Seriously you don't. However you might want one. The difference is more than a word play.
It’s a fact that you have to want one for them to be effective. Your ability to make progress with a coach depends on you. If you put up walls then you’re effectively blocking any benefit they could offer. The water can’t make the horse drink, even if your friends or colleagues recognise you need some water.
However there are instances where you do want a coach but you might not be ready.
Tell tale ‘not ready’ signs
Check yourself against this list to test how you fare:
- You want a friend. It can certainly be a by-product but it's not the aim.
- You want them to tell you what you want to hear
- You want them to agree with you
- You’re not prepared to get uncomfortable to get a break through
- Deep down you’re afraid of changing your situation even if it’s to improve it
- You want a guarantee although only you can guarantee the result
- You say you have no time or are too busy
- You’re not prepared for the hard internal work
- You don’t see it as an investment in yourself
If you answered in the negative to the majority of statements above then there are other options like courses, books and meet ups that might be a better place to start.
If you didn’t answer mostly negative then read on to understand what events could trigger you to seek out a coach.
When working with a coach makes sense
- New management role that requires you to extend yourself
- Beginning a new business venture
- Feel stuck in a rut, personally or professionally
- In a career transition, whether forced or by choice
- To manage anxiety or stress
- Recognise something’s missing but can’t articulate it
- Feel frustrated but don’t understand why
- Recognise you have more potential than you are currently realising
- Seek momentum to improve a technical skill or complete a project
- Want to increase your creativity
- To test your limits
- Identify your strengths, give you greater clarity on a new direction
- Increase your confidence
- Set goals and hold you accountable to achieve what you say you want
- Look at what's missing, or what you're missing to point it out
- Challenge your mindset
- Uncover the excuses or beliefs that are holding you back
Who’s using them?
Almost everyone. It’s common for ‘high achievers’ to know the value of a coach. That’s why they’re high performers because they invest in themselves. However the people that report to them might not embrace the idea of coaching unless their company pays for one on their behalf. And when you work for yourself, you have to back yourself if you’re ever going to achieve anything. Anyone at the top of their game or who wants to get there and stay there invests in coaching to perform at their best. Andre Agassi apparently had three back hand coaches. This doesn’t seem unreasonable when you consider his formidable backhand was his competitive weapon on the tennis court.
Coaching is an industry in growth for people in growth.
Although coaching is not new it has the attention of the statisticians because it’s a fast growing industry, with life coaching the second fastest growing segment. If we rewind time, the early philosophers were coaches providing counsel to Kings and their court. Alexander the Great, born 356BC, was afforded a mentor throughout his teenage years and when he had outgrown his early tutor his father introduced Aristotle are his tutor. This shows the tutor you start with is not the one you need next.
As you grow and develop, your coaching needs will change with you too. Over a lifetime you can have many coaches regardless of whether they use that title or not. They exist in different forms and can show up as your teacher, teenage mentor, sports coach, manager and everything else in between. If something can be learned, there's a coach who can offer their experience. Just look at all these types of coaches that exist today:
- Acting
- Creative
- Business
- Executive
- Finance
- Health
- Life
- Music
- Relationships
- Singing
- Small Business
- Spiritual
- Sports
- Teaching
- Voice
Coaching is the Sum of the Parts in Practice
It’s known that working together we achieve much more than working in isolation. People crave connection and are designed to work together to help each other. Just as we’re designed to work with the environment and natural world that supports us. It makes sense. It's also why creative co working spaces have burst in popularity. When so many of us are freelancing or starting new business ventures, the success of co working spaces demonstrate a desire to return to a connected environment and bounce ideas off others. Artists have known for a long time that doing their art alongside other artists stimulates their creativity and also provides some healthy competition to push them. This is why art is defined by periods like Impressionism, Cubism and Pop art. The co-working relationship works like a coaching support system to inspire the artists to produce.
Coaching supports growth, productivity and results
Any coaching session is designed to leave you with a plan of action. It’s the commitment you make as a coachee that delivers you the result. Action precedes achievement, no matter what you set out to do.
I’ve heard it said that a coach can only take you as far as they’ve gone themselves. This comes back to results they’ve achieved in the area they’re coaching you in. Experience trumps accreditation. It’s a good way for you to test their authenticity and whether they’re the right coach for you.
Finally, the beauty of coaching is you can use it when you want it, as a top up to keep your machine finely tuned and performing on all cylinders.
*This article first appeared in LinkedIn on 13 October 2015
