FAQ

ABOUT LINK RESOURCE GROUP

What are your qualifications?
Tim Link is a master certified coach (MCC). He earned his certification—considered the gold standard within the industry—through the International Coach Federation (ICF), the world’s largest organization dedicated to the coaching profession. Master certified coaches have counseled over 100 clients, accumulating over 2500 total coaching hours; passed a rigorous oral and written exam; and keep their credential current with a minimum of 40 continuing education hours every three years. In addition to training and credentialing, Tim earned a master’s degree in organizational development, with an emphasis in evidence-based coaching, from Fielding Graduate University.

What is your experience?
Tim has over a decade of coaching experience, and Link Resource Group clients report a more effective approach to leadership and a more satisfying and meaningful career and life path. We have worked with Fortune 500 executives and teams, senior managers, entrepreneurs and small business owners in a number of fields—including pharmaceuticals, health care, higher education, manufacturing, engineering, heavy construction, telecommunications, finance, high-tech, aerospace technologies, government, and non-profit.

What is your style and approach?
Tim has developed an exploratory and action-oriented coaching process focused on delivering immediate, measurable impact on clients’ organizations while aligning with their values and motivations. He inspires business leaders to derive a deeper sense of purpose from work and life and become effective, collaborative, and inspiring agents of change. Tim engages clients quickly by developing trust based on empathy and humor—with the goal of pushing clients to accomplish more than they previously thought possible.

What kind of results can they expect from working with you?
In the first phase of coaching, we work with clients to map out their goals and target outcomes. With the client’s approval, we bring in supervising executives as needed to provide input, act as on-the-ground sponsors, and offer feedback on key touchpoints throughout the coaching engagement. At the close of the engagement, we review client goals and measure progress. All of their clients make significant progress on their goals and report a high return on their investment of time and money.

What is your business background?
Prior to becoming a coach in 2001, Tim spent 15 rewarding years as a broadcasting industry executive, developing talent, spearheading change, and consistently delivering record profits. Tim was recognized for out-performing more than eighty other broadcast properties across a seven-state region while successfully leading a complex series of mergers and acquisitions.

ABOUT COACHING

What exactly is coaching?
The ICF defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. As coaches, we honor the client as the expert in his or her life and work and believe that every client is creative, resourceful, and whole. The coach’s responsibility is to:

  • Discover, clarify, and align with the client’s goals;
  • Encourage client self-discovery;
  • Elicit client-generated solutions and strategies; and
  • Hold the client responsible and accountable.

We are trained to listen, to observe, and to customize our approach to individual client needs. We elicit solutions and strategies from the client; we believe the client is naturally creative and resourceful. The coach’s job is to enhance the skills, resources, and creativity that the client already possesses.

How can you determine if coaching is right for you?
Begin by summarizing what you would expect to accomplish with the support of a coach. If you have a fairly clear idea of your desired outcome, a coaching partnership can be a useful tool for developing a concrete outcome achievement strategy.

Since coaching is a partnership, ask yourself if you find it valuable to collaborate. Do you appreciate another viewpoint? Is it useful for you to consider new perspectives? Are you ready to devote time and the energy to making real changes in your work or life? If the answer to these questions is yes, then a coach can work with you to grow and develop your vision and set tangible goals.

What are some typical reasons someone might work with a coach?
There are many reasons that an individual or team might choose to work with a coach, including but not limited to the following:

  • You are facing an urgent, compelling, or exciting challenge, stretch goal, or opportunity;
  • You find yourself with a gap in knowledge, skills, confidence, or resources;
  • You have a desire to accelerate results;
  • You have a lack of clarity around key decisions;
  • You are extremely successful, and success has started to become problematic;
  • Your work and life are out of balance, and this is creating unwanted consequences; or
  • You have not identified your core strengths and how best to leverage them.

What has caused the tremendous growth in the coaching industry?
Coaching has grown significantly for many reasons. Our world is changing rapidly, and coaching is a useful tool to deal with many of those changes—whether you’re negotiating the challenging job market or starting your own business. Other factors include:

  • Rapid changes in the external business environment;
  • Downsizing, restructuring, mergers, and other organizational mean that companies can no longer achieve results using traditional management approaches;
  • Companies’ need to invest in top talent development;
  • Revitalizing managers to meet increasing demands for competitive results;
  • Employee anxieties around job insecurity and increased workplace pressure;
  • The need for inclusive, collaborative work environments, in order to achieve strategic business goals and maintain high levels of customer satisfaction; and
  • The tangible benefits of the coaching process.

BENEFITS OF COACHING

As coaches, we support you in focusing on what matters most to you. Individuals who engage in a coaching relationship develop fresh perspectives on personal challenges and opportunities, enhanced thinking and decision-making skills, enhanced interpersonal effectiveness, and increased confidence in carrying out their chosen work and life roles.

By committing to enhancing your personal effectiveness, you can also expect to see appreciable results in the areas of productivity, personal satisfaction with life and work, and the achievement of personally relevant goals.

According to the 2009 ICF Global Coaching Client Study, companies that use or have used professional coaching for business reasons have seen a median return on investment of seven times their initial investment. Individual clients reported a median return on investment of 3.44 times their investment.

Coaching can support you and your company in a variety of goal areas. The 2010 ICF Global Consumer Awareness Study showed that nearly half of respondents who had experienced coaching chose “optimize individual and/or team performance” as their primary motivation for being coached, followed by “expand professional career opportunities” and “improve business management strategies.” More personal motivations—“increase self-esteem/self-confidence” and “manage work/life balance”—rated fourth and fifth to round out the top five motivation areas.