5 Ways to Prevent Your Coaching Experience from Going Down the Toilet
- Have a reason to want coaching
It can be that you simply don’t like something the way it is and can’t seem to change it. Thinking it through it by yourself has you going in circles. You’re smart enough to figure it out, but you still can’t. You’re stuck and want to be unstuck.
With no reason for coaching, it’s impossible to get a return on investment.
A colleague hired me to coach him for a short while to experience it. The idea, perhaps, being that he might bring me in to support the people he supports. But he didn’t have a reason to be coached. Or at least didn’t share one, though asked several times. In the end, I think he was less than impressed. And why wouldn’t he be? He had no reason and therefore no improvement to experience. My bad for agreeing to the arrangement. Lesson learned.
Is every aspect of your life hunky dory? Then you, my lucky friend, do not need a coach.
2. Have a goal to work toward
A goal differs from a reason in specificity. But you don’t have to know exactly what that goal is before you start talking to coaches. A good coach can help you define your goal. It’s not uncommon to be out of sorts without knowing specifically what would make you feel…sorted.
The goal is your destination and it’s common for the goal to shift or change throughout the engagement. You can cover a lot of ground if you choose to.
3. Expect work, not magic
Being 100% focused and motivated at every session is highly unlikely. But you have to be engaged to do the work both inside and outside of the sessions. Your coach should be ready to help you with motivation when needed. It’s part of our job.
4. Speak up
Every aspect of coaching works better when you share what’s on your mind. Including being ready to tell your coach you’re not getting what you need — even if you’re not sure what you need. Your coach should listen, collaborate, and adjust to get you what you want and need.
5. Trust the process
Be leery of a coach who tells you “We’ll just figure it out as we go along.” There should be a proven process to follow and trust. (If you don’t trust it, choose a different coach with a different process).
My process, developed over a couple of decades, assures measurable progress when followed. It’s a proven framework that houses the sessions. Each session is loosely structured, adapting to current needs and priorities.
I work with small business CEOs and leaders who want to have an ideal worklife without sacrificing a personal life. At one point work was sucking the life out of me and my life paid the price. Doesn’t have to be that way, though. Happy to talk anytime.
