The world is full of them – life coaches, business coaches, empowerment coaches, career coaches, mindset coaches…the list goes on. It may seem overwhelming how many coaches are out there and which one to reach out to when you feel like you could use some help. Having been in the industry for five years now, I have put together a list of 6 things I think is useful to keep in mind while looking for one:
Ask yourself: what exactly is the change you're looking for?
What would you expect to be different after 6 months of working with a coach? Would you feel more confident? Would you like yourself more? Would you have a more successful business? The funny thing is that ANY coach should be able to help with these, because in its purest sense, a coach is there to help you access the answers you already have inside you. So why is it still worth asking yourself this question? One, because it’s good for you to pinpoint the change you’re looking for. And two - some coaches have areas they like working around more than others. Once you get a rough idea of what you’d like to change, it should be easier to know who to approach.
Without you feeling comfortable to open up and be honest during your sessions, no coaching process will be a success
Do your research
Now the search begins! Use Google, coaching directories, social media and ask around to get a list of coaches you like. Once you have a shortlist it’s time to dig deeper. Check out their website, social media and testimonials. Do the testimonials match your answer from the question above? It can be reassuring to know the coach helped people create similar change to the one you’re looking for.
Obviously, it’s important that the coach is credible (so yes, if qualifications are important to you, make sure you look out for those!) and appears to be someone you could see yourself opening up to. Because, guess what, without you feeling comfortable to open up and be honest during your sessions, no coaching process will be a success
Book a discovery call
Some call it a discovery call, others a ‘chemistry call’ – it’s all about you and the coach testing out whether you could work together. It helps to be able to experience a taster of actual coaching during this call to realise whether you would like more of it – but some coaches may only offer a fifteen-minute chat.
Even if you enjoyed your first discovery call, it’s important to connect with a few other coaches to see how you feel – even if every other call just reconfirms how much you enjoyed the first. This is what it’s about – every coach is going to run things a little differently and you want to make an informed decision and choose the best coach for YOU.
Keep looking, the right fit is out there. You’re likely to be investing time and money into this process. You want it to be right. And you deserve it, too.
Trust your gut
Were you buzzing with excitement after the call? Were you thrilled to finally have found someone who is going to help you create the change you so badly want? If not, then it’s not the right coach for you. Keep looking, the right fit is out there. You’re likely to be investing time and money into this process. You want it to be right. And you deserve it, too.
Did you get a follow up email from a coach you had a call with? Maybe you didn’t, but were hoping to? Whatever happened, don’t ignore how you feel. Especially at this stage, everything should feel right in your gut.
Ask your coach how they'll work with you
There are SO MANY ways coaches work with their clients. Some let you buy individual sessions, others only offer 3, 6 or 12-month programmes. These days most coaching takes place online but you might prefer face to face. Some will encourage emails/chat/WhatsApp between sessions, others will not respond outside of your appointment. You might get notes and homework or nothing at all. It’s important that you know what's possible, what you’re signing up for and that it works for you.
Look out for empty promises
There are coaches out there promising that within 30 days you’ll become the most confident version of yourself or that your business will pull in £20k a month. Well, call me a cynic, but NO ONE can promise you this. Sure, they can promise doing all they can to help you with it, but results are entirely up to YOU (which I think is awesome, because, in my experience, clients can achieve much more than they thought they could ;-))
The process of finding the right coach is similar to online dating. (Or at least the way I used to do It back in the day!) It’s a process, it takes time, and a certain level of clarity from you in terms of what you want. But once it feels right, you WILL know. And you’ll be so excited for the coach-coachee relationship to change your life for the better.