Find a Coach: Ultimate Guide to Finding a Coach You Need
Coaching is a beneficial way to transform your life, however, to do so you also need to find a coach who matches your needs, and can help you achieve your goals. In this guide on how to find a coach, you will learn about all considerations before you hire a coach.
So, let’s start with the basics.
What is Coaching?
Over the years coaching has been defined in different ways. However, one definition we find accurate is from The Complete Handbook of Coaching: “coaching is a human development process that involves structured, focused interaction and the use of appropriate strategies, tools, and techniques to promote desirable and sustainable change for the benefit of the coachee and potentially for other stakeholders.”
Coaching was mostly associated with sports more than any other industry. However, over the past few decades that has changed, and coaching has been widely used in the business world as well.
One prominent name in the transition was Sir John Whitmore, the individual who used Tim Galleway’s sports coaching methods and introduced them to the business coaching world during the 1970s.
This shift furthered as coaching became a regular practice for businesses, and executives, as companies like IBM and Coca-Cola became active practitioners.
Coaching has since helped millions transform their professional and personal lives. Today, the coaching industry continues to boom through multiple branches, like relationship coaching, life coaching, and health coaching.
What Can Coaches Do for You?
When Harvard surveyed 140 leading coaches, one of the reasons they found for businesses and executives to continually seek coaching was simply because – ‘it works.’
But the real question is, ‘what can coaches do for us, that we can’t do for ourselves?’
Before understanding what a coach can do for you, you must understand what they cannot.
Coaches may sometimes be misunderstood as professionals who would put in the work for you and execute strategic plans.
However, coaches are only the guiding light. The sole purpose of a good coach is to guide you to success and help you achieve your goals, instead of achieving them for you.
Different branches of coaching have their own set of benefits, but some benefits are common to all branches.
Let’s deep dive into a few.
1. Develop A Winning Mindset
One of the first things a coach can potentially help you with is your mindset. Whether you are a business owner or an athlete, your mindset is key to making your journey successful.
An experienced coach can help you focus on areas you might be unknowingly ignoring.
Finding a coach can be difficult, but working with the right coach, you will be able to transform your mindset and potentially begin to look at your challenges from a different perspective.
2. Clarify Your Goals
Goals are important, but sometimes, we may set unclear or unachievable goals. When you find a coach, they work with you on setting the right kinds of goals which will lead you to success.
For instance, if your goal is to make $1 million in revenue for your business, your coach will help you break down your goals in order to achieve your ultimate goal.
Setting achievable goals, and measuring each milestone, is a major benefit that comes with the right coach.
3. Tools & Techniques
Coaches are in the business to help with making life-transforming processes simple. Every coach has a technique unique to their process. When you hire a coach, you get an in-depth understanding of these techniques and tools.
Generally, these techniques are designed to simplify and catalyze processes. Coaches are likely to share these techniques, along with any tools you need to be using. Adapting to these techniques will assist you in moving closer to being independent.
4. Belief in Yourself
At times, what keeps us from jumping on to success bandwagon is the belief we have in ourselves. In personal and professional situations, if you find lapses in self-belief, you are unlikely to embark on the journey to success.
A great coach will assist in rebuilding your self-belief.
Mentoring you through the process, a coach will constantly work with you on understanding and working on your strengths.
It is, however, true, that not all coaches may approach sessions like that and hence, finding a good coach is essential.
5. Holistic Approaches
As individuals, we may sometimes seek certain areas of life and business through a tunnel vision.
Working with the right coaches, you will learn that coaches are unlike us in those situations, and they tend to take a more holistic approach.
Holistic approaches, a bird’s eye view to problems, are very common in health coaching, but it can be found in other branches of coaching.
What Do You Look for Before You Find a Coach?
Now that you know the essential benefits of having a coach, you may be wondering how you can find a coach you need.
Finding a coach can be an extensive process, especially, if you are looking to work with one for the long-term.
Coaching is an investment you make to better yourself, and to make sure you are making the right investment, there are some specifics you need to keep an eye out for.
According to our panel of experts at Koachee, here are three things to look for before you find a coach:
1. Credentials
Although credentials and certifications are not a pre-requisite for coaching, they are suggestive of experience and abilities in the industry. When a coach opts for coaching credentials and certifications, they go through the entire process of becoming a professional coach.
These certifications and credentials help us understand their abilities, and of course, help coachees find them credible.
2. Expertise
With everything going virtual, you will be able to find a lot of information about the coach you find.
As coaching diversifies into other branches, it is essential to learn about the coaches’ expertise, primarily, the areas they practice in and how long have they been practicing for.
For instance, if you have been a business owner for over 20 years, working with a coach with 2 years of coaching experience may not bring enough aid to the table.
Expertise helps you assess their background and put you in a better decision making position.
3. Request a Free Consult
Once you find a coach you think is a good fit for you, you want to get in touch with them. A good practice would be to sign up for a free consult if the coach offers one. During the consult, you would be able to ask all the necessary questions you have and assess the dynamics between yourself and the coach.
Free consults can go a long way. With a few free consults, you will be able to compare and evaluate different coaches.
Where to Find a Coach?
Now that you know why you need to find a coach, and what you are looking for – it is time to understand where you need to find a coach.
With the rise of the internet, coaches are easier than ever to find. Today, most coaches have websites that you can directly visit and get all the information you need.
However, it is better to look for more details.
Social media for coaches has been a great tool, and a lot of the coaches have adapted to the digital age. For instance, if you are looking for life coaches, Instagram is a great tool to help you.
When you visit Instagram, search for #lifecoach.
This hashtag will lead you to content life coaches have posted. Filtering through the platform will lead you to good coaches. Life coaches on Instagram add regular content, and you can see if their value system resonates with you.
Moreover, we highly recommend LinkedIn as well. Like Instagram, you can make in-depth searches for coaches on LinkedIn.
Coach profiles on LinkedIn are likely to give you all their credentials, and certifications. With a thorough understanding of their educational background, you will be able to make better decisions as a coachee.
Today, as the coaching industry expands, online coaching platforms are paving way for the future. Online coaching platforms are a one-stop solution for coachees to find coaches, however, a lot of coaching platforms are specified to certain branches of coaching.
Koachee is one such online coaching platform covering all coaching industries. At Koachee, we connect coachees with experts and professional coaches from all over the world. As a coachee you can learn about the coaches in-depth, and their certifications. More so, you also get an insight into client reviews.
You can find a coach here on Koachee.
Conclusion
Coaching is certainly helpful, given you find a coach who is a good fit for you. Today, with how the world is progressing, and our need to consistently improve ourselves, coaching can take us to the next level.
Finding the right coach can take time and multiple coaching sessions however, once you find the right coach, you are surely reaching new heights.
Coaching is no longer only for executives or large companies. Coaching has spread further into our daily lives. As entrepreneurs, health enthusiasts, and business owners finding mentors and coaches can assist in taking the leap, all while skipping barriers in the initial phases.
