What should you look for in a Coach
What should you look for in a Coach?
I used to believe that people gave little or no thought to finding themselves a coach or really understand the benefits that coaching can provide. However, this simply is not true. As our lives have become increasingly hectic and more pressured, the coaching profession is seeing more people exploring and experiencing first hand the benefits of this relatively new industry.
For those who would like to appreciate the benefits of professional coaching, this article provides information around what you should be looking for in a coach.
Coaching is a relatively young profession of only around 10 years’ standing. The world of coaching is almost completely unregulated and, as it stands today, anyone can become a coach from simply reading a book, attending a course or just deciding that their life skills sufficiently qualify them to coach others.
Given the current lack of regulation, your challenge will be to determine whether a coach is any good, whether they meet professional standards or work within an ethical framework.
Professional Affiliation
Whilst it is acknowledged that this unregulated situation cannot continue and as coaching services become more widely used and recognised, there will be drive for increased regulation and accreditation. There are already a number of associations and coaching bodies that provide recognition and support to their members, such as the International Coaching Federation (ICF) or the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC). When considering a coaching service, you should ensure that the bodies are made up of professional members and not tied or affiliated to one commercial organisation or training company.
According to the ICF: ‘Often using a coach that has not been formally trained results in an inadequate or ineffective coaching experience for clients.’
By being formally trained and aligning themselves with a coaching body such as the International Coaching Federation (ICF) there is a benefit to both myself as a coach and my clients as we abide to the ICF code of ethics, setting out a framework of what is and should be expected from the coaching relationship.
Track record
A good indication of a coach’s ability is to ask about their coaching of previous clients; simply ask to read testimonials and recommendations from current and past clients.
I have heard some professionals and clients say that you should look for a coach who has experience of the same industry or work environment. If you are looking for a mentor I would agree with this. However coaching is about challenging, taking action and being held accountable, it is not necessary to come from the same background to achieve this. In fact I think that it can be beneficial to have different perspectives as this can lead to new possibilities!
As long as you can communicate effectively with your coach, you should not just select a coach based on your comfort zones, if you stay comfortable there is an argument to say that we get lazy!
I believe that all of us do or would benefit from having a coach. If you are considering employing the services of a coach, be diligent in asking the coach if they have been specifically trained in coaching skills and currently hold or are in the process of acquiring an ICF credential.
Don't be misled in thinking a coach is competent because they have other professional credentials or set high fees!
However there is only one guaranteed way to know what coaching could do for you. Try it?
What should you look for in a Coach - To learn more about this author, visit Cyril Dunworth's Website.
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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