Have you been told to get a coach? Are you considering hiring a business coach as an investment in your career? Four qualities make you ready to receive coaching.
Enter of your own free will. If you have been told to get coaching, make sure it’s not a punitive thing. I have seen people hire coaches because they have been told, “its that or the door.” That is the worst possible way to begin this journey. I also hold accountable the person who did the telling because they create a hostile and defensive environment from the get-go, which will doom the coaching and the chances of long term success.
Suspend your disbelief. When I take on a new coaching client, I have them read “Emotional Intelligence” by Daniel Goleman. It’s the gold standard of self-awareness and self-development. If you turn your nose up, you are not ready.
Coaching is not quick. Expectations have to be mutually set and tempered and adjusted as the process goes on. A coach that does not have flexibility or vice versa will fail. Hire a coach who does not have a “one size fits all” system. All of the coaching certifications don’t mean anything if there is not chemistry.
Finally, if you can look back on the last six months and see that there has been a cumulative effect of the coaching, then you have made progress. There will times when a situation has a tactical fix. Coaching is an onion. One must be willing to peel back many layers, and then they will know how to move ahead.
If you want to be successfully coached, be patient, see the big picture, and be present and participate.