Are You Ready for Life Coaching?

"Vision without action is a daydream
Action without vision is a nightmare"
Japanese proverb

Written by Joy Broughton, Life Coach

If you are new to Coaching, or you're considering working with a Coach for the first time, you may feel a little overwhelmed. Most people are intimidated when first considering the question, "Am I ready for Life Coaching?" To aid you in your decision I am providing some information to help you learn more about what kind of people are working with Coaches, what Coaching is, and what Coaching isn't. In reading this, hopefully you will have a better understanding of the coaching process and will be able to determine if you are ready.

Who Works with a Coach?

Whether you're a business owner, an executive with a firm, a student just graduating from college or simply a person who needs help moving forward, Coaching can be an excellent way to help you gain more control in your life. The questions are; "Do you have an opened mind? Are you ready and willing to change? And are you ready to make a commitment to a plan that will get you where you want to go?"

Over the past 14 years I have helped; a top executive at Arthur Anderson make the transition to going into business with her husband; a bookkeeper give herself permission to be a Nanny because she loves children; a stock broker to relinquish a little control in order to be more effective in his firm; an attorney to become happier with his work by simply changing his area of specialty from family law to corporate identity and copyright law. The list goes on and on. The common thread with all these people is that they had an opened mind. They were all willing to explore different possibilities for themselves. They were willing to take a good hard look at their lives, overall.

I have worked with lawyers, CEO's, financial advisors, systems analysts, students, chaplains, hospital executives, therapists, other coaches, and many others from all walks of life. It has been my experience that the most successful clients I've worked with have been people who are ready to make decisions about their lives. They are open to change, open to meeting the challenges along the way, open to asking for support and assistance, and willing to admit that they don't have all the answers. They are people who listen to a question or statement and ask, "Now what?" rather than, "Yes, but."

What Coaching Is

The Coaching profession is booming. The growth in the past 10 years has been phenomenal. In 1995 there were a reported 1000 full time coaches working in America. By 2000 that number had grown to 10,000 plus and the numbers are increasing dramatically. Why the demand? What has fueled this growth? In short, dealing with life and people changing jobs, careers, homes, and even relationships as quickly as they change channels on television is a big part of the reason for the demand.

Today, people are so busy that they hardly have time for their families let alone friendships. Whereas before, we may have turned to a friend, a confidant to talk about big decisions we have to make. Now our friends are too busy. Everyone's, too busy. Plus, it's rare to find a mentor, a peer who is on a similar track and can offer guidance. Yet, the pressure to make decisions and get-on-with-it may mean finding outside support. A new perspective may be greatly needed. Coaching fills this need. When you hire a Coach, you suddenly have a new pair of eyes to see with, and you have someone in your corner who's giving you their time and listening to you deeply, helping you create a plan, holding you accountable and helping you stay focused over time.

One of my clients, a consultant who was turning himself into a Personal Coach, put it this way, "I valued the fact that you asked me to define the problem in concrete, daily reality terms. This made me face the problem in a new way, on the earth rather that in my mind. This made me see my challenges more clearly."

When you hire a Coach, you enter into an agreement to work collaboratively with that person to achieve your goals. If you're not ready to set goals yet, your Coach can help you get ready by doing some brainstorming first and examine the possibilities to help you clarify what your options are. A good Coach will usually have exercises to help guide you through the process and help you identify what you really want. The coaching process is specifically designed to help people make better decisions. The real work goes on between sessions while you're in action following your plan and report the results in the next session with your Coach.

During the Coaching process, the Coach will ask many questions related to your life, your work, your health, your finances, and your desires. The goal of the Coach is to get to that one thing that is going to motivate you to move forward. Coaches enter this field because they are people who want to help. They are motivated by growth themselves. Many of them come from helping professions; therapists, consultants, corporate executives, social workers. It can be helpful to you to know the background of the Coach. In addition to asking questions about the person's background, I would suggest asking three additional questions; 1) What is your method of Coaching your clients? 2) Why did you choose the coaching profession? 3) Who is your ideal client? Coaches love questions. Don't hesitate to ask more.

The Coaching process is usually set up by scheduling one session per week spread out over a period of time, usually 3 to 6 months. The cost will range from $300 to $600 per month depending on the length of the session and the fee of the Coach. It is important to remember that the commitment to the process must be made clearly by both the Coach and the Client. You are in this together. In many way, a Coach is a good mentor, someone who is skilled in leadership and facilitation roles as well as skilled in finding strategies to help you get results. Good Coaches are not a dime a dozen. It takes tremendous skill and an intimate knowledge of what motivates people to make a good Coach.

What Coaching Is Not

The biggest mistake people make in hiring a Coach is in thinking that by hiring someone to coach them, that will solve the problem (whatever the problem is). I had one man say to me, "I've become complacent in my job, so I think I need to hire you to hold me accountable for achieving my goals." Well, by hiring me, he may achieve his goals, but that may not address the complacency. It could be that he's burned out in his current profession. Or maybe he needs more balance in his life, more fun, more personal time, more creative outlets. And if he's simply not willing to keep an opened mind, he may not gain the full benefit from working with a Coach.

Coaching is not a quick fix. Coaching takes time and patience just like everything else in life. Many professionals have gotten to where they are because they know how to "make things happen." And then, one day, the old way doesn't work anymore. I have seen many people come to the place that Dante, and the beginning of the "Divine Comedy", described as; "In the middle of my life I awoke in a dark wood, where the true way was wholly lost." There is no quick fix for a transition. But there can be support, very effective support from a skilled Coach.

Coaching doesn't work for people who are set in their ways. Being stubborn and hiring a Coach is an oxymoron. It simply doesn't mesh. Whether you hire a Coach to stay on track with your goals or to help you through a life transition, it won't work if your mind is closed. If you find yourself saying "Yes, but" a lot, you'll need to find a way to change that to "And now what?" before you hire a Coach.

Coaching is not therapy. When you're stuck in the mud, a therapist will come along and say "How do you feel about this?" Whereas a Coach will come along and hand you a shovel. Sometimes it is appropriate to put concentrated effort in identifying what your feelings are. Some people have emotional blocks that prevent them from moving forward in life. Therapy can be an effective avenue for working through emotions. Rather than delving into the past, Coaches prefer to work right here in the present helping you define what you want for your future and what you need to do now to get there. Those who are clear of major emotional blocks and are committed and disciplined report results -- sometimes quicker than they imagined.

The bottom line is, Coaching works very well for people who are opened minded. Without that the process of coaching can be very frustrating for you and for the Coach. Coaching is like a gateway into the future. If you're willing to step through the portal, staying in the present moment as much as possible, opened to the sign posts along the way, then you are ready to seriously considering Life Coaching.