What is Coaching?
Your ultimate guide to the coaching process
When we usually hear the term ‘coach’ or ‘coaching’, it is in the area of sports. We see and hear athletes talking about the role their coach made to help them become very successful. It’s clear in this field that an effective coach creates outstanding results for athletes. The coach will act as an observer, share strategies and discuss individual plans which would help the sportsperson develop further.
Comparing our usual understanding of coaching with what coaching actually is
Coaching takes a very similar approach to sports coaching but does have some slight variation. The main aim of a coach is to support the coachee through deep questioning to help them gain clarity, direction, confidence, motivation or any other aspect which would help them become a better person. A coachee may come from a leadership background but generally they are from a wide range of people with a wide range of wants and needs. Where this differs from a sports coach is that in the purest sense of the word, coaching helps the coachee create their own action plan and helps the coachee understand more about themselves and empowers them to create their desired outcomes.
Do I want a Life or a Performance Coach?
Outside of sports coaching, coaching may be known as Life Coaching or Performance Coaching. Life Coaching is usually focussed on aspects of a person’s life such as their family, career, health, wealth, time management, stress, anxiety etc. In Life Coaching, the focus would mainly be on the person and areas of their life they wish to improve. With Performance Coaching, there is quite a lot of overlap with Life Coaching but it may focus mainly on coaching to improve outcomes in a work setting by either discussing their own particular goals or ones for the organisation they work in.
The term Coach may also be attached to any particular area such as Stress Coach or Clarity Coach. This would be a means of emphasising a particular niche the coach deals with.
Coaching sessions are completely confidential. Your coach should comply with the Coaching Code of Conduct and ethics and only in extreme circumstances will this confidence be breached. This includes the intent to cause harm to yourself or others or criminal acts.
What coaches are not
What you need to know is that most coaches are not psychologists, psychiatrists, counsellors, therapists, or doctors. Some problems people are faced with require a different field of expertise. A reputable coach will be honest and work within professional boundaries and should cancel any agreement if they felt that they are not suited to help.
Who uses a coach?
I’m not sure if this would surprise you or not but actually many people use a coach. We don’t tend to know someone is using a coach because it often remains private, or at least whilst the coachee is working with a coach. What we should understand at this point is that many of the most successful people we see, hear and know about in this world would have had a coach at some point in their life and it’s this coach which would have helped them move towards reaching their goals. People who have had a coach include Bill Gates, Leonardo Di Caprio, Oprah Winfrey. The list goes on and on.
Coaching is not limited to the rich and famous. Someone in your friendship group would probably have had coaching or at least they will have known someone who has been coached. A coachee can therefore be from any background and use it for any purpose.
How do I know if I need a coach? - Ask yourself some simple questions
- Are you reaching your potential?
- Do you feel fulfilled in your career?
- Is there a gap from where you are now to where you want to be?
- Do you have the skills and confidence required to become successful?
- Are you struggling to make decisions or stick to the decisions you have made?
- Do you feel out of balance and some aspects of your life are not as good as they should be?
If you answered yes to any of these then a coach would help you become the best version of yourself.
How to find the perfect coach for you
Working with a coach is quite a personal experience. Your coach will get to know you quite well. You will share feelings with them that you probably don’t share with other people. Because of this, you may want to speak to a few coaches before you commit. As I mentioned before, coaches tend to have a niche area that they work in so I would highly recommend looking for a coach who meets your needs.
A quick Google search for ‘Life Coach’ may bring up a few in your local area. You may want to sit down face to face with your coach and if this is the case then someone local to you would be ideal. However, most coaching sessions tend to be by telephone or video call therefore the need to have someone local is questionable.
You also want to ensure that your coach is qualified and follows the ICF Core Competencies.
"Don't worry about locality and instead go for someone who meets the needs that you have"
There are also variations that you may find when looking for a coach. Due to geographical locations, prices may be higher. This is certainly something to consider if your communication is generally online or by phone. However, you also need to be careful how much you are paying. If you are being coached by someone like Tony Robbins or Martha Beck (Oprah Winfrey’s coach), expect to pay a phenomenally high price per session. This is probably out of reach for most people and even if we did have the money, they will still have a waiting list for their service.
I was recently quoted £600 for 1 session. Usually single sessions demand the highest price per minute, not because of the value they offer, but as a coach I don’t want to see you only once. This is not based on the business of making money but because coaching is a journey and to really gain the benefits of it, it is better to have a few sessions. The price is higher to move you towards having a package of sessions.
"Coaching is a journey so you will want to have more than one session"
How long does coaching last?
The majority of coaching programmes run from 3 to 6 months and this depends on the outcomes you want to achieve. Someone may be coached because they have recently taken on a leadership role and they want to make rapid gains as soon as possible. In this case, they may use a coach for about 3 months. Someone who is looking to get themselves out of a situation and moving in a positive direction may take slightly longer and their programme would possibly last 6 months.
In both of these examples, both coachees may still have the same amount of sessions. For the person looking to excel in leadership they may have a coaching session every 2 weeks whereas the person looking for more direction and purpose in their life, their sessions may be monthly. As a coach, we always stick to the client’s wishes so it is up to you to make the final decision. What you need to decide on is what is your goal and how long would it take you to achieve it? Anything less than 2 weeks would be more task rather than goal focussed.
Some people may want to have a coach on an on-going basis. They may have a monthly session whereby they touch base and discuss what has happened over the previous month and discuss goals to achieve for the next session. This may last many months and even years. This is also a suitable programme but you want to make sure that you are always aiming to become better and if you have a coach on a permanent basis, the purpose of the coach may start to wear off.
"Coaching is not a comparison product you would buy off Amazon. Instead each coach is unique and you should find the one that most meets your needs."
As you can see, a coaching programme can vary greatly but one I haven’t mentioned is a single coaching session. As I said before, these aren’t the best solution because they may not be beneficial in the long term. When being coached you will feel motivated to work towards your goals, but motivation will not get you all the way there and so regular sessions will help you move from motivation to habit. This is what you really want!
Are coaches expensive?
When you think about selecting the coach for you, I would strongly recommend not just looking for the cheapest person. Coaching is not a comparison product like when you may search Google and Amazon for exactly the same branded product. Because you managed to find a coach offering a package for £1000 instead of £1500 doesn’t necessarily mean you have saved £500. You may be getting what you paid for.
There will be coaches out there who price themselves very low. My main concern here is that they are selling low with possibly a high number of clients. In my opinion this would lead to a sub-par relationship. If there are too many people in a coach’s clientele then there would be less focus on you.
I think we should also be conscious of the fact that a real coach would be spending thousands on their coaching qualification alone and then you will want to factor in the years of experience they have within the niche you want support in.
"It's not about the cost of the coach, but the Return On Investment (ROI) it brings"
Here’s a little story to create some context for you;
Picasso, the famous painter, was having a drink in a café. He was recognised by a fan who approached him and asked him to sign a napkin. He agreed and not only signed the napkin, he drew a little sketch. As he was handing it over, he asked for a high fee. The person, shocked, said “That only took you a few minutes to make!”. Picasso responded saying “No, that took me a lifetime”.
The moral of the story
When thinking about your coaching, it’s not just the cost of the coach’s time, but it’s also the years of experience and their lessons learned that you are paying for.
A coach's client list should be small
A good coach would only have a limited number of clients at any one time. This would mean that they are coming to you more prepared and clearer minded to support and challenge you. I would be expecting someone to pay at least £100 per 1 hour session and possibly up to £250. This would mean a standard package of 6 sessions may cost between £600 and £1500, but don’t be surprised if it was much more than this. As they say, “you get what you pay for” so it’s also worth asking what else you get for the cost of the programme?
You should ask if there is anything else you get in the coaching package
Some coaches offer opportunities to text message at anytime. This is done because it can be quick and to the point. Sometimes email may be offered but this may lead to longer exchanges and some coaches may feel this takes up too much time. There may also be the opportunity to have a quick chat on the phone. Again the expectation is that this would not turn into a coaching conversation but a great coach should be there for you and usually their pricing reflects that there is more support available. You get what you pay for so a more expensive package may cost you less in the long-term because the support towards your goals would be better.
Where should I be looking for a coach?
Another way of finding your ideal coach is to look for recommendations. As I said before, there will be people you know who have had a coach at some point so this would be an ideal starting point. Today we have access to quite large social groups such as friends and followers on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. A quick post on one of these platforms may help you towards finding a coach.
One last point about finding your coach. There are many more people than you realise who have used one. Behind many successful people, there may be a coach there so it may be worth reaching out to some people who you feel are where you want to be and ask them if they have used one in the past. They may be able to pass a contact to you.
What do I do before I take the next step?
I feel that it’s really important for you to read this next paragraph. Before you start spending your hard earned money on a coach, you must ask yourself, do you want to be coached? I know that this sounds silly because you have already read everything that I have written so far but this is very important. If you do not want to be coached, you are not ready for a coach! The most important thing to bring to any coaching session is the fact that you want to act upon whatever it is you talk about. If this isn’t the case then it’s unfair on yourself and also the coach.
How does the coaching process work?
From the initial discussion to the final coaching session, each coach will have their own way of running their business. Here I am going to run through a general idea of how the coaching process works from start to finish.
The Process of Coaching
The Discovery Call
Your first real contact would most likely be a 30 minute Discovery Call. This is a getting to know each other call. It is at this point that you decide whether the coach is for you or not. If you feel that the chemistry is not there, then it would be time to make the decision to find someone else. This can be quite difficult to make in only 30 minutes but you should go with your gut feeling. You should bear in mind that your coach is there to work with you by challenge and support. Don’t be too put off if they ask you some difficult questions. This is what a coach will do at certain times in your coaching sessions. If they didn’t, you wouldn’t be gaining the benefit of coaching.
In the discovery call you are going to talk about the reasons for wanting to be coached. 30 minutes is quite a short amount of time to discuss the key issues in depth but it helps both parties know a bit more about each other and whether they are suitable.
Payment
In my coaching business, the client would then make the payment for whichever package they want and would also book their sessions. You will need to discuss with the coach how often you want to have your coaching sessions. As I mentioned before, it is entirely dependent on what you want to achieve. Your coaching sessions will usually be fortnightly to monthly. You don’t want the gap between coaching sessions too small, yet you also don’t want the gaps to be too big.
Our main package requires all 6 sessions to be completed within 6 months. This gives some flexibility because let’s say you postpone one of your monthly sessions, you may have it the following week. This may mean that the next session will be in three weeks after this one. 6 sessions over a longer period of 6 months creates delay and procrastination within the goal a coachee wants to achieve and this is something all of us don’t want to happen.
At Coaching for Leverage, the next step is to primarily book all the coaching sessions for the duration of the package. This may be the first Wednesday of every month for the next 6 months. The reason why we book this in advance is that we anchor our commitment to seeing this through, creates a habit of the sessions to take place and also means that no one else can take the slots you require. Our policy is that you can rearrange your coaching day and time, up to 48 hours before the event. This gives you enough flexibility if you need it but remember that all our 6 sessions must be completed within the 6 month window.
Your first session (The Intake Session)
When it comes to having your sessions, you will want to make sure you are prepared. You should spend about 15 minutes mentally preparing yourself for this by finding a quiet and comfortable space. You also want to have some water and aim to feel as relaxed as possible. A pen and paper will be needed so you can take notes.
Your first official session will usually be two hours long. The reason for its length is that you and the coach will go into a lot of detail about yourself and why you want to be coached. The first hour is certainly going to be focussed on where you are now and where you want to be by the end of the programme. This in-depth discussion will also help the coach understand more about you. A coach may be trained in profiling and can therefore help you understand more about the person you are and how this impacts your current situation. It will also help you better understand yourself making your self-development journey much better.
Once the first hour is over, you and your coach should have an idea of the overarching goal that you want to achieve. The overarching goal is the main goal you want to achieve at the end of the programme. The over arching goal is then broken down into smaller goals which each one becoming a focus for the remaining sessions. You will not know your small goals until you have had your coaching session and each small goal is the step towards achieving your main goal.
Now before we go any further, we should take a bit of time to discuss goals. If you are choosing to work with a coach, you will want a goal to be something much bigger than what you generally work towards. If a goal is something you could do without a coach, then it’s not big enough!
Your goal needs to be a moon shot! Here’s another story;
In 1961, JFK said that he wanted the US to land a man on the moon and return them to earth by the end of the decade. This was seen as an unbelievable statement at the time. What was the proof they could do it? The only evidence the US had about getting into space was 15 minutes in suborbital space just 3 weeks earlier. Now the rest is history!
Continued...
This was a crazy goal to many, but JFK had the belief that it could be done and that is what having a coach is all about. It’s you having the belief that you can do it with the coach there to support and challenge you through this journey. If you want to know some goal inspiring questions, then click here!
At the end of the two-hour session, you will then create your action plan which you will work on ready for the next session. This should be written down and you should leave the call with a crystal clear understanding of what you have to do next. If for any reason you’re not sure, speak to your coach. You will have this written down as a commitment.
The following coaching sessions
Your following sessions will follow a similar structure to the second half of your first two-hour session. Usually the sessions will run for about 1 hour. Some coaches will ask you about the previous goal and whether you achieved your first goal, but some may not. It is down to the coachee to take full responsibility to achieve their goals. Personally, I feel that it’s important to discuss the previous goal because if it wasn’t achieved, was there are reason for this?
Your final session
In your final coaching session, there are a few routes you can take. Firstly, you may wish to continue with further coaching. There is nothing wrong with this and it may be down to the fact that you feel you have progressed really far and want to keep going. If this is the case then the sessions would run as normal.
Alternatively, you may choose to have a normal coaching session with the usual goals but without linking back with your coach afterwards. Another version of a final session might be a review session. This would be where you and the coach reflect on where you were when you first started your coaching journey and where you are now. You will discuss how you feel and the lessons you have learnt. There will still be coaching in this session and they will still give you an opportunity to focus on something for the coming weeks or months.
Ask me anything!
If you want to know more about what i've said, feel free to contact me.