As we’re heading into the final month of the year and annual reviews and next year’s goals start to occupy our minds, I get a lot of questions from people about how a coach can help reach your goals.
We luckily live in a time with increased self-awareness in the business world.
And because of that, coaching has for many become the go-to resource to get better faster – be this in leadership skills, relationships, confidence building, communication, you name it…
Coaching can be an incredibly rewarding experience but there are 5 things to pay attention to get the most out of it and I want to share these with you today.
1. Find the Right Coach
The coaching experience begins by finding the right coach for you. You can ask friends and colleagues to recommend coaches, but once the interview process begins you should ask relevant questions to make sure your coach relates to you on a personal and professional level.
In a professional sense, the coach must have the qualifications you are looking for. She or he should have first-hand experience in the corporate world and should also have a proven track record of helping others in your industry. Be sure to ask about people they have helped that were in similar situations to yours.
On a personal level, it is important that you can relate to your coach. Remember he or she is someone you will have to open up to, so you want your coach to show a comfortable level of understanding and compassion for your situation.
Your coach should also show signs that she or he is truly invested in you as an individual and interested in taking you to the next level.
2. Make a Commitment
Once you found a coach that is right for you, it is important to commit to making the suggested changes necessary for you to move forward.
You can meet with your coach and listen to them all you want, but if you don’t actually take their words to heart and follow their suggestions, the experience will be a complete waste of time and money and you’re never going to
reach your goals.
3. Clarify Your Expected Outcome
When you hire a coach, you should have specific goals that you would like to achieve through your work together. These goals should be clearly communicated to your coach so you can both get on the same page.
While goals, like ‘making more money’ or ‘being a better leader’, are both respectable, they are also vague.
Think instead of changing certain behaviors that will make it easier for you to reach your goals. If you are having trouble identifying these behaviors, your coach may be able to help you.
4. Get Ready for A Challenge
Even though you are paying your coach for a service, don’t expect to sit back while he or she does all the work.
A good coach will challenge you to do better and it is important for you to rise to these challenges so that you can achieve your goals.
The more you put into it, the more you get out of it!
5. Stick with Your Coach for at Least Six Months
While many of us might be impatient for a change to occur, if you think changes are going to happen overnight, you are being a bit unrealistic in your expectations.
Remember that many changes start as smaller behavioral changes that gradually make for larger changes that can result in those bigger positive improvements you are looking for.
Six months is a good length of time for you to base your coaching experience on. If you don’t feel like you are moving in the right direction at this juncture, you might want to consider finding a new coach or discussing ways to change the path you’re on to make your coaching for high performance more effective.
Everyone can use a guiding hand in their personal and professional lives and the right coach can offer that guidance you are looking for.
Be sure to make the most of your experience by finding a coach that suits your needs and by remaining open to his or her ideas and challenges.
If you’re interested to connect and find out if we’re a match, schedule a free Discovery Session by clicking HERE.
