‘purist’ end of the coaching spectrum which means I keep the session structured but don’t give guidance and advice. I ask questions that help you get to your own decision. If you’d prefer more of a sounding board (or for me to give you suggestions or ideas) then there’s flexibility to do that

·       Schedule in time after the session for reflection and / or implementing. We often cover a LOT of ground, so having some time later in the same day to reflect or take action on what’s been said can be really beneficial

OK, I want in; how does it all work?

Dead simple. You book and pay on this link

You’ll get a confirmation that the session is booked, and a zoom link to use on the day

After the session, you’ll get a link so you can download a copy of the recording at any time within the following 72 hours. It means during the session itself you can go with the flow rather than trying to write notes as you go along