Potentiality Explored No.7 - How to pick a coach from a crowded field
This month's Potentiality Explored offers some of the things we ourselves have considered when choosing successfully from what can be a baffling space of offers and types.
So you’ve being thinking and realised something’s got to change at work or more generally in life. You know you a falling short of your full potential.
As coaches ourselves, we would say this, but as well as coaches we are also users of coaching services and can attest that there is a certain magic in the way a good coach offers space for us to think, enabling possibilities we only half believed were there. The impact over a course of sessions can be profound!
As you choose your coach you will need to think about these 4 steps
What kind of coach?
Are they legitimate and properly trained to offer the service?
Are they right for you?
What will it cost?
1. What kind?
A quick search and you will find life coaches, business coaches, finance coaches and career coaches to name a few. Its crowded. Check out last month’s Potentiality Explored for Team Coaching.
Before you begin looking, think about what you are trying to acheive and then match that to the coaching you need. For example:
If the need for change is centred in your business, executive coaching to help figure out how to rebalance priorities my be what you need
If its centred in personal achievement or finding new pathways and facing uncertainty life-coaching may help.
Matching your coach’s expertise and experience to your unique challenges can be beneficial but the main benefit is having a coach who understands what “being in your shoes” might feel like.
2. Is your coach legitimate?
Although many of us have experience of being guided by friends or colleagues without any coaching qualifications, for a focussed investment in a professional service, we recommend that you choose a coach who is qualified and whose diploma has been accredited by a regulatory body.
The International Coach Federation (ICF), the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC); and the Association for Coaching (AC) have together established the bar for ethics, competency, and experience, that you can trust.
When contracting with a coach to provide your service, do not hesitate to ask for proof of their qualifications, their insurance and their complaints procedures.
You may use your coaching to share sensitive and confidential information. Keep it safe!
3. Are they the right coach for you?
For coaching to work and before you invest, you need to know you can work together effectively. The so called Chemistry has to be right.
Most coaches offer some kind of introductory session to establish your respective values and attitudes. Use this time to ask questions to see if their values resonate with yours. Such as:
How did they came to coaching?
What do they like about it?
How long have they been doing it?
How would they describe their style of coaching?
Be ready to be asked questions by your coach such as:
What is making you seek coaching?
If it goes well how will you know?
How do you like to be made to think?
Both you and the coach will be asking yourselves: How do I/they want to be challenged? Does this feel right? If yes - great! If not, that’s okay. Keep looking.
4. What about the price tag?
You are investing in your future so figure out what you can afford. Discuss any issues regarding payment with your coach. In TopHat Discovery we have a saying: don’t let money get in the way of a good decision!
According to ICF, average prices in UK for coaches personal or life coaches average cost is between £125- 150 per hour although some people feel they should pay more so that it is reliably expensive! Corporate or executive coaching sponsored by businesses tend to be higher at between £200-260 per hour.
Like others, at TopHat Discovery we offer some charities, social enterprises, and education sectors access to lower rates. This depends on size and ability to pay. For example, THD offer reductions and uses some of its surplus to offer low cost coaching as part of our commitment to coach for social impact.
Your coach will send you a draft agreement before you commit to anything! This will inform you about their cancellation policies and much more. A good agreement sets up the relationship.
And finally..
Once you’ve chosen your coach, remember, success isn’t always instant or obvious or pleasant. A good coach will support you to dig deeper in ways that might not be comfortable; they may challenge your well constructed comfortable assumptions about yourself and others; they may feel like an overly honest mirror when you preferred the blurred moment.
If change were easy you wouldnt need a coach!
If you’d like a sounding board on where to start unlocking your potential further, or want to explore coaching with us, please contact us. At TopHat Discovery, we charge for the first session only when you choose to continue.
Food for thought:
The other morning, I was practicing Tai Chi on my terrace in London and drifted away. Here I was on planet Earth which was happily rotating on its axis and around our Sun as part of the solar system and also spinning around the wondrous Milky Way.
To come back to the same spot in space relative to the center of our galaxy would take me +/- 225 million years.
There is nothing like being in the present so I continued my practice.