Choosing the Right Business Coach

Brave new world By Joshua Hornick The world of coaching is totally out of control. It's like the old Wild West. The benefits of coaching support are big, but the mayhem that characterizes the coaching industry at this time makes it hard to navigate. Why is it so hard to choose a good coach? Because there is no standardization. There is no licensing. Some people have more training than others and some have no training. Some are certified while others are not. There are different coaching schools, coaching workshops and coaching books all teaching a variety of approaches. There are different types of certification, most of them certificates from the schools that give the training. But all this wildness is not necessarily bad. All this activity is driven by the fact that, in general, coaching works. People and businesses that retain coaches get better results. The quantitative research on coaching, although mostly of mediocre quality, and the experience of people and corporations that have worked with coaches, makes it hard to refute the benefits. Good coaching can help business people achieve specific goals and enjoy the process. The secret is to determine what coaching support will be the best support for you. A coach's background and reputation are key. Reputation and background Reputation is word-of-mouth. Someone you know and whose opinion you respect cites their positive experience with a coach. In fact, personal testimony from someone that knows you and knows the coach is your best source of information about the individual coach or coaching organization. A coach with business savvy will include testimonials on his or her website or in other promotional materials. A coach's background is important because it shows whether the coach knows and speaks the language of your game. While there are a few specialized coach training programs or classes (within coach training programs) focused on a particular area (such as small business coaching, corporate coaching, spiritual coaching), most coach training is general. If a coach's background includes a varied life experience, especially if it matches yours in some ways, that's valuable. Some coaching schools claim that coaching skills are entirely general and a good coach can coach anyone on anything. There is some truth to this. I expect that a great basketball coach could coach field hockey, but he or she could not coach it masterfully. So, it's better that a coach possess a degree of maturity and breadth of experience so she can, if needed, assist with different areas of a client's life. The International Coach Federation (IFC) acknowledges that since coaching is a new profession (about ten years formally) and certification and licensure are not yet required in most states, there are many individuals who are calling themselves coaches today. Many who call themselves coaches have not been formally trained in specific coaching skills and are transferring skill sets from other professions into their coaching. Often this results in an inadequate or ineffective coaching experience for the clients they are hired to help. Inspires confidence This is a gut check. A coach needs to inspire your confidence with his certainty. It may sound hokey in the hard-hitting world of business, but a coach's ability to support your confidence has a huge impact on the overall benefit of the coaching. The coach's training and background have only so much impact on this critical role. To run a gut check, have a single session with the coach. Most coaches will offer a free introductory session (often called a complementary, collaborative session). When the session is over, check your energy level. Are you excited? Do you feel more confident about your future and more energetic than you did before the call? Did you like this person? Do you believe with certainty that the coach has your best interests at heart? If you answer, "Yes" to all these questions, this is likely a good match. Joshua Hornick is a business coach and a life coach trainer, from Amherst, MA. He is on the faculty of CoachVille's Center for Coaching Mastery, where he teaches fundamental and advanced curricula. He can he reached at jh@jhcoaching.com.