The Original Vocation Agency, 1531 Bittersweet drive, Greenfield, Indiana 46140
ph:317.462.6888
ph:317.462.6888
The Right Coach….
While hirng a coach to work with you in a specific area of your life can be extremely productive, it is important that you
hire the right coach. By hiring the right coach you will be setting yourself up to achieve goals that you may have previously
not even had, let alone thought not achievable. You can begin to really change your life in a positive way and start building
that foundation of how you want your life to look.
By doing a search on the Internet, you can find all sorts of coaching websites. You will find coaching organizations,
individual coaching sites and just about everything in between; it can be frustrating just trying to figure out what is what
and who is who. Below you will find some keys to understanding what you are looking at and information to help you find
the right coach for you.
Coaching Relationship
Remember that the coaching process is heavily dependant on the relationship that you can build with your coach. Given
that, you can’t just pick the first website that you run across. (unless it’s my website, of course…ok, just kidding...well,sort
of).
Organizational/Websites
You will inevitably find websites for ICF and CoachU and Findacoach during your search. These can be good places to find
coaches but again like anything, just because a person got their name listed does not make them right for you.
Credentials or Not
You will find some coaches that have a lot of certifications and letters after their names and you will find some that don’t
have any. While there is certainly nothing wrong with getting certified, I know from my 20+ years of working in
Information Technology that just because someone has letters after their name, it does not mean they know what they are
doing. The opposite is also true; some of the most talented professionals I ever worked with didn’t even go to college. If
formal education is important to you then coaches with their ACC, PCC and MCC certifications will probably appeal to you.
Most Coaching is Over the Phone
Since most coaching is done over the phone these days, you don’t have to limit your search to coaches that are in your
area. The coaching process can take place over the phone extremely effectively so look far and wide.
Group Coaching
Come coaches offer group coaching which can sometimes be a good option. Group coaching offers not only the
relationship that you build with your coach but also the support and relationships of the others in the class. The down side
to group coaching is that you risk getting a classmate that either dominates conversation or finds some other way to lesson
the experience for the others in the class
30 Minute Consultation
Most coaches will offer at least a 30 minute free consultation. The primary purpose of this consultation is too get a feeling
if the coach/client relationship can be built. Usually if you spend 30 minutes talking to a person you have a decent idea if
that person is someone that you can engage with. If the 30 minutes is spent mostly in silence, probably not going to be a
good fit. If the coach spends the whole 30 minutes talking about stuff that you really don’t care about, probably not going
to be a good fit. But, if you can get into a conversation about the coaching process, where you are in your life right now and
where you want to get, then you will probably be able to build a working relationship with that person.
This cannot be stressed enough, the coaching process is built on a trusting relationship, and if you cannot trust your coach
OR if you coach cannot trust that you will follow through with tasks or assignments that you are asked to do, then that will
not be an effective coaching process.
So, if you talk to a coach and don’t think they will be a good fit, don’t feel ashamed or embarrassed about not using that
coach. Any decent coach only wants to work with clients that they know will be a good fit. Likewise, please don’t be
offended if a coach determines that they don’t think you would be a good client for them. In that case, the coach should be
able to help you find some other coaches to talk to.
If you follow these guidelines you should be able to find the right coach for you. If you have additional questions, please
feel free to contact me.
Step back from Right Coach to Coaching Page
While hirng a coach to work with you in a specific area of your life can be extremely productive, it is important that you
hire the right coach. By hiring the right coach you will be setting yourself up to achieve goals that you may have previously
not even had, let alone thought not achievable. You can begin to really change your life in a positive way and start building
that foundation of how you want your life to look.
By doing a search on the Internet, you can find all sorts of coaching websites. You will find coaching organizations,
individual coaching sites and just about everything in between; it can be frustrating just trying to figure out what is what
and who is who. Below you will find some keys to understanding what you are looking at and information to help you find
the right coach for you.
Coaching Relationship
Remember that the coaching process is heavily dependant on the relationship that you can build with your coach. Given
that, you can’t just pick the first website that you run across. (unless it’s my website, of course…ok, just kidding...well,sort
of).
Organizational/Websites
You will inevitably find websites for ICF and CoachU and Findacoach during your search. These can be good places to find
coaches but again like anything, just because a person got their name listed does not make them right for you.
Credentials or Not
You will find some coaches that have a lot of certifications and letters after their names and you will find some that don’t
have any. While there is certainly nothing wrong with getting certified, I know from my 20+ years of working in
Information Technology that just because someone has letters after their name, it does not mean they know what they are
doing. The opposite is also true; some of the most talented professionals I ever worked with didn’t even go to college. If
formal education is important to you then coaches with their ACC, PCC and MCC certifications will probably appeal to you.
Most Coaching is Over the Phone
Since most coaching is done over the phone these days, you don’t have to limit your search to coaches that are in your
area. The coaching process can take place over the phone extremely effectively so look far and wide.
Group Coaching
Come coaches offer group coaching which can sometimes be a good option. Group coaching offers not only the
relationship that you build with your coach but also the support and relationships of the others in the class. The down side
to group coaching is that you risk getting a classmate that either dominates conversation or finds some other way to lesson
the experience for the others in the class
30 Minute Consultation
Most coaches will offer at least a 30 minute free consultation. The primary purpose of this consultation is too get a feeling
if the coach/client relationship can be built. Usually if you spend 30 minutes talking to a person you have a decent idea if
that person is someone that you can engage with. If the 30 minutes is spent mostly in silence, probably not going to be a
good fit. If the coach spends the whole 30 minutes talking about stuff that you really don’t care about, probably not going
to be a good fit. But, if you can get into a conversation about the coaching process, where you are in your life right now and
where you want to get, then you will probably be able to build a working relationship with that person.
This cannot be stressed enough, the coaching process is built on a trusting relationship, and if you cannot trust your coach
OR if you coach cannot trust that you will follow through with tasks or assignments that you are asked to do, then that will
not be an effective coaching process.
So, if you talk to a coach and don’t think they will be a good fit, don’t feel ashamed or embarrassed about not using that
coach. Any decent coach only wants to work with clients that they know will be a good fit. Likewise, please don’t be
offended if a coach determines that they don’t think you would be a good client for them. In that case, the coach should be
able to help you find some other coaches to talk to.
If you follow these guidelines you should be able to find the right coach for you. If you have additional questions, please
feel free to contact me.
Step back from Right Coach to Coaching Page
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all rights reserved
copyright 2009
copyright 2009
The Original Vocation Agency
the Life Balance authority
| the Life Balance Authority |
