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You know the breakthroughs that happen when two people have an honest, skillful, caring conversation together.

You crave more fulfillment, meaning and joy in the work that you do, and the interactions you have.

You are drawn to questions of meaning, path-charting, collaboration, practical change, and purpose.

You want to be a living example of putting loving, collaborative conversations back at the center of how we work, how we love, and how we live.

If this is you, I hope you’ll join me for:

The Coaching Way
Using a Coaching Approach to Help Others Thrive

This course is about weaving coaching into the work you do, to support your own impact in that work – whether you are a manager, leader, consultant, counselor, educator, mentor, health care practitioner, or creative.

It is also a course for established coaches who want to deepen their skills and learn a unique perspective on and set of tools for their coaching.

Why a Coaching Approach?

More and more, we understand that our greatest challenges – individually and collectively – are not the technical and scientific ones. They are challenges of collaboration and communication. They are challenges of compassion and expanding our capacity to hear and befriend across differences. And they are challenges of stewarding the self – of working skillfully with our fears, resentments, confusions, beliefs, and biases.

Pioneering thinker on leadership and business, Peter Drucker wrote, “The 20th century was the era of management. The 21st century is the era of self-management.”

The quality of our lives – and of our society – will depend on how we work with the potential and the limitations in ourselves.

Coaching is that work – uncovering possibilities and digging into challenges in us. It is a way of being we can use in a wide range of moments including:

   •  helping a mentee clarify goals

   •  helping a team member tap into their strengths

   •  helping a student manage their stress

   •  helping a client implement new ideas and ways of being

…and so much more.

I’m passionate about “A Coaching Approach” – bringing coaching skills and mindsets into how we relate at work and at home – to better support one another, and to unleash the potential in all of us.

Why a Coaching Approach?

More and more, we understand that our greatest challenges – individually and collectively – are not the technical and scientific ones. They are challenges of collaboration and communication. They are challenges of compassion and expanding our capacity to hear and befriend across differences. And they are challenges of stewarding the self – of working skillfully with our fears, resentments, confusions, beliefs, and biases.

Pioneering thinker on leadership and business, Peter Drucker wrote, “The 20th century was the era of management. The 21st century is the era of self-management.”

The quality of our lives – and of our society – will depend on how we work with the potential and the limitations in ourselves.

Coaching is that work – uncovering possibilities and digging into challenges in us. It is a way of being we can use in a wide range of moments including:

   •  helping a mentee clarify goals

   •  helping a team member tap into their strengths

   •  helping a student manage their stress

   •  helping a client implement new ideas and ways of being

…and so much more.

I’m passionate about “A Coaching Approach” – bringing coaching skills and mindsets into how we relate at work and at home – to better support one another, and to unleash the potential in all of us.

The Coaching Way

is for you if:

The Coaching Way is for you if:

You suspect you could be far more effective in your work by integrating coaching skills and coaching moments with team members, clients, students or others.

You do some “natural” coaching already in your work, but you want to now learn powerful coaching skills and tools.

You sense there is a far more powerful way we can have conversations with one another. You know the power of listening and asking good questions, and you want to become even more skilled in that work.

You have been intrigued by coaching for a while and want to learn more.

You are craving something new to bring more vitality and joy to your life or work.

Or, you already have coaching training, and would like to learn my unique perspective on coaching, what creates powerful coaching, and the principles, tools and skills at the center of my approach.

How Will a

Coaching Approach

Impact Your Work?

How Will a Coaching Approach
Impact Your Work?

For Managers and Leaders...

Research has found that: 

  • Over 70% of people who receive coaching demonstrate improved work performance, relationships, and more effective communication skills
  • Individual-level growth among employees – employees’ ability to learn from training and apply their learnings – increases 39% with coaching. *
  • 86% of companies report that they more than recouped their investment on coaching ** 

For managers and leaders, coaching means you can bring out the best in team members, reduce your own workload and burnout by learning how to help others find their own solutions (rather than always feeling pulled to step in and rescue or advise). Coaching skills can also allow you to improve relationships with your team members – making work more enjoyable and fulfilling for everyone.

Our program grads share…

“Doing The Coaching Way course brought about a genuine paradigm shift in how I think about being a manager. Tara’s teaching gave me new insights about how I can step back from ‘rescue mode’ and detach from ‘solutions giving’ to create space for the incredible people I work with to bring their own ideas and connect to their own wisdom. We’re still fumbling our way through this new way of working together, but the impact has already been quite profound. The tools have also been useful in the way we collaborate and connect with our clients.”Kate, Managing Director

“I gained a grounding in the fundamentals of coaching from the heart that will stay with me always and has changed forever how I manage, mentor and parent.”Cara Kennedy, Commercial Excellence Director

 

*Ones, R. J., et al. (2015). The effectiveness of workplace coaching: A meta­-analysis of learning and performance outcomes from coaching. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 89(2), 249­-277.

**ICF Global Coaching Client Study, Executive Summary, April 2009

For Consultants...

In any consultant-client relationship, there are times when your consulting hat is needed – to share your knowledge or recommendations with your client. But there are also times when a coaching approach is needed, such as when a client is unclear about their own goals or priorities, or when they are stuck in fears or limiting beliefs. Indeed, often clients need coaching around inner blocks in order to fully utilize all your consulting expertise! This is why coaching and consulting can work in such a powerful partnership together.

Our program grads share…

“The Coaching Way was exactly what I needed at this point in my life…it was more than a ‘course’ or ‘program’ but truly a re-orientation towards being with people, especially clients. I have new concrete tools, energetic resources, and incredible modes of thinking and being to support my clients to do their own work. I’m eager to combine this work with the existing coaching and consulting I do, and looking forward to impacting more and more people with what I’ve learned here. Tara is a gifted healer and facilitator, and her team is incredibly organized, professional, and thoughtful.”Caroline Kessler, Writing coaching and editorial consultant

For Trained Coaches...

This course will enhance your skills and impact. I will share the principles, tools, and skills at the center of my coaching approach. You’ll learn a unique process to efficiently and consistently create powerful, emotional shifts with your clients.

You’ll also learn new skills around: meeting clients with reverence and curiosity, working with the body in coaching sessions, integration of spirituality and a gender equity lens, and much more.

Our program grads share…

“As someone who has done space holding and group facilitation for two decades, I was surprised how fresh and powerful The Coaching Way was. Tara’s teaching style and skill are brilliant while still being easy to learn from and unintimidating. The pace of the course, the practice sessions and the personal application all made it easy to integrate the practices into my work and life. The more people who can learn this method, the better the world will be!”Michelle Marlahan, Wellness Coach and Grief Advocate

“I highly recommend this course to anyone who wants to be more effective in their coaching, no matter what their field is. Everything in this course has elevated my coaching–Tara’s coaching style, the worksheets, practices, and the amazing community.”Sheryl Turner, Certified Life Coach

“The Coaching Way is a critical missing piece to learn how to shift from consulting to really helping clients to coach themselves, through holding space for them and guiding them close to how to achieve their dreams and goals!”Rebecca Garcia, Mindset Coach for Women

For Advisors and Mentors...

Sometimes our mentees need a piece of knowledge, or an introduction to a contact – and as mentors, we can provide this kind of support easily. Much of the time, however, our mentees need a way to clarify their goals, and move past fear, self-doubt or uncertainty. A coaching approach is a great fit – a way to ask questions and use tools to help the mentee get back to their most generative and powerful thinking. 

Plus, as mentors we often struggle to truly support someone of a different generation, or who has a different background, personality, or set of goals than ourselves. In this scenario, our advice often fails. A coaching approach, however, gives us a way to help each mentee find his or her own right path – even if it’s quite different from our own.

Our program grads share…

“The Coaching Way demystified coaching, which has become such a vast field, with a clear and participative approach that was illuminating, valuable, and enjoyable. The balance of learning workshops and actual practice sessions was perfect for understanding and integrating the lessons. Tara and team led a well-paced and highly engaging course that is already proving beneficial to my consulting and other relationships. The unexpected bonus was connecting with a community of smart, engaging, and motivated “course-mates” who brought so much to the experience.”Erin, non-profit leader and advisor

“I resonate with this way of working, listening and asking powerful questions from an embodied heart space. I have found these tools to be transformational in both my life and work as a teacher and coach.”Perienne Christian, artist and art mentor

“My work with clients is now infused with a lightness and creativity that I was deeply longing for. I’m continually amazed at the power of asking generative questions and the magic they lead to.”  – Karina Maria Tibble, Mentor

For Educators...

Educators know that teaching involves so much more than delivering content. It is about knowing what to do (and say) when your student is stuck with the material, or is having doubts that they can succeed in the subject you are teaching them. It’s about helping them bring out their own point of view. Increasingly, teaching also involves helping students cope with mounting stressors. A coaching approach can be powerful in all of these situations.

A wide body of research shows that trust and relationship between teacher and student is key to learning outcomes, and to student retention. Coaching gives us a whole new way to build positive connections with students. Coaching also takes the burden off of us as teachers to have the right answer or advice for a student’s stresses or challenges, and instead allows us to support them by helping them find their own right answers – much more doable, and enjoyable!

Our program grads share…

“The Coaching Way course was a transformative learning experience! It was the “thing” I needed in this season of my life that I didn’t know I needed when I signed up. The content was dynamic and relevant, and Tara’s facilitation was beyond spectacular. I felt a deep sense of belonging with the other participants. I would recommend this to everyone and anyone.”Kathryn Sandoe, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, Educator Kathryn Sandoe LLC

“This course significantly upped my skill set as a veteran teacher in the arts. I work with many individuals from a variety of educational backgrounds, all of whom are seeking to find or hone their own artistic voices. The Coaching Way provided a wealth of tools and practice to, not only be a better teacher, but to do so in a more sustainable way. As a result of learning how to maintain better boundaries between my students and my desire to give them my all, I have learned how to be even more effective at helping others level up. That’s what I was hoping for when I signed up, and I certainly got what I came for! What I also received that I hadn’t expected was the nurturing, safe space for smart people that Tara created, and the amazing cohort of participants who, be they professional coaches or newbies to the practice like me, helped me gain clarity in so many of the myriad aspects of my creative, working life.”Victoria Lansford, Artist, author, educator

For Healthcare and Wellness Practitioners...

If you work in the health arena, you know that often people are aware of what they need to do to improve their health, but they aren’t doing it. Old patterns, limiting beliefs, or life stressors stand in the way of their making change. Coaching allows us to broaden the conversation to address these barriers. It can also help us customize plans and action steps to work for the individual, when there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Research backs this up: one recent study found that coaching training for health clinicians led to patient centered care and better health behavior outcomes.*

Our program grads share…

“I took away so much from this course. As a new coach, I often get overwhelmed by process and noisy thinking, but the methodology really emphasized practice of discrete skills at each phase of the process. There was time to explore deeply at each stage, so by the time we got around to putting it all together it felt like a natural progression.” – Julie Mendez-deLeon, Wellness Coach 

“Tara is a national thought leader who breathes life into ancient tools to unleash tremendous capacity in each of us. I highly recommend to any leader interested in accelerating their growth in new ways.” Sandy Scott, Physician and Executive Coach

*C. Grant, H. Jopling, Health coaching: a necessary role for medical students?, Public Health, Volume 190, 2021, Pages 52-54, ISSN 0033-3506

For Therapists and Others Doing Personal Growth Work...

For therapists and others doing personal growth work, bringing a coaching approach can greatly enhance your current practice. You’ll learn new ways of asking questions, helping clients work with fear and aspirations, and take action in new ways. 

Our program grads share…

“As someone who was trained as a psychotherapist and is shifting into a coaching model, I found The Coaching Way course to be a wonderful way to reframe and reimagine holding space for clients through a coaching approach.”Jen Berlingo, Thought leader, guide, and author on Midlife Emergence

“As a therapist wanting to integrate coaching tools into my work with women entrepreneurs, I have long been looking for an engaged learning experience (not simply knowledge, but instruction integrated with practice of the tools) and this course was exactly it. I am now able to do what I had hoped to with clients, and I’m loving the results for both me and my clients.”Shulamit Ber Levtov, MA, RSW, CCTP, The Entrepreneur’s Therapist

For Parents and Others Supporting Youth...

With coaching skills in your toolkit, you have a new way to help the young people in your life clarify their values and aspirations, and work through their challenges. A coaching approach also gives us adults a way to be close to our beloved young ones – to be in real conversation with them about the dilemmas and questions in their lives – without falling into the dynamics of advice-giving, or reactivity that so often get in the way of connection. In this course, we will also talk about when it is and isn’t appropriate to coach the young people in your life, allowing for appropriate boundaries, autonomy, and much more.

Our program grads share…

“I joined the Coaching Way Program for Professional Development and not only was it the most enjoyable, on-point PD experience I have had, it was also everything promised and more. My clients, and I, are already benefiting from the skills and techniques learned during this well structured, easy to follow, rich and very much ‘alive’ program. I also need to mention that the wisdom and gains made are like a pebble thrown into the pond, they ripple outward into my life with family, friends, colleagues, et.al. The interface with people is just a little sweeter now, more spacious and easeful. Feeling very grateful to have found Tara and her friendly, supportive team and will definitely be doing more Tara Mohr programs.” – Sue Jutson, Dyslexia, ADHD correction specialist, Dyslexia Vancouver

“I loved The Coaching Way course. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to hone their coaching skills and learn to listen on a deeper, more transformative level. Tara teaches concepts and skills in a clear and memorable way, modeling them with each lesson. We had valuable opportunities to apply our learning with each other, which helped us gain understanding and clarify questions. Being part of such an open and inspiring community of participants was wonderful. I have been using my learning from The Coaching Way in my parent coaching work and finding it powerful and exciting. Thank you for offering this wonderful class! I’ve been recommending it to colleagues and friends already!”Amy Behrens, Parent Coach

My Story with Coaching

When I was a teenager, when some well-meaning adult would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I’d tell them about my love of personal growth and psychology. Then they would reply that I should be a therapist when I grew up – in the 1980’s, counseling was the career path recommended to anyone interested in working with our inner lives.

Yet, that path of therapist never quite called to me. I explored other avenues to pursue my love of human psychology and human potential – literature, theater,  dance, and the fields of social innovation and social entrepreneurship.

As a business school student at Stanford, studying how to grow mission-driven organizations, I got my first exposure to coaching. Coaching training was part of the MBA curriculum; coaching skills were seen as something all future managers should possess. 

I was fascinated by the coaches I met in those classes. They were working at the intersection of inner lives and outer outcomes – right where I wanted to be working. They spent their hours immersed in conversations about unleashing potential, clarifying goals, and developing inspired plans. And there was a dynamism to their work, as they partnered with a range of leaders, individuals and teams.  

A couple years later, I enrolled in a coaching training program – but not with plans to become a coach. I simply longed to take some meaningful steps toward some career that was about our inner lives; I wasn’t sure exactly what at that time. 

That coaching training was an awakening. An awakening to a new way of thinking about human thriving. An awakening to a new kind of conversation. An awakening to how pointed, efficient, and joyful personal growth work could be.

I began working with practice clients, and over the next couple years, transitioned to the work I do now – teaching, writing, leading groups and workshops, developing and sharing ideas – all with a coaching approach.

I don’t see myself so much as “a coach” but rather someone who uses a coaching approach as a powerful way to serve my larger goals of helping women’s voices be heard, helping human beings connect to their own wisdom and compassion, and helping to advance a more sane and compassionate culture for all of us.

I also use a coaching approach in my own life, in my daily work on myself, around my emotions, my aspirations, and wellbeing, and in the parenting of two young kids, too.

10+ years into coaching, I have developed my own style of coaching, grounded in the Co-Active Coaching model in which I was originally trained, but now blended with my own ideas and on-the-ground-with-clients-learning in the realms of women’s leadership, spiritual practice, creativity, entrepreneurship, and culture change. Through this course, I’ll be unpacking the core ideas, mindsets, and favorite tools that underlie how I coach.

Again and again, in my work and personal life I have seen the immense power of a coaching approach to: 

   •  help us create change

   •  bring a sense of purpose and our full brilliance to our careers 

   •  and, perhaps most important of all – to  help us experience more connection and meaning, in workplaces and relationships.

If you too feel intrigued by coaching as a pathway to your own growth and to more impactful work, or if you have already been coaching but are ready to deepen your skills, this course is for you. 

I hope you’ll join me for this journey.

With love,

Tara

My Story with Coaching

 

When I was a teenager, when some well-meaning adult would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I’d tell them about my love of personal growth and psychology. Then they would reply that I should be a therapist when I grew up – in the 1980’s, counseling was the career path recommended to anyone interested in working with our inner lives.

Yet, that path of therapist never quite called to me. I explored other avenues to pursue my love of human psychology and human potential – literature, theater,  dance, and the fields of social innovation and social entrepreneurship.

As a business school student at Stanford, studying how to grow mission-driven organizations, I got my first exposure to coaching. Coaching training was part of the MBA curriculum; coaching skills were seen as something all future managers should possess. 

I was fascinated by the coaches I met in those classes. They were working at the intersection of inner lives and outer outcomes – right where I wanted to be working. They spent their hours immersed in conversations about unleashing potential, clarifying goals, and developing inspired plans. And there was a dynamism to their work, as they partnered with a range of leaders, individuals and teams.  

A couple years later, I enrolled in a coaching training program – but not with plans to become a coach. I simply longed to take some meaningful steps toward some career that was about our inner lives; I wasn’t sure exactly what at that time. 

That coaching training was an awakening. An awakening to a new way of thinking about human thriving. An awakening to a new kind of conversation. An awakening to how pointed, efficient, and joyful personal growth work could be.

I began working with practice clients, and over the next couple years, transitioned to the work I do now – teaching, writing, leading groups and workshops, developing and sharing ideas – all with a coaching approach.

I don’t see myself so much as “a coach” but rather someone who uses a coaching approach as a powerful way to serve my larger goals of helping women’s voices be heard, helping human beings connect to their own wisdom and compassion, and helping to advance a more sane and compassionate culture for all of us.

I also use a coaching approach in my own life, in my daily work on myself, around my emotions, my aspirations, and wellbeing, and in the parenting of two young kids, too.

10+ years into coaching, I have developed my own style of coaching, grounded in the Co-Active Coaching model in which I was originally trained, but now blended with my own ideas and on-the-ground-with-clients-learning in the realms of women’s leadership, spiritual practice, creativity, entrepreneurship, and culture change. Through this course, I’ll be unpacking the core ideas, mindsets, and favorite tools that underlie how I coach.

Again and again, in my work and personal life I have seen the immense power of a coaching approach to: 

   •  help us create change

   •  bring a sense of purpose and our full brilliance to our careers 

   •  and, perhaps most important of all – to  help us experience more connection and meaning, in workplaces and relationships.

If you too feel intrigued by coaching as a pathway to your own growth and to more impactful work, or if you have already been coaching but are ready to deepen your skills, this course is for you. 

I hope you’ll join me for this journey.

With love,

Tara

About Tara

Hi, I’m Tara, author of Playing Big: Practical Wisdom for Women Who Want to Speak Up, Create, and Lead, published by Penguin Random House, embraced by over 100,000 readers around the world, and named a Best Book of the Year by Apple’s iBooks.

I bring to this program:

  • Over a decade of experience coaching clients spanning diverse ages and identities around the world. My coaching experience has included working with individuals, working inside corporate and social sector organizations, and working with young women in schools. 
  • With me, you get a very unique hybrid. You get the practical, grounded in the ‘real world’ side: I received my MBA from Stanford University, and have extensive training in leadership, negotiation, communication, entrepreneurship, and business. I have also been growing a thriving business – with a wonderful team – for the past several years. 
  • You also get the psychological and spiritual side. I am a spiritual seeker, poet, and lifelong student of the inner life. 
  • And then there’s my personal journey. I’ve walked my own personal journey discovering my own right-fit style and approach to coaching, developing a body of work from my coaching, and helping that body of work reach people around the world.

I’m also the creator and teacher of the Playing Big leadership program, and Playing Big Facilitators Training for coaches, mentors and managers who support others in their personal and professional growth.

The Playing Big model has been incorporated in leadership development programs at Starbucks, Google, Verizon Media, and many other companies, and taught in middle and high schools around the world, supporting girls’ leadership development.

I earned my MBA from Stanford University and my undergraduate degree in English literature from Yale. My coaching training and certification is from CTI, the Co-Active Training Institute. All of those educational experiences, combined with a lifelong love of personal growth, inform my work.

I’m a mom of three little people, doing my best to wear many hats each day – writer, coach, spiritual seeker, parent, partner, daughter. I live in San Francisco and I love long hilly walks, dance classes (on Zoom these days), superb coffee, and wearing cozy sweaters in the fog.

About Tara

Hi, I’m Tara, author of Playing Big: Practical Wisdom for Women Who Want to Speak Up, Create, and Lead, published by Penguin Random House, embraced by over 100,000 readers around the world, and named a Best Book of the Year by Apple’s iBooks.

I bring to this program:

  • Over a decade of experience coaching clients spanning diverse ages and identities around the world. My coaching experience has included working with individuals, working inside corporate and social sector organizations, and working with young women in schools. 
  • With me, you get a very unique hybrid. You get the practical, grounded in the ‘real world’ side: I received my MBA from Stanford University, and have extensive training in leadership, negotiation, communication, entrepreneurship, and business. I have also been growing a thriving business – with a wonderful team – for the past several years. 
  • You also get the psychological and spiritual side. I am a spiritual seeker, poet, and lifelong student of the inner life. 
  • And then there’s my personal journey. I’ve walked my own personal journey discovering my own right-fit style and approach to coaching, developing a body of work from my coaching, and helping that body of work reach people around the world.

I’m also the creator and teacher of the Playing Big leadership program, and Playing Big Facilitators Training for coaches, mentors and managers who support others in their personal and professional growth.

The Playing Big model has been incorporated in leadership development programs at Starbucks, Google, Verizon Media, and many other companies, and taught in middle and high schools around the world, supporting girls’ leadership development.

I earned my MBA from Stanford University and my undergraduate degree in English literature from Yale. My coaching training and certification is from CTI, the Co-Active Training Institute. All of those educational experiences, combined with a lifelong love of personal growth, inform my work.

I’m a mom of three little people, doing my best to wear many hats each day – writer, coach, spiritual seeker, parent, partner, daughter. I live in San Francisco and I love long hilly walks, dance classes (on Zoom these days), superb coffee, and wearing cozy sweaters in the fog.

Leading Voices Share About Tara’s Work

Leading Voices Share About Tara’s Work

With clarity, warmth and deep wisdom, Tara shines a light on our blocks to manifesting our potential, and offers practical, well-honed strategies that move us toward fulfillment. This is a book that can transform the trajectory of your life.

Tara Brach, PH.D.
Author of Radical Acceptance and True Refuge

Tara is a brilliant Playing Big guide. She challenges women using courage and compassion to stop playing small and take a leap to achieve the breakthrough that they know is possible but don’t know how to make it happen. Tara has a game changing approach.

Trudy Bourgeois
President & CEO The Center for Workforce Excellence

Tara Mohr shows us how to replace self-doubt, inadequacy, and worry with confidence, self-worth, and courage.

Rick Hanson, PH.D.
Author of Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm and Confidence

As Seen In

As Seen In

Praise for Tara’s Courses

Praise for Tara’s Courses

As executive director of my nonprofit, my team's professional growth is a top priority. I cannot say enough good things about how Tara's coaching approach powerfully celebrates and encourages the inner wisdom that leads to authentic (and sustainable) problem-solving. Each section of her coaching training has brought new revelations that I wish someone had told me 20 years ago when I was first starting out. Incorporating and sharing Tara's coaching approach with my team and with mentees who come to me for career advice (and even for my own teenagers!) has been a tremendously gratifying part of my leadership role.

Sarah, Non-profit CEO

As an educator, the coaching skills and techniques that I learned with Tara have changed how I mentor and teach. I learned firsthand the power of posing strong questions, and now instead of passively depositing knowledge into students, I deftly guide my students toward finding their own answers, their own voices, and their own paths along their academic journeys.

Leeann HunterAssociate Professor of English, Washington State University

As a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, I was trained in the expert-patient hierarchical relationship model. I've had to unlearn that training in order to truly support my clients with healing their relationship with food and body in this culture. Coaching relieves me of the burden of being the "expert" and allows me to be more effective in supporting my clients to gain clarity, insight, motivation and self-trust. I love Tara's unique soulful lens and how she writes and teaches with her whole self.

Minh-Hai Alex, MS, RDN, RYTRegistered Dietitian Nutritionist

My work as a licensed psychologist can lend itself to having others seek the answers from me, the professional. Yet, incorporating the coaching skills I learned from the in-depth training I received from Tara has allowed me to gently guide my patients to step back into their power and seek the answers from within themselves. Specifically, my work has evolved from my patients seeking guidance from me to my clients feeling inspired and empowered to seek guidance from their inner mentor. Even more refreshing for my soul has been my ability to let go of the need to know what to do next and trust that I am with my patients down a non-linear path of transformation.

Katherine Perez-Rivera, Ph.D. Licensed Psychologist / Mind-Body Wellness Coach

As a Family Doctor/General Practitioner, I often use the coaching skills and tools during my consultations with patients. I feel my listening skills and question style have improved greatly. I now listen even more generously to my patients, and also ask them more powerful questions. My consultations feel on a much deeper level as I help my patients get where they want to be in terms of their health, lifestyle, relationships, work or whatever issue they present with.
I also have a role in education which involves training other doctors to become Family Doctors/General Practitioners. The coaching skills and tools I have learned from Tara have increased my confidence significantly. I will often have coaching conversations with my trainees, asking them powerful questions to facilitate their learning and development, enabling them to be the best doctor they can be.

Michelle, Family Doctor/General Practitioner

Tara’s coaching programs have transformed my life. Her authentic, simple but structured approach has helped me recognize and work around my own limiting beliefs and advance towards my dreams.

Ana Giraldo

The Coaching Way was just what I needed to take my coaching to the next level. I learned so much about how to show up in a gentle, but powerful way in such a short period of time. I feel like I got years worth of coaching training in one month.

Alyssa B., intuitive coach and back to nature guide

I have always been fascinated by the way Tara coached people in live calls. This course gave me the opportunity to learn more about her typical way of coaching! The course is a very accessible way to get a closer look on her way of coaching and the course is well set up so that it is interesting for both a beginner in coaching and an experienced coach. The course has given me insights that I am going to use in work AND life!

Fieke Sparidaens, Coach

I joined the Coaching Way Program for professional development, not only was it the most enjoyable, and on-point PD experience I have had, it was also everything promised and more. My clients, and I, are already benefiting from the skills and techniques learned during this well structured, easy to follow, rich and very much ‘alive’ program. The wisdom and gains made are like a pebble thrown into the pond, they ripple outward into my life with family, friends, colleagues. The interface with people is just a little sweeter now, more spacious and easeful.

Sue JutsonDyslexia, ADHD correction specialist, Dyslexia Vancouver

How the Course Works

How the Course Works

Online, Flexible Format

We meet online via Zoom. You can attend live or view the recordings, or any combination thereof that you’d like. All sessions are available as video, audio or transcript, so you can review sessions in a format that works for you.

Experiential Learning

We will have teaching time, coaching demos, reflective work, and Q&A. Our courses have such strong retention and engagement because we keep things participatory, dynamic and focused on the most impactful information and exercises.

Practice Sessions

For all who desire, we’ll also have time to try out and practice skills by coaching and being coached by others, with support and feedback from our team, as well as debrief discussions. 

Ongoing Learning

In between our sessions, learning will continue with exercises, experiments, and journaling worksheets to allow you to practice the new skills in your daily life and work.

Online Discussion Group

You can continue the conversation between our calls and get your questions answered as they arise. Through our online forum, you can also connect with participants in your local area and find participants with similar interests.

Long-Term Support

After you’ve had a few months to work with The Coaching Way material and tools, we’ll regather for a Capstone Session to check in, explore your further questions, and reground in the learnings. As a graduate, you’ll also be invited to participate in future sessions of this course, at no additional cost.

.Our Live Sessions Meet:

Thursdays

April 4 through June 7, 2024

Guided Workshop: 12 pm to ~1 pm Pacific

Practice Session: ~1 pm to 2 pm Pacific 

 

Capstone / Review Session 

For refreshing your learning, asking new questions, and deepening your skills.
Our Capstone Session will be held September 12, 2024.

 

You can always attend live or view / listen to recordings.

Written transcripts are also provided for all sessions.

 

If you would like to practice the coaching skills with other participants, but can’t attend our group sessions, you will have the opportunity to set up your own practice sessions with others using our online discussion group to coordinate, and supported by our guided agendas and other materials.

The Coaching Way

Curriculum

The Coaching Way Curriculum

Part 1: Coaching Foundations

1

Module 1: What Is Coaching? Critical Mindset Shifts

In this module, we'll cover:

• What does it truly mean to coach someone? (including my personal definition of coaching)
• The four major roles of coaches, and how to step into each
• The critical mindset shifts coaches must make
• Why coaching is not just “having a conversation” (even a supportive, or problem-solving one) and is in fact something very different
• How to step out of the advising and consulting stance – and what to do instead

2

Module 2: Who Are You Coaching? Meeting Clients with Reverence

Coaching is transformative in part because it is an experience of being witnessed, cherished, and met with a particular kind of care. In this session we will look at:

• What allows us to bring greater care and reverence to coaching, so that, for the client, coaching is an unparalleled experience of being met with attention and love
• My favorite intention / principle to begin a coaching session
• The difference between meeting with reverence, versus more conventional stances of praising, pleasing, or cheering on
• The biases and judgements that block our reverence, and how to work with them
• Practical strategies you can use to meet clients with greater openness, curiosity and love

3

Module 3: Transformative Listening

Next, we will move into the special way that great coaches listen, and learn:

• The kind of listening that generates impact in coaching, and the kind of listening that does not
• Practices to develop your ability to do transformative listening – listening that transforms the person being heard
• How to listen with your whole body, not just with the language center in the mind
• How to quiet the mental chatter (self-doubts, judgements, overthinking, and other distractions) that get in the way of our listening

4

Module 4: How Coaches Contract to Enlarge their Impact

In this module, you’ll learn:

• When to bring yourself forward as a coach, and when to step back
• What to do with our “I” statements as coaches – our opinions, wonderings, ideas
• Which questions to ask in a coaching session, including the kinds of questions that lead to unhelpful detours and wasted time, and the kind that are most powerful for the client

Part 2: The Arc of Coaching

1

Module 5: An Introduction to the Arc of Coaching

In this module, you'll learn:

• The arc I see in my most powerful coaching conversations, and how you can bring it into your work
• What it means to “coach the client, not the issue,” and how to do this
• Powerful tools to make coaching more easeful for you – and to tap the full wisdom of your clients

In this module, we also talk about “Unraveling What’s Present” – how we help the client efficiently yet thoroughly unpack the topic/situation for the coaching conversation. We cover:

• How to effectively help a client name and process whatever is happening for them
• The difference between how we name and unravel what’s present in a coaching session (vs. therapy, or vs. a friend-to-friend conversation)
• How to ensure the client doesn’t get stuck in the story of what happened, resentment, or repetitive thinking but can efficiently move in to coaching and a perspective shift

2

Module 6: Shifting the Perspective or Energy

In this module, we talk about one of the most exciting and precious parts of the coaching process: when a client’s perspective or attitude about a problem changes, as a result of the coaching questions and process. You will learn:

• A robust portfolio of tools to create emotional, motivational, and mental shifts in those you coach
• How to know when a perspective shift has truly occurred
• What to do if it seems like a perspective shift is just not happening
• How to discern when your client is falling into “good student habits” to please you as the coach versus having a true shift in perspective

3

Module 7: Powerful Coaching Tools for Shifting

In this module, we will continue looking at how we facilitate shifts in perspective, thinking, energy, and sense of possibility in the client. We will cover many of my favorite powerful tools for catalyzing perspective shifts. These include:

• Inner mentor work
• Discerning and using core values
• Stepping into new energies
• Using movement, imagery, and music to support the coaching process

4

Module 8: Rooting the Perspective Shift & Making Action Plans that Stick

In this module, we look closely at how we guide the client to revisit their challenge from the new perspective they have arrived at through the coaching. We will cover:

• How to guide those you coach to revisit their original problem / question from a different energy or perspective
• How to help the perspective shift take root in the client, so it stays with them long after the coaching session and fuels new possibilities in their work and life
• How to develop an action plan that is likely to be workable, and actually completed by the client, and how to avoid action plans that come from “shoulds” or unrealistic expectations. Many coaching approaches advocate for guiding a client to a time-bound action plan 100% of the time – and often an ambitious plan, too. We’ll talk about why, in some cases, that is not the most powerful way to help the client move forward, and explore a more nuanced approach.
• Two special topics: how to be with and work with silence in coaching sessions, and how to be with and work with tears. Comfort with both is essential for powerful coaching!

5

Module 9: Integration

In this module, we deepen our conversation around how to integrate what we’ve learned so far, and use the full coaching arc.

We also dive more deeply into the blend of coaching and other modes: what it looks like, for example, to blend coaching and consulting in a single conversation, or coaching and managing.

Part 3: Conclusion and Celebration

In our final Conclusion and Celebration session, we’ll review what we’ve learned, deepen our practice of new skills, and look closely at how the tools and practices integrate with one another. And, of course we will celebrate together!

Part 4: After the Course

After the close of the course, your journey doesn’t end. You’ll continue to receive a number of resources to support you:

  • A link to all course materials in one easy-to-access location that is yours forever.
  • Capstone Session. An opportunities to refresh your learning, ask new questions, and sustain the changes you are making. You can attend this session live or view the recording. 
  • Ongoing membership in our private online discussion group, which stays open after the course.
  • An invitation to attend any future sessions of the course – for free! Our alum participate again at no cost.

Lifetime Access and Guarantee

When you join, you gain access to all future sessions of the course, free of charge.

Plus, if within the first week, you find the program isn’t a fit for you, simply let us know, share your completed worksheets and we’ll refund your payment.

Lifetime Access and Guarantee

When you join, you gain access to all future sessions of the course, free of charge.

Plus, if within the first week, you find the program isn’t a fit for you, simply let us know, share your completed worksheets and we’ll refund your payment.

MOBILE: Join us for
The Coaching Way

You can register with one payment of $1425 USD, or with three monthly payments of $489 USD.

Last Day to Register: March 28th

The Coaching Way:
Coming Soon!

If you’re interested in joining us for the
next session of The Coaching Way (starting in 2025),
click the button below to get on the advance notice list.
We’ll send you details about the upcoming session
(including early bird discounts!).

DESKTOP: Join us for The Coaching Way

You can register with one payment of $1425 USD, or with three monthly payments of $489 USD.

Last Day to Register: March 28th

The Coaching Way: Coming Soon!

If you’re interested in joining us for the next session of The Coaching Way (starting in 2025),
click the button below to get on the advance notice list.
We’ll send you details about the upcoming session (including early bird discounts!).

FAQ

Logistics

What’s the difference between this program and Tara’s other programs?

This is our program focused on coaching skills – what coaching is, how to coach, and Tara’s unique perspective on coaching. The Playing Big Program is for any woman who wants to play bigger in her life and career. It’s for women who want to clarify their callings, move past self-doubt, do work that brings them meaning and joy, and play bigger in their own way, on their own terms. Learn about the curriculum, hear from grads, and more here.

The Playing Big Facilitators Training is specifically for individuals who want to integrate the Playing Big model in their work supporting others – whether clients, mentees, students, or team members. The Facilitators Training focus is on the Playing Big tools for personal and professional growth, and has a strong focus on women’s leadership and empowerment. The next session of the Playing Big Facilitators Training will start in October 2024.

The Coaching Way course, by contrast, is centered on the fundamental coaching stances, mindsets and skills that underlie Tara’s coaching and that help us create powerful results in all kinds of coaching conversations.

What are the dates and call times?

The next session of this program will likely run in Spring 2025. Sign up below to get on the advanced notice list and you’ll be first to know when registration opens (plus get early bird discounts!).

For more information on the structure of our course calls, please see the next FAQ “What’s the structure for each module?”

What’s the structure for each module?

For each module, we will come together for a 2-hour live call. The first part of each call will include teaching from Tara on that day’s new concepts and skills, coaching demos that illustrate what we are learning, and exercises to support the learning. 

Then, in the second part of our live call, we will shift into breakout groups where participants will have the opportunity to practice the new skills in pairs or small groups. (If this feels intimidating, that’s okay! Many participants feel that way initially and come to love these practice sessions as a unique venue for getting comfortable with new skills.) You will always have the choice to participate in these practice sessions or not. After the breakout groups, we will debrief all together to talk about themes and what we learned. These are dynamic, exciting sessions always full of rich learning.

After each call, you’ll have some “homework” to practice the day’s learnings in your life/work. This homework doesn’t take significant additional time because it’s all about integrating a new way of doing something into your existing activities and daily routine.

What’s the time commitment for this?

For participants who are moving along with us module by module, it’s two hours a week. We also make it very easy to skip a week (or more) when you need to and pick up again with the current module – leaving you free to make up the missed material whenever you can.

What if I can’t attend the live sessions?

All of our sessions will be recorded and posted within 24 hours, available as video and audio recordings. We also provide full written transcripts. If you can’t attend live, but want to practice coaching skills with other women in the course, you can connect with other participants in our community forum to arrange a time that works best for you. We provide guided agendas for your practice sessions.

What’s the investment?

The cost of the program is $1425 USD when paid in full, or you can choose the 3-month payment option for $489 USD/month. As a graduate of the program, you’ll be invited to attend future sessions at no additional cost.

We also have a 6-month payment option (for $244 USD/month) if that’s a better fit for your budget. If you are interested in this payment option when registration opens, please contact our team for details (playingbig@taramohr.com).

Will I get to work with Tara one-on-one?

The program takes place in a group format, within which each individual member will have the opportunity to share challenges, reflect on their learnings, and ask questions with individual feedback from Tara. Our weekly calls are highly interactive – Tara is live on the calls, these are not pre-recorded. If you’re not able to attend a session, you can always submit questions ahead of time and then listen to the recording.

What will the community aspects of the program be like?

One of our greatest joys as a team is being able to provide a space for connection, support and meaningful dialogue – to help people shore up through each other. We look forward to doing that through this course experience, too. 

Over the years we’ve found that some course participants are very eager to connect with others as a core part of their course experience, and other participants are more focused on simply absorbing the content. We’ve structured our courses so both paths are available. There are many optional ways to engage with the community, and our online discussion group (hosted outside of mainstream social media) is a place where you can dialogue with other participants and find people in your local area, or with shared interests. 

If you choose to join us for our live practice sessions, you will also be meeting and working with other participants in pairs and small groups.

How long do I have access to the course materials?

During the course, we’ll provide multiple ways to download and save all materials. At the conclusion of the program, we’ll provide you with a link that has all the course materials in one easy-to-download location so that you can keep them forever. You’ll also have access to the course site for an additional six months after the course conclusion. Plus, as a graduate of the program, you’ll be able to participate in future sessions at no additional cost.

Will I be “certified” through this program?

No, this is not a certification or a licensing program. 

However, if you are an ICF coach and would like to earn continuing education credits through this program, you can do so. More details on that below.

If I haven’t had coach training before, will this program give me enough training to become a professional coach?

Great question! This program is not designed as a complete coach certification program. For that, we would recommend you seek an in-depth, 1-year+ coach training program. This program, by contrast, is designed to:

  • Help individuals from diverse fields and industries incorporate coaching skills and a coaching approach into their toolkits
  • Give established coaches a new, unique spin on coaching that’s particular to Tara’s approach, and that can enhance their own work
  • Give a powerful introduction to coaching – and a kind of onramp into the world of coaching – for those who are intrigued by coaching, or considering moving in the direction of coaching or other types of personal growth work in the future.

My employer sometimes sponsors professional development. Do you have something I can give them?

Yes, we have a document you can provide your employer with information about the program, and how it can benefit both you and your organization. You can download the document here.

What are the payment options if my employer will be paying for my spot in the program?

That’s wonderful news! We have several options for companies registering an employee, or group of employees, in one of our programs:

  • You (or someone from your company) can use a corporate credit card to register. If you need us to update the email address and/or name of the participant after the registration is processed, our team can help you do so. We can also send a PDF receipt.
  • You can register for the program using your own credit card, and then we can issue a PDF receipt in your name, and your company can reimburse you.
  • If there is a delay in obtaining approval from your company, we recommend that you register with your own credit card. We will refund your credit card after we receive payment for your registration via a corporate credit card.

Feel free to email us at playingbig@taramohr.com if you have any questions. We are here to help!

I’m an ICF coach. Can I receive ICF Continuing Coach Education (CCE) units?

Yes! This training is accredited by the International Coach Federation (ICF) for up to 20 Continuing Coach Education (CCE) units – 18 in Core Competencies and 2 in Resource Development.

At the close of the program, if you would like to receive certification for these CCE units, you’ll simply:

  1. Confirm that you’ve attended live, or watched the recording, of at least 9 Guided Workshop Calls (these are the first hour of teaching for each module call) and that you have completed the Reflections & Journaling homework assignments for those modules.
  2. Confirm that you’ve completed at least 8 Practice Sessions. We highly recommend that you attend the live Practice Sessions as they occur or, if you’re unable to attend, create your own practice time with another participant of the course. If neither of those are possible, you may use the Practice Session Agenda to practice with a current client or a person in your life who would like coaching.
  3. Successfully complete the final written assessment to demonstrate your learnings.

Is This Course for Me?

I’m outside of North America. How does the course work for participants living in other parts of the world, and in very different time zones?

So glad you asked! The first thing for you to know is, yes, we have people from all over the world participating in our online programs. On average, 40% of our participants live outside the U.S., and span over twenty countries.

Many participants have questions about making the timing of the program work. First, if the live call times don’t work for you, that’s no problem! You can access the recordings anytime. 

If you can’t attend live, but want to practice coaching skills with other members of the course, you can also connect with participants in our community forum who are looking to practice with others.

Over the years, our participants have shared again and again in their feedback that whether they participate live or via recordings (or some combination of both), our courses are absolutely transformative in giving them powerful new tools and learning for work and life.  

Still have questions? Send us a message (via the chat button on the bottom right corner of your screen) and we would love to chat with you.

What is the typical age of course participants?

First of all, if you are asking yourself this question and wondering if you’ll be in a different stage of life than the group, we want you to know you aren’t alone! This question comes up a lot for people considering our programs. The usual age range of course participants is 30s through 70s, with a strong cohort of participants in each decade. 

We have many participants who are mid-career and are moving into new career directions – and coaching is part of that for them. We also have many participants who connect with this community when they are on the verge of retirement or are thinking of pursuing a new calling in their 50s, 60s or beyond. You will be in good company and our private discussion group will allow you to connect with others who are at a similar stage in life to you.

Can I do this training if I am not a coach?

Absolutely! In fact this training has been designed to be useful both for coaches and those who work in other domains. Tara is passionate about people from diverse fields and industries learning core coaching skills that you can incorporate into your consulting, leading, managing, teaching, parenting, client/patient care – and more. This training is here to teach you to do just that. (Click here for more on this.)

If you are a coach already, this program will add to your existing training. You’ll learn Tara’s unique approach to coaching – the ideas, practices, mindsets, and tools that make it what it is – so that you can incorporate them into your own coaching work.

I don’t do so well with online and distance learning. Might this work for me?

It’s a great question. Here are a few things to keep in mind: The course materials are always simple to access. The course combines written materials, worksheets and exercises, live calls, and recorded audio and video learning. The variety of formats means you’ll be able to digest the material in ways that work for you.

Because our programs are highly experiential and interactive, we don’t experience the attrition or weak learning outcomes that many distance-learning programs do. Plus, some of the benefits of a distance-learning approach are that you’ll meet with like-minded individuals from all over the world, you can find more connection through gathering and meaningful interaction during these pandemic times, and you can learn/participate in a flexible way that works easily with your schedule.

Honestly, I feel intimidated and nervous about signing up.

You aren’t alone. Our self-doubts tend to show up when we are embarking on something unfamiliar, especially something that matters to our hearts. Know that having that inner critic chatter away in moments like these is very common. And also know that you are coming into a very welcoming, gentle community! If our past course participants are any indicator, by the end of our first meeting, those doubts will be quieted and you will be feeling exhilarated and joyful about being in the course!

Would it be better to do this after getting a coaching certification?

Not at all! The course is designed to teach material you can use without other coaching training, and this course will give you a really strong context and skillset to go into any other coaching training with.

I’m Wondering…

I want to keep using the tools/methodology I’m currently trained in. How will what I learn integrate with other models?

This course offers a set of tools and concepts that you can easily integrate into your own approach to managing, mentoring, advising or coaching. For example, consultants can move between their traditional consultative mode and coaching conversations, when coaching would be a better fit for the clients’ needs. Therapists can apply the coaching tools and concepts, using their own theoretical orientation lens, to help clients clarify aspirations and values, shift into more generative mindsets, and create resonant action plans. Educators can teach content and advise students, weaving in a coaching approach when challenges around student motivation, career/educational path, or self-management, arise. Coaching can enhance and elevate any field of work where we are  supporting others – whether in their personal or professional goals.

How do you approach diversity and inclusion in your programs? And how do you do anti-racist work through this program?

Valuing diversity and inclusion has been a key part of our approach to programs from their inception. Here are some of the ways we’ve done that throughout the past several years:

  • We regularly gather feedback on the course experience from BIPOC individuals and ensure that the program is impactful, relevant and inclusive. We do this both through periodic deep dive conversations and quantitative course evaluation data.
  • Integrating discussions of culture, identity and bias throughout our modules.
  • A robust course scholarship program that serves individuals working in social justice, public service and activism, so that our trainings can help amplify work being done in those areas.

We also know there is a lot more that we can do – and we are committed to continuing our work in this area. Our continued endeavors includes ongoing learning about DEI best practices, advising from our DEI consultant, continued feedback gathering from participants, and ongoing evolution of our curriculum.

I like the idea of this course a lot, but I have Zoom fatigue.

We understand. We are proud to say that we hear a lot of feedback that our Zooms are like no others! People frequently comment on how the time flies by, and how they feel truly nourished by our online gatherings. There are a few reasons why:

  • We keep things highly interactive, so you are never just sitting in front of a screen for long periods – you will be writing, reflecting, experimenting with exercises, practicing new coaching skills in small groups, asking questions, and more. 
  • We take care to take regular body breaks, to stand up and stretch together. Part of Zoom fatigue comes from forgetting we have bodies that need to move! 
  • We keep the content potent and efficient, so every moment is worthwhile. 

What if my life gets super busy during the course, and I can’t complete it at this time?

All program materials are yours for life – so even if an unexpected change in your schedule happens, you can still get the full value of the program when you are ready. We’ve also structured the program so that you can easily skip a module (or more) and join us wherever we are in the program, then catch up on the other modules when you have time.

What’s your refund policy?

If within the two weeks of the program, you find the program isn’t working for you, and you have submitted your worksheets from the course to date, you may request a cancellation of your membership and receive a refund.

I’m just not sure.

Well, if you were my coaching client I’d ask you to:

  • Check in with your body: How does the idea of registering feel in your body – good and exciting? Good but scary/exhilarating? Those are good signs.
  • Notice what part of you is hesitant: Your inner wisdom? Listen up. Inner critic? Voice of fear? Not good voices to listen to. Question what they are saying. Especially question any voices telling you that you somehow don’t measure up to being in this group, or won’t be able to “do it right,” or that the time to do this has to be just right.
  • Explore: Is there a particular fear or worry you have? If so, write it down and examine it in the light.
  • Ask yourself: If you knew you couldn’t fail at this, and that you’d belong beautifully with the group – what would you do?

MOBILE: Join us for
The Coaching Way

You can register with one payment of $1425 USD, or with three monthly payments of $489 USD.

Last Day to Register: March 28th

The Coaching Way:
Coming Soon!

If you’re interested in joining us for the
next session of The Coaching Way (starting in 2025),
click the button below to get on the advance notice list.
We’ll send you details about the upcoming session
(including early bird discounts!).

DESKTOP: Join us for The Coaching Way

You can register with one payment of $1425 USD, or with three monthly payments of $489 USD.

Last Day to Register: March 28th

The Coaching Way: Coming Soon!

If you’re interested in joining us for the next session of The Coaching Way (starting in 2025),
click the button below to get on the advance notice list.
We’ll send you details about the upcoming session (including early bird discounts!).

For questions about this program, please contact playingbig (at) taramohr (dot) com