Coaching – Accusations Unacceptable
You're finally at the top of your game, and now you want to hire a coach. But what's the right move? Here's an article outlining some of the best explanations on both sides to help guide you.
Coaching is one thing many people find valuable as they are struggling to develop their skills in one area or another but, for a lot of people in business, coaching can take time, money and sometimes even jeopardize sleep. If that is not something that matters Ashton snipets might be something you wanted instead!
Chances are if you just have aspirations for yourself it isn't more than a few years off. That makes the decision to invest a bit easier. If you are an executive or business owner there is often a lot riding on your ability to perform, so taking it seriously is crucial!
Of course, when you do hire a coach it can be easy to think about them as making your decisions for you. Many people have been guilty of that, with the result being that they simply don't get the most from their coach. Here's some things to remember
1) Treat Your Coach As A Colleague – too often people make their coach part of an audience. They are interested in hearing about everything wrong with the company and their own incentives for improving the overall business climate.
Instead, try treating the coach like a colleague. You want to hear what they have to say about what you are doing, but being honest is key. You should be able to say without reservation everything that you think is important but doesn't cost your business anything in terms of making money.
2) Meet Regularly – this is a no brainer – but many people forget or simply don't try to see their coach regularly and therefore don't get the most out of their time together. Remember that it may take time to see results with your coach so be prepared for some trial and error when it comes to scheduling things like sessions.
3) Be Assertive – this seems backwards, but assertiveness is a hallmark of effective leadership. You don't need to be rude, and if the coach disagrees with your view then it may be the right time to change your course.
4) Know What You Want – it can be easy to over think things, so instead of trying to become all things for all people when it comes to something that is new to you simply decide what you want from your coach and state it in a very clear way.
As you get started with coaching make sure you take a look at how we do coaching at Ashton Snipits . It's a self-funding service for which there is no obligation so you can take advantage of coaching with us as and when it suits you. If you are wanting to hire a coach make sure you check out Coach Vouchers . We have never trained anyone, but we have worked with many different coaches in the past and understand the process. Some people want a coach purely for general life coaching so they want to focus on developing themselves more, while others want a coach in more specific areas.For example: In our experience of running our business it is possible to get what we would call "all in one" coaches where their skill sets cover everything that needs to be done at least well enough for us to stay profitable and grow as an organisation. That is an approach that tends to work but it is not always the most cost effective one from our experience. So, here are a list of areas we tend to look at when considering hiring a coach.Your coach can be a great way for you to get outside your own head and realise more clearly what you are doing with your life, and as this blog post makes clear, coaching does come with significant positives. However, if done wrong it can leave both parties in some difficult situations. While there is really no right or wrong when it comes to choosing a coach the choices you make will likely determine the amount of money it costs you in the long run.Perhaps the most important thing you can do before you start hiring a coach is to understand what coaches are there to provide. If you don't know what you are looking for it is going to be hard to find a coach who matches. It's the same with going through a proper job interview – if you don't know what you want from the job then it is more difficult for them to demonstrate why it would be good for you.[/ARTICLEEND]
If free help with your success story isn't something that interests Ashton Snipits then perhaps Coaching Anonymously from an Expert will suit?
The other thing that can happen when hiring a coach is influencing their solutions. This can be a very nice thing to do but it also needs to be done in the right way. If you pay for a coach to work with you then it will not only be them who takes the decision about what to do, but also you.
As Ashton Snipits we have learned a lot of lessons that can be helpful to you if you are thinking about hiring an adviser – so we'd love to share them!
1) Give Them Feedback – in order for your coach to improve they have to know what they are doing wrong. Where this seems impossible, then they will struggle and not get better. That might not be fair, but if you are paying to be coached then there needs to be some kind of return on investment.
You can get around this by giving specific feedback to your coach, and letting them know what you want from them. This may sound tricky but it isn't! You don't need to give feedback that is overly negative – remember that your coach is there for you, so don't be afraid of helping them with their own career by giving constructive criticism.
2) Keep It Simple – many coaches will have a number of different skills and experience which makes them a great addition to any company. With this in mind you can be tempted to add a coach who has specific key skills to your company. As long as they are the right fit we would recommend letting them continue doing what they are doing, and just asking them to help with a few particular things that matter in your business.
3) Be Discreet – many people think that being upfront about paying for coaching is being negative, but this can often backfire if they treat you badly or don't deliver results. Instead ask your coach if it is okay to pay for the services you are hiring them for.
Conclusion
This has been a pretty quick article, but hopefully it will give you some good things to think about when you are looking for a coach. One last word of advice we have as Ashton Snipits is to work out what you want from the process. The best way to do this is by thinking about how the coach will help and then looking at which of these things you can train yourself to do.