Did you know that coaching is an unregulated market?
What this means is that anyone can set up and call themselves a coach.
With training of only 1 weekend.
Or less.
Scary thought!
So how do you choose a career coach?
About me
I have been coaching for over 20 years and was one of the first in the market.
My chosen training route following extensive research was NLP (neurolinguistic programming) – this gave structured support and a plethora of useful tools and insights. It was also a personal journey of heightened self-awareness and I made some lifelong friends.
At a time when there is a lot of financial uncertainty and worry in the world, as a result of Covid-19, it is important to do your due diligence when selecting a coach and deciding to spend your money.
16 questions to choose the right career coach for you
- What does a Google search about them tell you re client case studies and thought leadership?
- What training have they done?
- What personal development have they done/do they do on themselves?
- Do they have a coach or mentor themselves?
- What client testimonials do they have on their LinkedIn profile and on their web site?
- How active are they on social media?
- What ego do they have? Will the coaching be about you or about them?
- What is the quality and profile of their network?
- Do they have specific experience relevant to your unique career crossroads?
- What networking do they do to grow their network?
- What knowledge do they have of your profession/sector?
- Do you ‘connect’ with them as a person? Do you feel that you can be open with them, as topics such as confidence and fears are part of coaching?
- Is their personality type different to you as this contrast can be useful to help you to think differently and grow?
- Do they have Professional Indemnity Insurance?
- How do they add value compared to other coaches?
- What does their brand say about them?
What do our clients say about our style/approach?
At the end of each coaching programme, we get our clients to complete a form to reflect on their journey and for us to learn. It asks these 7 questions.
- What do you think/feel the process of being coached gives people?
- What has being coached given you personally, speaking from your own experience?
- What positive insights, changes, initiatives or achievements, however small, do you feel that you have made since starting coaching?
- To what extent has coaching been instrumental in the occurrence and speed etc of these positive insights, changes, initiatives or achievements, as a cynic might say that they would have happened anyway without coaching?
- To what extent do you feel that you have achieved the goals that you set out at the start of the coaching? Please state some tangible achievements.
- How would you describe Rachel Brushfield’s style of coaching?
- How could Rachel Brushfield improve her services/approach to better meet people’s needs?
A summary of the answers to Question 6 about style of coaching in our clients’ own words is located here: https://liberateyourtalent.wordpress.com/energise-style/
Read our client testimonials: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/testimonials/
Get in touch to explore how career coaching with Energise could help you to achieve your career goal. We provide a 20 minute no-obligation meeting to explore your needs and if we are the right coach for you. Some of our clients chosen new career is becoming a coach, so they or other coaches in our network may be a better fit for you.
A couple of clients who we helped to become coaches
Ruth Farenga, founder of Mindful Pathway: https://mindfulpathway.co.uk/
Ruth has lots of knowledge and contacts in tech, and mindfulness and authentic leaders are her areas of coaching expertise.
Valerie Teller, founder of Switched On Coaching. Valerie is very creative but chose to train as a barrister. She retrained as a company secretary, then as a coach.
https://switchedoncoaching.com/
We learn alot from the people we coach. It is one of the benefits of being a coach and we meet some fabulous people, such as Ruth and Valerie.
The fact that our clients return at their next major career crossroads means alot to us. Sometimes this is a gap of ten years.
PS
Rachel Brushfield’s Myers Brigg profile is INTJ and Peter Wilford’s is ESFJ.