Executive Coaching — frequently asked questions

Most clients work with us for eight to twelve sessions spread over three to six months. Sessions happen fortnightly, occasionally weekly if the situation demands it. Our transition coaching program is shorter: six sessions over twelve weeks, designed specifically for people in their first 90 days of a new executive role.

We do not offer open-ended coaching with no defined end point. Every engagement starts with clear goals and a target completion date. If you need more sessions after the initial block, we can extend, but that is a deliberate decision, not a drift.

A single 75-minute session costs $450 plus GST. Most clients purchase a package of eight sessions at $3,200 plus GST, which works out to $400 per session. The twelve-session package is $4,500 plus GST ($375 per session).

Team alignment workshops are priced separately depending on group size and duration. A half-day workshop for up to six people is $2,800 plus GST. Contact us for a quote if your group is larger or you need a full-day session.

Yes. What you say in a session stays between you and your coach. If your employer is funding the engagement, we agree upfront on a short list of broad themes to report back on (for example, "progress on delegation" or "stakeholder communication"). We never share specific conversation content, personal disclosures, or anything that would identify a third party you discussed.

The only exception is a legal obligation to report imminent harm, which is standard across all professional coaching and counselling relationships in Australia.

A mentor gives you advice based on their own experience. A therapist helps you process past experiences and emotional patterns, often with a clinical framework. A coach does neither of those things exactly.

In coaching, we ask questions that help you see your own thinking more clearly. We might point out a pattern you have not noticed, challenge an assumption, or ask you to try a specific behaviour between sessions. But we do not tell you what decision to make, and we do not diagnose or treat mental health conditions.

If during our work together it becomes clear that therapy would be more appropriate for a particular issue, we will say so directly and can refer you to a psychologist we trust.

Yes. About 60 per cent of our sessions happen over video call (Zoom or Microsoft Teams, your choice). The remaining 40 per cent are in person at our office in New Ivy or, for Adelaide-based clients, at a meeting room we book in the CBD. Remote sessions work well for ongoing coaching. For the first session and any session involving 360-degree feedback review, we recommend meeting face to face if geography allows it.

Margaret Hale, our lead coach, holds the Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential from the International Coaching Federation, which requires a minimum of 500 hours of coaching experience and 125 hours of coach-specific training. She also has a Graduate Diploma in Organisational Psychology from the University of Adelaide and fourteen years of operational leadership experience at two ASX-listed companies.

She completes at least 40 hours of continuing professional development each year and participates in regular peer supervision with a group of five PCC- and MCC-level coaches based across Australia.

At the start of every engagement, we collect confidential feedback from three to five people you work with closely: your manager, direct reports, peers, or board members. This is a structured questionnaire, not a casual chat. We use it to establish a baseline on the specific behaviours you want to change.

Midway through the engagement, we do an informal check-in with you on progress. At the end, we repeat the structured feedback process with the same people. The comparison gives both of us a clear, evidence-based picture of what shifted and what did not.

Life happens. If you reschedule with more than 24 hours' notice, there is no charge. Cancellations with less than 24 hours' notice are charged at the full session rate, because that time slot cannot be offered to another client at such short notice. We have found this policy keeps both sides committed to the schedule, which matters for momentum.

Yes. About half of our clients are funded by their employer. We invoice the organisation directly and can provide a formal proposal or scope document for internal approval. The coaching agreement is still between us and you as the individual, so confidentiality protections apply regardless of who pays.

If your organisation wants to fund coaching for multiple leaders, we offer a small discount on packages of three or more concurrent engagements. Contact us for details.

We find out in the first session. Before committing to a full package, every prospective client has a free 30-minute introductory call where we discuss what you are hoping to achieve and whether coaching is the right tool for that. Sometimes it is not. If you need technical skills training, a short course will serve you better. If you are dealing with burnout or anxiety, a psychologist is the right starting point. We will tell you honestly.

If you start a package and decide after the second session that it is not working, we refund the remaining unused sessions in full. We have done this twice in six years. Both times, the issue was timing rather than fit, and one of those clients came back a year later when circumstances had changed.