Coaching – Where Is Your Focus?
Coaching is all the rage these days, and we’ve met more than a few people who are curious about how coaching might work for their career. We know that many professionals are always looking to push themselves to perform at higher levels, so we thought we’d share our humble thoughts on coaching from our perspective as coaches.
Coaching is a great way to take your performance to the next level by learning how other people have achieved success and what it takes to be a world-class athlete or highly successful business person. It’s like having a coach on the go, someone who is always in your ear, helping you question and improve the way you think. That’s why we decided to get certified and help others do the same.
To start, here are some questions we asked ourselves when preparing to become a certified coach at the Coaching Sales & Marketing Institute (CSMI):
1. How do I define successful coaching as an individual or as a professional?
It's easy to become infatuated with what coaches are doing for athletes and entertainers. We wanted to know how many times someone has succeeded with coaching, because it's important to set realistic expectations for what results can be achieved.
For example, if you want to become a top flight tennis player, it's important to understand that most people who are successful at that level are in the top 10% of their profession. If you have aspirations outside of the world of professional tennis, it is still useful to understand those studies and know what typically happens to someone who has successfully coached an athlete.
2. What does coaching mean for me in my personal life?
Some people think that coaching equates to a paid person sitting next to them and giving them advice on how to do things better or differently. In reality, being a coach means keeping your eyes open for opportunities for improvement every day, just like your personal trainer does for physical health. One of the best coaches we know is a mom of three children, who made it part of her daily routine to sit down and identify the "one thing" she could improve upon each day. By making this a daily practice, she constantly boosted her skills and performance.
3. What does coaching mean for me as a professional?
We often see professionals becoming coaches when they achieve success. They create a career out of being a coach or mentor because they must find something else to do with their time (and money) while they continue to want to be involved in athletics or business/entertainment.
4. What is the expected outcome and what is being coached toward?
If you are starting a coaching program, it helps to set goals for yourself or for your client or team. We know many people who have achieved success by choosing one goal and striving relentlessly toward that end. If you are one of those people, great. Now think about how long it will take to achieve that goal, and how much of your life you need to put into that project. Are you willing to sacrifice your time, money, and relationships in that pursuit?
5. Is coaching the key to my success?
Answering this question requires knowing where you want to take yourself. If you are interested in coaching, but you don't want a coach in your life, that's fine. It's also a good idea to know where coaching will benefit your career and business. Ask yourself this question: if I reached my goals by following a coach’s advice, would I do it differently or have done it at all?
6. What is the process of becoming a coach like?
Knowledge is important in any endeavor, so make sure you take the time to learn what being a certified coach entails and what it means for you.
7. How do I want to use coaching in my career?
Coaching is a great way to bring yourself up a notch. But it's also a great tool for someone who doesn't have the time and resources to do it alone. Coaching is not for everyone and knowing that will save you from wasting your time and money, and perhaps getting your heart broken when things don't go as you expected them to. We don't want anyone to be disappointed with this valuable practice.
8. What is the evidence of coaching success?
The more evidence you find that shows someone has been successful with their coaching, the better off you will be. For example, we've known people who have become successful with a coach, but after a period of time, the coach wasn't effective. That's why we always ask, "How do you know that didn’t work?" If someone answers that question honestly and shares what they learned from that experience, it usually helps them better understand what they are looking for in the coaching relationship. We like to say that there is no replacement for experience.
9. What is my primary interest in coaching?
Coaching can be a wonderful way to get more out of your time and have an objective opinion on what you need to do to improve your performance. For example, if you have a passion for coaching athletes or working with small business owners, being a coach will help you make that happen. We also know coaches who are just great listeners and want to become good at making others better at their own jobs. However, we don't recommend this as a career unless your primary interest is coaching.
10. What kind of work do I want to be doing in the future?
Some people want to coach in the same arena they are currently employed in, while others take their coaching seriously enough to think about their own company or other opportunities outside of their current career path. If your interest is in coaching, it is important to know how you want to spend the rest of your life.
11. What kind of experience do I have that makes me a good coach?
If you are thinking about becoming a coach, it's important to understand what you bring to the table aside from being a good listener. In order for you to have those skills and be able to teach others, we like coaches who have had similar success as well as experienced failure. And they should be willing to share their experiences with people who are curious so they learn what not to do when they begin their coaching careers.
12. Is coaching for me?
The best way to answer this question is to try it out and see if it fits into your life. If you are interested in becoming a coach, there are plenty of opportunities available to you. You don't have to be the next great coach like John Wooden or Pat Summit – and we love the professional coaches that are out there, but you can still learn from them by doing your own thing and making a positive difference for someone else. We think that's just as good as having your own company or being on TV every day.
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