How Do You Select the Right Coach for You?
The benefits of coaching are widely recognised.
What is rarely addressed is how you, the consumer, can make sure you get the right coach.
This article will address some of the things you may find it beneficial to consider before engaging with a coach.
One of the first things to answer is why you want a coach in the first place.
What is it you want to achieve? Answering this question will help you determine what kind of coach will best meet your requirements.
There are numerous types of coaches dealing with everything from sport, business or your personal lifestyle.
On top of this there are transformational, executive, performance, business, career, life and other types of coach.
If you are an HR professional working for a medium or large organisation there is a chance that you will be asked whether it would be better to employ external coaches or train some of your own staff.
As an employee of such an organisation that does have internal coaches then you have to decide whether an internal or an external coach will best meet your requirements.
All of these complexities exist in a profession that is largely unregulated, so let's start at the beginning.
What is it you want a coach for? If you are an athlete who wants to improve their performance then an Executive Business Coach will not be right for you.
However, a performance coach may be - depending on whether they deal with athletic performance or business performance.
So, be very clear about what it is that you want.
First and foremost remember that YOU are the client, whether you are using an internal or external coach it is vital that you and your coach 'click', so do not be afraid to ask for a 'chemistry meeting'.
Good coaches will offer this anyway, to ensure that both you and they engage in a positive way.
It is, after all, a two-way process and this chemistry meeting is where you have the opportunity to get answers to all your questions.
Whether it is you or your organisation, someone will be paying the coaches' fees and you have every right to ask all the questions you need to until you are satisfied that you are engaging with the right coach.
What is rarely addressed is how you, the consumer, can make sure you get the right coach.
This article will address some of the things you may find it beneficial to consider before engaging with a coach.
One of the first things to answer is why you want a coach in the first place.
What is it you want to achieve? Answering this question will help you determine what kind of coach will best meet your requirements.
There are numerous types of coaches dealing with everything from sport, business or your personal lifestyle.
On top of this there are transformational, executive, performance, business, career, life and other types of coach.
If you are an HR professional working for a medium or large organisation there is a chance that you will be asked whether it would be better to employ external coaches or train some of your own staff.
As an employee of such an organisation that does have internal coaches then you have to decide whether an internal or an external coach will best meet your requirements.
All of these complexities exist in a profession that is largely unregulated, so let's start at the beginning.
What is it you want a coach for? If you are an athlete who wants to improve their performance then an Executive Business Coach will not be right for you.
However, a performance coach may be - depending on whether they deal with athletic performance or business performance.
So, be very clear about what it is that you want.
First and foremost remember that YOU are the client, whether you are using an internal or external coach it is vital that you and your coach 'click', so do not be afraid to ask for a 'chemistry meeting'.
Good coaches will offer this anyway, to ensure that both you and they engage in a positive way.
It is, after all, a two-way process and this chemistry meeting is where you have the opportunity to get answers to all your questions.
Whether it is you or your organisation, someone will be paying the coaches' fees and you have every right to ask all the questions you need to until you are satisfied that you are engaging with the right coach.