Page 232 - Talane Miedaner - Coach Yourself to a New Career_ 7 Steps to Reinventing Your Professional Life (2010)
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220 HOW TO FIND OR BECOME A COACH
basic skills. Plenty of people are suddenly calling themselves
coaches when in fact they are therapists, counselors, or consul-
tants and have never completed a real coach-training program.
When you interview the coach, you should feel that you can tell
this person the whole truth. Is this a person you can confide in? A per-
son you trust and respect? Do you feel listened to and understood?
As a general rule, do not hire a close friend or a family member,
for the reasons already mentioned. You don’t want the coaching to
affect your relationship. You can always fire your coach, but you
can’t fire your cousin or uncle. Keep friends and family for love,
support, and encouragement.
Does this coach have the experience, skills, and qualifications
you are looking for? Don’t be afraid to ask to speak to some of the
coach’s clients for a recommendation, especially clients who had
success in the area you want to develop. Ask what is the coach’s style
and philosophy and whether he or she has any particular coaching
specialty. Some coaches specialize in relationships, some in work-
ing with creative clients, some with entrepreneurs, people with
head injuries—you name it. Whatever your particular need, you are
guaranteed that there is a coach out there who specializes in it.
Don’t worry about where the coach lives. Most coaches work by
telephone, as it is more effective and efficient than in-person meet-
ings. My clients are all over the globe, and most of them I’ve never
met in person. It makes no difference to the results they achieve.
If you aren’t having fun and seeing results with your coach, tell
your coach what you need from him or her. If that doesn’t work,
ask for a referral to a different coach. In the first few sessions, you
will typically assess your current situation and talk about where
you’d like to be. In a corporate setting, you may discuss how the
company goals work in relation to your own. You can expect your
coach to provide ongoing positive support and encouragement, to
ask you to go beyond where you’d normally stop, to press you to
try new skills, to provide follow-up discussion on the goals you are
working on, and to give you life work assignments every week. It
is also perfectly OK to tell your coach how you are best coached. I
usually ask my clients this anyway.