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How do you find and select the right coach for you?
Determine which factors are key for you:
There are two essential factors
to look for in selecting a coach:
-
You want someone to whom you feel you can
easily relate and create a very powerful
relationship.
-
You want someone who you trust will
listen to you,
keep your confidence and stay with
your agenda.
You must feel that these qualities
are present to develop the deep sense of confidence and comfort
you need for the coaching relationship to work for you.
Beyond these two essential qualities, there are
other factors that you should consider in selecting
a coach:
-
The coach's specialty area
or niche should be one that is
compatible with your needs (see
coaching specialties
for some examples). Many coaches feel that they can coach you on
anything. Their training in the coaching process makes them an
expert in the process and you are the world's best expert on yourself, so
what could be better than you working with a process expert?
Yet, if you are like most people, you probably have some ideas as to what
you want to work on. Accordingly, you are likely to feel like you
are making more progress if you work with someone who's specialty matches
your coaching interests.
-
The coach's
years of experience in helping
individuals or teams. The coach's experience in allied forms of
human or organizational development, such as psychotherapy, training or
consulting may be very relevant to enhancing your coaching experience.
-
The coach's
philosophy of coaching should be one that
makes you feel comfortable This includes what your
responsibilities and your coach's responsibilities are.
-
The coach's
process for coaching should be one that will work for you
(how sessions are conducted, frequency, availability between sessions,
etc.)
-
The coach should be able to
provide some
coaching success stories
(examples of individuals or teams who have done well and examples of how
the coach added value)
-
The coach's
specific coach training and
coaching credentials. There are many people who call
themselves coaches, yet have little or no specific coach training.
Some have evolved through the years to be credible, but coaches who have
completed training at an International Coach Federation (ICF) accredited
coaching school or who have an ICF-coaching credential are certified in
having been trained in the coaching process.
Avoid choosing based primarily on
these selection criteria:
-
Price:
Remember that you are planning to get benefits from the coaching services
that are going to enhance your life or business for many years to come.
If you would purchase the cheapest car at an auto dealer's lot, then you
probably are going to be resistive working with a coach.
-
Secret/Proprietary Coaching Process: There are a number
of excellent books that cover the processes used in life coaching and business coaching. Ask to
see the published peer-review studies that prove the secret/proprietary
process is more effective than the processes documented in publicly
available books (including some in our favorite
coaching books). Coaching is
about working with an individual or team. Each person or team is
unique, has unique needs and faces its unique situations. If the
coach has never worked with you before, how does the coach know that the
secret/proprietary coaching process fits you and your situation?
How to find a coach
You have probably gotten the idea by now that you owe it to
yourself to do more than simply look in the telephone directory or choose
the highest search engine ranked website you see. Here are a few tips
on finding a coach.
Places to start looking for a coach:
-
On the web: This
can be an excellent source. The highest ranked coaches that you see
through one of the search engines (i.e., Google, AOL or Yahoo!) got
there one of several ways: 1) They really know how to build a web site for search engine
marketing, 2) They hired an expert in search-engine optimization to bet
their site to the top, or 3) They paid to be ranked at the top. So, a high ranking is not a guarantee of
quality or fit for you, but it does mean they probably are fairly active
in coaching from the inquiries they receive through the internet. And you should
be able to learn about them, their specialty areas and their coaching
philosophy from their website.
-
Web
directories: There are many find-a-coach directories on
the web, including the ICF. Here are a couple of cautions: 1)
Many of these directories charge the listed coaches a yearly fee for
inclusion, so many excellent coaches avoid these directories, and 2)
Many of these directories allow the coach to claim to be a specialist in
an unlimited number of coaching specialties, so when you ask for an AD/HD
coach, the coach may have no experience in that area. Read the
coach's detailed bio to understand what her real skills and experience
are.
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Referrals
from your friends or colleagues
can be a good place to start. But
remember that they are referring people that they had a good experience
with - or have a good feeling about. You may have different needs or
be looking for a different fit in terms of personality. Also, if
your friend or colleague is still using the coach, think about whether any
topics may come up in your coaching that you will feel inhibited about
discussing with your coach because of the relationship you have with your
friend or colleague.
-
Referrals
from coaches you know and respect can be an excellent source. They
know other coaches and most are willing to refer you to coaches that have
impressed them. The best way to ask them is to simply state "I am
looking for a coach referral" so they realize from the start you are not
looking to work with them.
Interviewing a coach:
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Contact the coach and
take the coach's introductory coaching session
for no charge. This typically lasts 20 to 30 minutes for life
coaching and may last up to an hour for business/executive coaching.
During this time, ask questions to see
how well the coach satisfies the key factors that you believe you need in
a coach.
-
Let
the coach interview you during the introductory session.
This will give you a feel for how the coach will work with you.
Also, many coaches prefer to work with people whose coaching interests lie
within their area of specialty. many of these coaches will refer you
to coaches they know of who are more aligned with your coaching interests.
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Discuss fees, billing, and scheduling arrangements to see if
these will fits your needs. And review any satisfaction guarantees
the coach offers. Many coaches require an initial payment in advance
to insure that you are serious about coaching. See if your coach's
guarantee also covers return of your fees if either one of you feels the
coaching is not working out within the first few sessions.
View other
coaching concepts.
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