One might think that with all the topics I write about that I would be an arrogant know-it-all type. This is really, really far from the truth. In fact, the more I learn in life the more I realize that I know very little. This year as I was preparing for 2012 and making my personal success plan, I knew that it wouldn’t be the best year ever, nor would I be able to complete my goals without a network of people to help me.
Harvey Mackay once said, “I have had twenty coaches, if you can believe it. I have a speech coach, I have a writing coach, I have a humor coach, I’ve got a language coach, and on and on. “
In that spirit, this year I sought out individuals, and resources that I could turn to for help when I needed guidance in improving a particular area and pushing me to greater success. My goal in this though was that I did not want to spend a crazy amount of money on coaches that would cost me hundreds of dollars an hour. So the search began. These are the coaches or needs that I was looking to fill:
- Productivity Coach
- Personal Performance Coach
- Writing Coach
- Public Speaking Coach
- Executive Coach
- Life Coach
- Technology Advisor
- SEO Coach
- Social Media Coach
- Relationship Coach
- Personal Branding Coach
- Career Coach
Phew… I know it sounds like a lot. Let me explain 4 steps I used to find coaches and resources without breaking the bank:
- First I scanned my networks. This consisted of friends, colleagues, associates in groups, and my social media networks and I identified individuals that were qualified to be my coach in each of the areas. I then approached them and told them what I was trying to achieve and why I wanted to achieve it. Then I offered them something. This might be helping them to promote something, or perhaps I would coach them on leadership, execution or goals. I firmly believe that you have to give more than you take, and my hope is that I am doing that for all those that agreed to assist me.
- Then after that, I scanned my networks for organizations to join that would help me in my progress on a particular topic area. The “coaching” from that might be an individual or a group of individuals that I could reach out to if I had questions or needed assistance. Sometimes these organizations did cost a small amount of money to join, but in my opinion were worth it.
- Next I looked at programs I could take part in. For example on the relationship coach, I joined Keith Ferrazzi’s MyGreenLight. They had a great offer at the beginning of the year that was too good to pass up. This course is a step, by step program for self-learning the methods that they teach. You also get to interface with lots of other individuals that are in the courses, and there are challenging assignments to stretch you. They have coaches and community directors that you can interface with. I joined a few other courses as well.
- At this point, I had narrowed the list and looked for coaches and individuals that would be worth paying to help achieve my goals. I vetted and selected a couple individuals.
After all this, I left nothing to chance. I organized recurring meetings with the coaches that were individuals and made schedules to go through the programs I had signed-up for. It is so comforting to know that I have a network of people that are genuinely concerned about my success and are pushing me and helping to hold me accountable. I have not and will not use the “coaching” services forever. I use them as I need them, always trying to give more than I take.
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So, now that you’ve read this article, how are you going to use this information to gain better success through coaching?
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About Todd Nielsen
Todd,
I can offer some different approaches if needed as from your description it seems to me it is “all in nothing”! A need for change?
cheers
jaro.
Thanks for the tips, recently I have been looking to find a mentor without much success. I’d love to get an executive coach but currently my budget does not stretch that far. This gives me a renewed starting point.
Well done Todd, you beat me to it! I discovered I struggled to define what I've been searching for and wasn't making the right requests…
Todd,
I think you have brought out something that many other people do not understand. As several other respondents mentioned, the term “Coach” is often misused in the way you are misusing it. It is through the efforts of accrediting agencies, the International Coach Federation, at the forefront, that the truth about the true role of a coach is being spread.
Coaches are not mentors, advisors, therapists, counselers or consultants. Since the roles of coach and the other professions is often misunderstood, I feel it is important that I speak out whenever possible. For 20 years I was a consultant, since 2011 I have been a coach. I like to explain the biggest difference between the two is that a consultant is a subject matter expert comes into your business and asks questions, then tells you what you should do. A coach comes into your business, asks questions and then guides you to come up with the answers yourself, since we know you are more likely to follow through with the solutions if you are the one that came up with them.
Thanks for listening,
Dan
NoeticCoaching.net
Great article Todd – I’m simply going to read and absorb this!
Hi Todd!
I want to acknowledge you for your transparency. I appreciate the quest you have to step into your greatness and the effort you are making to select appropriate mentors and coaches.
I concur with Glenn Wallis above where he states the difference between mentoring and coaching. It sounds as if you are working with both types of resources.
Coaching is a very specific, distinctive set of skills. I value my expertise as certified, ICF-accredited coach because it designates i have a proven process with which to help clients get results efficiently and effectively.
Lastly, I think the real work of influence and leadership can be discerned by one coach who really “gets you” and what you desire and need most right now. That person is truly serving you. I invite you to look for that when you search. You will know it when you find it. In the meantime, you may want to read my new book, “Step Up Now: 21 Powerful Principles for People Who Influence Others.” I welcome your comments!
Hi Todd, thanks for the transparency here, and also for sharing what I feel many might do on a regular basis when seeking support.
A few things that popped up loudly as I was reading this. I'll frame them as questions but just so you know what was going through MY head as reading it!
What would have happened if you'd got a coach who just 'got' you in the first session? Who could just cut through the crap, and really helped you to listen to what your heart was trying to say, but your head was too busy saying 'no, but listen, there's this course, and this option, and you've gotta do that'….
I'm wondering what would open up for you (or anyone else searching endlessly for the 'right answer') if you'd got curious about:
1) What are the common values I am trying to champion or gain by searching for such a variety of coaches?
2) What are the common challenges I am seeking to overcome overall?
I.e. lack of clarity of direction (of self / career / business)? Lack of confidence to trust my intuition? Lack of support to achieve my goals? Lack of awareness of what the steps are to take? Not knowing how to overcome the inner blocks our outer blocks getting in my way (fear / procrastination….and fear of what)? Not knowing how to say 'no' to my creative & ambition value who overwhelms with possibilities!
3) What am I most afraid of happening if I did follow my intuition alone in any of these areas?
Those things might give you, or anyone else, a steer on what they actually need coached on, underneath the surface.
My experience of being a professional coach trained in the holistic mix of life, career and business coaching models, is that coaches (including myself) all put labels on what they do to try and capture the essence of either what area they'll help you to address. What we all don't say loud & clear, is that underneath, we are all working with common 'self' themes of supporting clarity, confidence, courage, motivation, inspiration and helping to reframe the negative perspectives & self-limiting beliefs, to the positive.
If you honed it down to your common 'theme' you were searching for in all areas, you might find you were looking for 1 common value denominator (clarity? confidence? support? community? connection?). You'll most likely find that if you then got coached on this area first with a quality coach (i.e. I use this as an example 'how to feel more self-confident', 'how to have better relationships'), you might find that they all carry through to ALL areas of your life!
I would also get very curious about whether all of the people who advertise themselves as coaches, are actually coaches, as it's such a misused word but unfortunately, until the sector is regulated, people can call themselves 'coach' even if they're not trained or are actually an 'advisor' or 'mentor'.
Doing that might also end up saving you money too because a trained coach (particular one who is trained to go deep) will get to the heart of the issue first & foremost. I gave a taster session recently for free, where a client said despite the coaches she'd had before (and spent £ on), no-one had got her like I did in half an hour. She chose to work with me there & then. Intuition is a big part of this but also because I'm trained & a professional with experience & as I say, can cut through the mind-talk.
You know, thinking about it, in all the years I've worked with entrepreneurs, the vast majority are crying out for clarity & confidence coaching the most, and then once they have that, they are absolutely able to go find the free practical, step-by-step courses online and books that will show them how to do the cashflow & social media technology etc.
There's a saying isn't there somewhere, that we all need to connect in, in order to connect out.
Phew, an essay, sorry for writing so much. Hope it was useful.
M
http://www.linkedin.com/in/mariemilligan
Hi Todd
I continue to find the seemingly limitless number of professionals who put the word “coach” in their title quite amazing and as someone who makes their livelihood as a professional coach, more than a little worrying.
On a theme that I discussed with Chris Brogan when he posted on a similar theme, the problem is that many of these people will not be coaches at all. They are more likely to be mentors. And the distinction is more than just semantic.
I am not placing a judgement here: my Masters Degree is in Coaching and Mentoring; the two are clearly very closely related but they are not the same. If you are a personal branding coach or a social media coach the likelihood is that you are going to “download” or share your experience – excellent stuff, but that makes you more of a mentor than a coach. In fact my own view is that if you have domain knowledge in the area you are looking to work, like the earlier comments from Barry Smith you are likely to include mentoring in your work. Not a problem, just don’t call yourself a coach.
On another point but one I won’t go into here the main trouble with coaching is it is really a very young ‘profession’ and open to anyone putting the word coach in their job title, irrespective of specific coaching experience and qualification. That’s no-one’s fault but it does mean “buyer beware” and the advice you give about checking out the people you have sourced is excellent and very helpful to all seeking such support.
Thank you for raising this important issue.
Hi Todd. Great perspective on an issue that I am sure many are dealing with. I am a certified John Maxwell coach with 30 years of experience in the construction industry. My target client is anyone within the construction industry as I believe my experience allows for a more clear perspective on the challenges faced daily within that world and a higher potential to connect one-on-one. I am working to expand my network in this area and am looking forward to adding value to those looking for help in finding the answers they need. My focus is on changing the way we look at things so that the things we look at begin to change. Thanks for the timely and needed post on this topic.
Thanks for the comment John, not offended the slightest bit. One thing to keep in mind is that I am not using all these coaches or programs simultaneously. That would be a full-time job. But the relationships are there if and when I have a simple question or a bigger need. The biggest one that is ongoing is my personal performance coach, that helps keep me focused. I read LOTS, so organic growth is also at play, just always looking for the edge and improving what I don't know I don't know. I think that is where the power of coaches comes in.
Sorry for the delay in replying – now I really understand 'improving what I don't know I don't know!' I also better understand the need for those relationships on call but not necessarily in play.
Hi Todd
I found this blog a fascinating read and felt exhausted just reading about who you were seeking and how you went about it… never mind the everyday stuff you need to do as well!
I then got to reflecting about 'being driven' – that inner sense or characteristic in humans that makes them pursue stuff, often, as I told my friend Phil Johnson once, relentlessly.
I then thought about my own situation vis-a-vis yours and was left wondering am I just lazy, I am too content or are you just over-analysing? I don't believe myself to be lazy, although I am content with my life, and so my sense is that you are striving for growth very purposefully, whilst I prefer it to be more organic. Perhaps that's the essential difference?
I hope you are not offended by my thoughts, as this is not intended, but I felt moved to share my feelings and thoughts.
As for your question about have I an offer to make, I am always happy to engage with other colleagues and to provide support, guidance and challenge around leadership thinking and practice… and other subjects too as the need demands.
Have a great weekend John 🙂