Many professionals have a Coach. It isn’t a luxury; it isn’t an option. Many professionals with forward-looking careers have a Coach. Coaching is a relationship that takes you to a level of excellence, or as an old friend of mine used to say, “From your possibilities to your impossibilities.” However, all Coaching Relationships are not created equal. In simple language, some are more productive than others while frankly, some are nothing more than an excuse to have a conversation without results. Coaching is more than a series of questions. Coaching is more than the Coach asking you questions. Coaching is about tangible results.
How do you ensure that the Coaching Relationship you have or are entering into is going to produce the best results for you? What questions should you ask?
Let’s start briefly with why would you hire a Coach. Specifically, you may want to hire a business coach to:
- Build and improve your business or performance with your ideas
- Get personal attention from someone who knows and understands your role and your business
- Learn how to turn your ideas into action
- Gain confidence, especially as you move out of your comfort zone
- Hear unbiased opinions intended to improve your business without an ulterior agenda that doesn’t involve your business.
Coaches are ideal for any type of role, Sales, Executive, Technician, Manager, Business Owner, etc. Business or Executive Coaches, rather, good business or executive coaches, are typically experts at what it takes to make a business successful. They understand how all of the different pieces of the business must come together to ensure not only business success, but sustainable business success.
The internet hosts plenty of information on learning how to manage or run a business or career. It is overwhelmingly generic and lacks the specific tie-in to your specific organization. A great amount of damage can occur by trying a generic or one-size-fits-all approach to operating any business. A good Certified Business or Executive Coach can assist you greatly in developing personalized, customized solutions and processes that are, not only unique to you and or your business, but also that will work for your company.
But what about those questions? Here are some you should ask any Coach you are considering or one you have now:
What are your credentials? – Are they certified as a Coach? Do they have a Bachelors or Masters Degree? How long have they been Coaching? “I was good at what I did so I decided to be a Coach” is not an acceptable answer.
How effective are you? – Coaching is about results and results must be measurable. How will the Coach work with you to develop quantifiable and measurable goals? Do they have a Case Study or an example of that? “It depends ” is not an acceptable answer
What is your professional background? – Have they worked at the same level as you? Are they experienced in business? What specifically is that experience? “I took a college course or class” is not an acceptable answer
What is your Coaching process? Some coaches get around fixing your problems or issues by manipulating you into how they want to fix your problems. An adept coach may well “throw a suggestion” onto the table for discussion giving you the opportunity to accept or reject it, but those who want a specific outcome and who play word and question games to manipulate you toward that suggestion are wasting your time.
Hiring a Coach is a serious step that can have a tremendous impact on your Business or Career. When selecting or continuing with your Coach, it is important that you make the right choices. If you’d like to learn more about Identifying, Selecting, and Working With a Busines Coach download our free epub.