How to Get The Most Out of Coaching
Here are the 6 steps you should take once you’ve chosen your coach.
Now that you’ve finally found a coach you want to work with, you’re well on your way to creating the life and career you’ve been dreaming of! It can be difficult to find the right match, and you’ve already taken a huge step forward in your personal development. Effectively, you’ve acknowledged that you are ready for change and fully committed to yourself and your envisioned future.
Sometimes just taking the first step to ask for the support we need to change our life creates the momentum we need to live better.
Now that you’ve found your coach, what should you do?
I am sharing with you the questions & groundwork I give to my own leadership coaching clients so that you can start to think through what will most support you on your own coaching journey.
Here are 6 steps you should take to ensure that you get the most out of your coaching, and experience lasting transformation.
1. Get clear on why you chose to work with a coach in the first place
There are so many different ways you could have chosen to tackle this particular challenge you are facing — so why was it that you decided to hire a coach? What did you believe that coach could offer you that you couldn’t manage on your own?
2. What does success look like for you?
Imagine you’ve reached the end of your coaching — how will you know it has been successful? What will be different for you? How will you feel at the end? What will have shifted in your mental and emotional state?
3. Clarify your goals
What is it that you hope to achieve through coaching? Do you want to achieve a promotion at work? Find a new job? Feel more fulfilled in your relationship? The clearer you can be about what it is you want to achieve through coaching, the more able your coach will be to support you on your path.
While every good coach knows that oftentimes the topic our clients come in with at the beginning are not the topics truly lying beneath the surface — it’s good to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve, so that you can always make a conscious choice to pivot throughout the coaching, if needed.
4. Ask for what you need
Your coach is there to support and empower you, but no matter how much experience they have they won’t be able to read your mind. What works for one client may not work for you and so it is important for you to express what it is you need from them and what boundaries can (or cannot) be crossed.
Coaching, as a practice, is about empowerment and helping you to recognize your own power and control over your life. You are responsible for what you get out of coaching, not your coach. While your coach is there to support, champion, and empower you — ultimately it is YOU that will create change in your life and therefore you will need to ask for help when you get stuck.
Speak up when something doesn’t work for you and ask your coach for additional support or tools in areas that you feel need more work. Certified coaches who have been trained with reputable institutions will be able to provide you with a plethora of exercises and techniques to support you, wherever you are in your journey.
5. Don’t be afraid to change direction
Make sure you are checking in on your goals often and ready to change direction if something new comes up within your coaching. If you don’t feel you are getting as much out of the coaching as you hoped, speak up — check your goals, and make sure you are tracking towards them.
Maybe you didn’t set the “right” goals at the beginning and need to shift them — this happens all the time and is completely okay! Just be sure that you pay attention when the coaching feels empowering and is helping you to create change in your life vs. keeping you stuck or stagnant. It could very well be that you need to change something in your relationship or reconsider your original goals.
6. Have an open mind
Coaching can take many twists and turns as you start to uncover what lies beneath the surface of your dreams and vision for the future. Your coach may try techniques you are unfamiliar with and help you to shift your perspective in unexpected ways. Be open to what comes up and willing to try out new things.
After all, you didn’t come to coaching hoping to keep things the same way they’ve always been — so you should be prepared to have new experiences. And if you’ve chosen the right coach for you they will support you as you move along the change process.
Whatever your goals; career, life, leadership, love, etc — you are about to embark on a life-changing experience that will help you find a great sense of inner purpose and fulfillment. While you may be a bit nervous about the process and what will come up, you can feel grateful for the opportunity you’ve granted yourself to connect more deeply to who you are and what brings you joy in your life.
Coaching is the most effective way to connect more deeply to your inner purpose and values and create transformational change.
Amanda Parker, Leadership Coach &Founder of The Courage Factory, works with leaders, like you, who want to find more fulfillment and purpose in their life and work.
Through coaching with Amanda, you will clarify your purpose & values, and start to feel confident in your ability to inspire, engage, and lead others.