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A structured approach to coaching, based on psychological research.
The cognitive and behavioral approach is based on explicit models and research dedicated to coaching. It allows for understanding what maintains a difficulty, choosing which practices to evolve, and evaluating progress in situations that matter to you.
Cognitive and behavioral coaching is the subject of specific research. The meta-analysis by Tomoiagă and David (2023), covering 26 studies, reports favorable effects on the studied outcomes, while highlighting the diversity of contexts and the need for more rigorous studies. More broadly, de Haan and Nilsson (2023) synthesized 37 randomized studies that support the utility of professional and executive coaching.
UNREST relies on this research to define explicit objectives, choose interventions, and monitor progress. Each engagement is evaluated based on the practices worked on and the results expected in its own context.
Developing the empowerment of your talent
UNREST supports individuals in professional situations that put their practices to the test. We work on interpretations and habitual reactions to develop other ways of acting. For executives and managers, the support focuses in particular on decision-making, delegation, and the exercise of authority.
How?
→ Start from a specific situation. We examine the episodes that cause you difficulty and define a goal useful to your activity. The framework specifies the desired progress and, when the company funds the coaching, the shared expectations and confidentiality rules.
→ Understand your reactions. We look at what you think, feel, and do in these situations. Interpretations such as "asking for help will discredit me" are examined based on facts, your experience, and the real constraints of your role.
→ Prepare and try other responses. Depending on the need, we use the examination of automatic thoughts, problem-solving, or role-playing. An action is prepared in the session, tried at work, and then analyzed together.
→ Consolidate progress. We monitor changes in the selected situations and prepare for those where your old habits might resurface. You develop benchmarks to continue this work independently.
What this changes in practice
A person systematically accepts requests from colleagues, then finds it difficult to keep their commitments. Coaching allows them to examine what they anticipate if they refuse or negotiate a deadline, to prepare their response, and to try it out on a specific request. If all requests are presented as priorities, clarification with the manager may also be necessary.
Desired result
You have more responses when facing problematic situations. Progress is measured in your activity: a conversation previously avoided takes place, a limit is set, a decision is made, or delegation is maintained.
Evolving the habits that complicate working together
Team coaching focuses on the habits that facilitate or complicate working together. We help the team understand its interactions and evolve its practices for cooperation, decision-making, and handling disagreements. Some difficulties are built into interactions: disagreements are expressed after meetings, decisions are regularly reopened, or everyone waits for someone else to take the initiative. Team coaching allows these situations to be addressed with the people involved. It is particularly aimed at operational teams, project teams, and executive committees.
How?
→ Establish a shared assessment. Interviews, member feedback, and observation of work situations help clarify the difficulties. We distinguish between facts, interpretations, and expectations that remain implicit.
→ Understand relational sequences. A follow-up can be experienced as control, provoke withdrawal, and then lead to further follow-ups. We help the team identify these sequences and the points where they can act differently.
→ Choose collective practices to evolve. The team specifies what it expects in the situations concerned: how to express a disagreement, who arbitrates, what information to share, or when to ask for help.
→ Try and adjust in current operations. New practices are tested in meetings, decisions, or real files. Their utility is discussed based on observed effects, with adjustments made when the chosen rule complicates work or remains underutilized.
What this changes in practice
An executive committee regularly revisits decisions that were announced as collective. The support may reveal that silence is interpreted as agreement, while several members keep their reservations for informal discussions. The team can then test an explicit objection period before arbitration, clarify who decides, and agree on the circumstances that justify reopening the subject.
Desired result
The team has cooperation rules that it has tested and knows how to re-examine. Progress is visible in how disagreements are handled, commitments are kept, and difficulties are resolved without systematically shifting them onto one person or another department.
Bringing together the stakeholders on whom change depends
Organizational coaching supports changes that involve multiple teams or functions. We work with the relevant stakeholders on their mutual perceptions, coordination rules, and the trade-offs necessary to move forward together.
How?
→ Define the problem and scope. We clarify the difficulty to be resolved, the stakeholders involved, and the decisions they are empowered to make. The sponsor clarifies the room for maneuver and the trade-offs that fall under their responsibility.
→ Discuss recurring operational patterns. We compare perspectives on critical situations: requests that circulate without decisions, recurring escalations, and incompatible commitments. Each party's interpretations are confronted with the constraints and practices of others.
→ Build adjustments between stakeholders. Work may focus on mutual commitments, escalation criteria, decision-making rights, or coordination methods. Changes requiring governance decisions are submitted to the authorized managers.
→ Support implementation. Stakeholders test the adjustments within a defined scope, examine their effects, and correct what remains difficult. We prepare the handovers and the regulation periods necessary to continue the work after the support ends.
What this changes in practice
After a reorganization, sales teams promise deadlines that operations struggle to meet. Each function blames the problem on the other's lack of understanding. The coaching allows them to examine how commitments are made, what information is missing, and which objectives conflict, then to test a validation and arbitration rule for the files in question.
Desired result
Stakeholders have clearer operating agreements and the means to address their disagreements. The organization develops its capacity to adjust its practices throughout transformations, with explicit responsibilities and monitoring of the effects on activity.
UNREST at a Glance
Is this support reserved for executives?
What does "cognitive and behavioral" mean?
How does this differ from psychotherapy?
How do you measure progress?
What is the S.H.A.R.P.® Framework?
What Is the UNREST Suite?
The First Behavioral Simulator for Leaders, Powered by Your Cognitive Twin
The Leadership Stress Test (LST) is the first pre-event behavioral simulator designed for leaders. It helps you anticipate and counteract the cognitive and behavioral patterns that can undermine your judgment amid uncertainty and change.
Identify Your Cognitive and Behavioral Patterns
Surface the automatic responses and decision-making reflexes that take over in high-stakes situations, before they distort your judgment.
Anticipate How You’ll Act Under Pressure
See how pressure is likely to shape your response and protect the quality of your decisions as uncertainty rises.
Expand Your Adaptive Capacity
Test and rehearse alternative responses to broaden your range of action and act with clarity when the unexpected happens.
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