6 Steps to Choosing the Right Coach for You

I am passionate about Coaching and believe that every coach should be working with their own coach.

Coaching can be a very powerful and transformational experience if you find the right coach for you. And it can be ineffectual and unpleasant if you don’t!

I recently started looking for a new personal coach because I felt I needed a new challenge. It’s a while since I’ve done this and was a really interesting experience.

The prospective coaches I had chosen to talk to were all highly experienced, all ICF credentialled and their responses were very different.

I asked them all the same set of questions which gave me a way of comparing them and determining whch was the best fit for me right now.

I took time to think it over before deciding because I know it is so important for me to be working with a coach who “gets”me.

As a Leadership Coach who has been coaching for over 20 years I often get asked the question “ how do I choose a coach?” and going through the process again for myself has given me some new insights which I thought I’d share….

When searching for a coach how do you choose in a market that is saturated , where anyone and everyone is calling themselves a coach these days?

Here are 6 steps to choosing the right coach for you.

Step 1: Decide on your reason for wanting to work with a coach 

What problems and issues do you want help with?

What are you looking for in a coach?

Do you actually want coaching? or do you need mentoring instead?

Step 2: Be clear about the type of coach you want to work with 

Are you looking for a leadership coach, a relationship coach, a business coach, a weight loss coach, a wealth coach, a social media coach etc?

Do you want a coach who has a professional credential? ( ICF, EMCC etc)

How do you want them to coach you- do you want them to have a softly softly approach or be challenging?

Step 3: Do your research

Ask your friends, colleagues and others you trust for recommendations.

Use LinkedIn, Google, Facebook.(If you want to work with an ICF Credentialled Coach you can use that as a search term)

Search the ICF on-line directory of coaches.

Step 3: Identify potentials

When you have identified several potential coaches for you then find out about their coaching training, qualifications, and credentials.

Find out if  they have experience of working with people like you who have issues like yours.

Look at their testimonials and LinkedIn recommendations

If you know someone who has given them a testimonial contact them to have a chat about their experience of working with the coach concerned.

Step 4:  Arrange to have a chat with your potential coach

Request a chat so that you can ask questions and get to know them to see if they are a good fit for you and if you are a good fit for them

I spoke to six different coaches before I decided.

Find out the sort of programmes they run and for how long.

How often are the coaching sessions? how long are they?

What sorts of coaching tools do they use?

What are their values as a coach?

Ask what experience they have in working with issues like yours. What’s important to them in a client?

What is their track record? Do they work with their own coach?

Then I suggest that at the end of your conversation you say that you need time to think it over and you’ll get back to them.

Step 5: Go with your gut instinct

When you have completed the previous steps then I believe you should go with your intuition.

Take time to review how you felt with each potential coach. Did you get a good feeling after chatting with them?

If you did then chances are they will be a good coach for you.

Alternativley if you got a feeling that it’s not quite right then it probably won’t be.

Listen to your gut instinct because the relationship with your coach is a very personal one.

STEP 6: Let them know your decision

Contact the coach you have decided to work with and ask what the next steps are to begin working together.

Then celebrate in finding the right coach for you!

I get asked ” but what if a coach is not right for me. How do I tell them without offending them?”

Contact the coach to thank them for their time and let them know that you have decided that another coach is a better fit for you right now.

All of the professional coaches I know never take it personally becauser they know it has to be right for both of you.

I offer a number of free Transformational 1-2-1 Coaching Conversations every month for people to get a feel for what it is like to work with me.

They bring an issue and I coach them because the best way to find out what it is like to work with me is to experience my coaching.

If they want to continue to work together that’s great, and if they choose not to that’s fine too. They will have had a valuable experience of coaching.

I get a sense of what they are looking for and whether or not we are a good fit for each other.

If I feel I can’t help I refer them on to someone who can.

Working with the right coach for you should be a transformational experience and it is a considerable investment in both time and money so it’s worth taking the time to get it right.

Until next time,

with best wishes for your success,

Cath

Cath Daley Ltd.

P.S. If you want to find out more and have a free 90 min Transformational Coaching Conversation with me click here to reserve one now.