How 1-2-1 Coaching For Dads Helps Your Business
Inspiring Dads specialises in paternity coaching for businesses and organisations, supporting ‘first year fathers’ to process the emotional and practical upheaval of fatherhood, regardless of whether they are first time dads or not.
Within the coaching industry, this type of work is typically described as “Parental Transition Coaching”
Parental Transition Coaching blends coaching and mentoring approaches to create time and space for coachees to reflect on their changed (and evolving) circumstances and develop tailored solutions to help navigate competing priorities between work and home life.
1 to 1 coaching for dads creates a judgment free environment which supports open and honest conversations, exploring the pressures of modern day fatherhood.
Typically, for men who have taken extended parental leave, these conversations will include a focus on sharing caregiving and gender equality in the home as they seek to solve the challenge of “how to be a great dad, without sacrificing a great career.”
Providing 1 to 1 coaching for your new dads contributes to improved performance and retention and can support your positioning as an employer of choice for new parents.
If you’re offering extended parental leave for men, having a coaching or mentoring programme is essential to support the transition in and out of leave. Why chance it all going wrong for your employee?
Top Tip…
Don’t limit coaching to individuals who take a minimum of 6 months leave.
It’s not inclusive and doesn’t help gender equality.
Moving away from ‘perks’ for Mums
Typically, business spend in support of parents is focused on enhanced maternity leave, return to work coaching for mums, women's leadership development and recruitment, but this business spend isn’t effective because at the heart of the problem - success at work often looks like a ‘traditional’ masculine stereotype of long hours and zero caring responsibilities.
Way too often we assume women aren’t suitable for ‘important’ roles because we assume that if they become mums they will want flexible or part time work and extended leave. These assumptions hurt parents and non-parents alike, men and women. It limits choice and opportunity for everyone.
A young female colleague of my wife, Lisa, reflected on this damaging assumption:
“When we first met, I didn’t think Lisa had children,
because I didn’t think a mum could do this job.”
Coaching fosters a more inclusive parenting culture, benefiting both the individual, the workplace, and the wider community.
We deliver coaching to organisations including:
How Our Coaching Can help your dads
✅ Manage the emotional and practical impacts of fatherhood.
✅ Build meaningful and balanced relationships at home.
✅ Cope with the childcare logistics of being part of a dual-income couple.
✅ Work out how to be successful at work and at home.
✅ Create healthy boundaries to facilitate performance in all aspects of their lives.
What Topics Are Typically covered?
Before leave…
Reflecting on hopes and fears of fatherhood.
Strengthen relationships at work in preparation for taking leave.
Creating and communicating a handover plan.
Keeping in touch during leave to ensure continued visibility where appropriate.
Setting up a support network and communication plan.
Preparing for the parental leave culture shock.
Returning from leave…
‘Reconnecting’ – sharing of experiences, highs and lows and key lessons.
Assessing options for returning to work.
Understanding any changes in personal and family values.
Preparing ‘return to work’ meetings with managers.
Preparing for the return to work – the practical considerations (childcare, contingency plans, time management)
Working on relationships and visibility.
Longer term objectives…
Identifying the benefits and challenges of work to you and your family.
Are all the factors that lead to a longer-term healthy work / family ‘balance’ in place?
Assessing and understanding career direction (and changes to the plan).
Assessing time management skills needed to manage work / family ‘balance’.
Identifying and managing stress points.