What is coaching?

Coaching is a growing profession. Even the most successful people have coaches. Coaches:

• Help people set better goals and then reach those goals.
• Ask their clients to do more than they would have done on their own.
• Help their client to focus so as to produce results more quickly.
• Provide clients with the tools, support and structure to accomplish more.
• Create accountability for achieving great result

Why should I hire a coach?

You should hire a coach because:

• You want more, or less… of something.
• You want to work with a professional who can truly support you.
• You want to bridge a gap or overcome a hurdle.
• You want to advance in your career.
• You want to grow… even more.
• You want to do things more easily and effectively.
• You want to “get outa your own way…”
• You want to have more life balance.
• You want to have a life plan that excites you.
• You want to figure out “who you want to be when you grow up!”
• You want to be at the absolute top of your game!
• It’s as simple as that. Coaches help a client get there, quickly.

How is coaching different from consulting? Therapy? Sports coaching? A best friend?

Consulting. Consultants are experts who advise clients. With coaching, we recognize that you are the expert on YOUR hopes and dreams, and what “makes you tick.” Coaches are experts on the methods that will help you get there. Unlike consulting, the coach stays with the client to help implement the new skills, changes and goals, to make sure that they really happen.

Therapy. Coaching is not therapy. Coaches don’t work on “issues” or get into the past or deal much with understanding human behavior. Coaching is about moving forward, not necessarily delving into the past. That knowledge may come as clients move forward toward personal and professional goals that will give them the life they really want, but it should not be the focus of a coaching relationship.

Sports. Coaching includes several principles from sports coaching, like teamwork, going for the goal, being your best. Unlike sports coaching, most professional coaching is not competition or win/lose based. Coaches focus on strengthening their clients’ skills, not on helping them beat the other team. Coaches look for win/win solutions.

Best friend. A best friend is wonderful to have. But is your best friend a professional who you will trust to work with you on the most important aspects of your life and/or business? Is your best friend unbiased? Have both – a best friend and a coach. They are not one and the same.

What happens when I hire a coach?

Many things, but like most coaching clients:

• You take yourself more seriously.
• You take more effective and focused actions immediately.
• You stop putting up with what is dragging you down.
• You build extreme self-confidence.
• You conquer habits that have not served you well.
• You become more balanced.
• You learn to own your attitude.
• You create momentum so that it’s easier to get results.
• You set better goals that are more exactly what YOU want.
• You take action. You achieve results-more than you expect.
• You change.

Why does coaching work?

Coaching works for several reasons:

• Synergy between the coach and client creates momentum.
• Accountability to yourself for taking positive action will lead you to self reliance
• Better goals are set-ones that naturally pull you toward the goal rather than goals that require the client to push himself or herself to the goal.
• Continued emphasis will help you change habits that haven’t served you well.
• Enhanced self confidence and attitude mastery open doors for amazing progress
• You develop new skills, and these skills translate into more success.

When does coaching work best?

Coaching has been demonstrated to have very powerful results when three factors are present:

1. You have a strong desire to develop your potential
2. There is a gap between where you are now and where you want to be, and
3. You are ready and willing to take action to achieve the results you want. In other words, you are willing to and expecting to change.

That is all that is really necessary for you to fill those gaps, and create a more satisfying and successful work and personal life.

Why is coaching becoming so popular?

Coaching is becoming popular for several reasons:

Many people are tired of doing what they think they “should” do and are ready to do something special and meaningful for the rest of their lives. One problem is that many can’t see what this is or, if they can, they can’t find a way to reorient their life around it. A coach can help them do both.

People are realizing how simple it can be to accomplish something that several years ago might have felt out of reach or like a pipedream. A coach is not a miracle worker (well, sometimes they are), but a coach does have a large tool kit to help the Big Idea become a Reality. Fortunately, people now have time and resources to invest in themselves in this kind of growth.

People enjoy having an unbiased confidant, advisor, and cheerleader who has the client’s best interests at heart.

Please, give me some context about coaching…

A personal coach does just what an athletic coach or music teacher does, only in a fuller and bigger way. A coach challenges you and takes the time to find out what winning in life means to you. A coach is your partner in living the life you know you can accomplish, personally and professionally. A coach is someone to hold you accountable for your life, to make sure you really do live up to your potential.

No matter where you are in life, there is always an opportunity or desire for more. More success, more money, closer relationships, a deeper feeling of meaning in life, etc. It is the nature of people to want to attain more, become more, be more, and we all struggle with how to get what we’re looking for. How to become even better…

Most people believe that “hard work and doing it on your own” are the keys to finding the life, success, money, or happiness that they seek. They believe that a price must be paid to attain what they want, and often that price is poor health, not having enough time to enjoy life, strained family relationships or lessened productivity. The saddest part is that, even though this effort may result in more of something, it is often not the something you had in mind, and you end up back where you started, or worse, further from your real intentions.

Athletes and performers know about this trap. They know they need someone else, a trained someone else to help them set goals, discover real needs, and work effectively toward ultimate goals of excellence. So, they are willing to hire a coach or a teacher. No serious athlete or musician would expect to progress very far without one.

Can a dependency be created between coach and client?

Not really. The client may “need” the coach in order to maximize an opportunity or accelerate their growth, yet not be “dependent” on the coach. Anyone who’s working on major changes “needs” structure, advice, support and a place to brag, so, in that sense, the coach is certainly helpful, but an emotional, psychological dependency is not created. The coach works with people who are just fine and strong enough on their own. Remember, we’re not resolving issues here. The coach is helping the client to create a better future: More success, more money, more fulfillments, and a higher quality of life.

Can coaching hurt someone?

No. Remember, coaches aren’t doing psychological work. They’re not trying to control the client’s thinking. They’re not cattle prods; they’re partners. They focus on the here and now, and the future. Your future. They are enablers.

Can I hire a coach just for a short-term, special project?

Yes. Some clients hire a coach to help them accomplish specific goals or projects. Usually, however, the client keeps working with the coach after that because there are even more interesting things to accomplish.

I think I’m already doing really well in my life.
Why would I need a coach?

You might not need a coach. And you might. Does Tiger Woods need a coach??? Are you doing what you most enjoy? Are you tolerating anything? Is life easy? Are you going to be financially independent within the next 15 years? Do you have what you most want? We’ve discovered that, often, people need to expect more out of their lives. A coach can help in this process. Tiger Woods is at the top of his game; he has a coach. Why shouldn’t you?