"Plopping down in a chair and having all your problems solved by your coach"!
The pros and cons of coaching
How delicious would that be? Or not, because if you quit your coach, chances are you will fall back into your old problems. I sometimes hear back that professionals live from coach meeting to coach meeting and walk out of the meeting completely balanced and full of energy after each coach meeting. That's fine, of course, only if you don't get anywhere in between, you won't achieve long-term success.
'If you're doing badly, you need to see a coach'
Nowadays, almost all top athletes and successful business people have a coach for mental resilience and personal development.
Fortunately, more and more companies are also seeing the added value of a coach. Personal development of employees is seen as a valuable way to bind and enthuse people to their company.
What are the pros and cons of coaching?
Disadvantages I sometimes hear are:
- Result of coaching depends on both the commitment of the coachee and the coach
- Result partly depends on mutual click
- Due to individual time and attention, a coaching programme can be relatively expensive
- With a coaching programme, you are not yet 'unlearned'. Often, your development only starts there.
Advantages are:
- One-to-one attention and being able to spar
- Fully customised and personalised learning pathway
- Goal-oriented and maintaining ownership
- Clear in terms of investment of time and mutually agreed arrangements
- Positive (wrinkle) effect noticeable and felt in all areas of your life
Still doubting whether coaching is for you?
Coaching is not for you when:
- You are not really experiencing a problem or there is nothing you want to work on.
- You are content with your life how it is now and have no desire to go out of your comfort zone.
- You do want to get rid of the problems and conflicts, but you are not willing to invest the time and make yourself vulnerable.
- You only want to consume information, but not take action.
Coaching is well for you when:
- You grant yourself and others the world and you are willing to look at your own behaviour.
- You want more self-insight, more conscious living and progress in your life so that you experience more fulfilment and happiness in your life.
- You are willing to be vulnerable in order to start living the life you want.
- You are also willing to reflect and apply what you have learned beyond the coaching sessions. After all 'knowing and not doing is not knowing'.
What should you look out for when selecting a coach?
When selecting your coach, I recommend paying attention to:
- 'Practise what you preach'. In other words, has the coach himself achieved the long-term results he promises you?
- Has the coach been through the same thing as you? For example, coping with a divorce. Do remain vigilant that your coach does not mirror his way/work method/fixed methodology on you. This is called projection. What works for him may not work for you. Projection is the biggest risk in coachland that prevents people from making lasting progress.
- Make sure your coach focuses on creating self-direction, so you can learn and do it yourself and not remain dependent on your coach.
No more doubts? Ready to take the first or next step in personal growth? I'm here for you.
Or would you like to discuss this further? Then schedule here set up an appointment with me.
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