How To Select A Coach?

Owing to a few recent experiences, a few interactions with people and a few questions asked at a recent forum for coaches, I write this as a quick checklist for those who work with coaches or plan to do so. 

Selecting a coach is not a difficult job. It’s an important job. Selecting the ‘right’ coach is a critical job. Just a few questions you need to go through to get it right!

Fellow coaches might not like this too much..

• Why do you need a coach?

The first obvious question to ask yourself is why do you need a coach? What are your end objectives? What do you want to achieve?

It’s important to know this before you venture out in selecting a coach to meet those needs.

Most people approached by their Human Resources Heads, give replies like:

I don’t need a coach

Why do I need a coach?

How can a coach help me? I know more about this business than a coach!

It’s not for me. I have attended so many sessions...

If you happen to be one of these people, you already have your reason to get a coach. The reason is that you are in complete denial and under judgement of the fact you can be better and someone can help.

Think for a moment - Are you lets say the ‘Sachin Tendulkar’ of your chosen field or profession? Are you at that level?

The answer probably is ‘No’... Even if you were (which without a coach you cannot be), something to think about is that Sachin Tendulkar does not operate without a coach. Never has.

Get your ego down. Get a coach. if you get one, it doesn’t help the coach, it helps you. Provided you get the right one!

Here is how to do that.

- Ask for references ::

You met prospective coaches. Ask for real references and speak to them.

Most coaches you meet will not give you references of people they have coached. They might give you ‘HR’ references but not directly the people they coached.

Further, coaches will duck under the cover of saying that they have confidentiality agreements and so they cannot disclose.

This is complete BULLSHIT. This is most certainly the coach you do not want.

I have been coaching for the past decade. I have represented close to a hundred clients. NOT A SINGLE ONE ever asked for any confidentiality agreement of this nature. It’s not a practice and it does not and cannot exist.

So people who are unable to give references to you simply do not want to be found out. Thats your first give away.

• When you do get references, here is what you need to ask them.

Firstly you don’t need to get into a SWOT analysis. The coach’s client will never be able to tell you weaknesses. They are not equipped to.

Focus on strengths. Thats all you got to work with.

Here are your questions for the references:

1- Did you see a breakthrough, personal or professional, with the coach post your first six sessions?

(if the answer is No, the check is over, six sessions or twelve hour is long enough in coaching to have created a breakthrough).

2- What did the coach do well to show you that breakthrough?

3- What therefore do you think is he or she likely to do for me in my specific situation?

4- What do I have to do in your opinion to get the benefit of his or her strengths?

5- Will you have your son or daughter be coached by this coach? Why? Why not?

• the process and the curriculum

In the recent coaching forum, I happened to meet an ex-coach of the Indian Cricket Team. 

He said that while he was the coach, 95% of his coaching time went into dealing with psychology and mind aspects of the player. Only for the new ones in the team did he have to focus on any cricket at all.

This is true for every coach.

You know more about your business than the coach and that will never change.

The coach who talks about helping you do your work better is not a coach for you. At least not 95% of the time.

Coach’s job is to help you clarify, understand, identify, maximize yourself, your goals, your potential and to enable you to act now. For this a good coach will work with ‘how you think’ more than ‘how you do’.

Understand from the coach, his or her, process and curriculum. Most coaches will tell you that the process is person centric, depends on the executive etc etc etc...

All of this is true. Though this is true for every product and service that exists on our planet. Yet (like in your company) there is a certain process or product that is modified to suit clients. 

You must get an understanding of the coach’s process. Most coach’s will have a process or some sessions that they can share with you. 

In actual practice, however, the great coaches will always be able to innovate to suit you. 

- Certified Coach!!!

Now the most ill-conceived myth of coaching.

In reality Coaching Certification is worthless. It is pointless.

The certifications are awarded by private companies. It has no meaning. Anyone can start a coaching certification and it has little relevance. 

Coaching Certification in my opinion is a CHEAP TRICK at best. 

Yes knowledge is needed though largely new certifications are sought only as an ‘easy entry door’ to get some business going. It works too because people like you fall for it.

Certification has nothing, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the quality of the coach.

Instead of a certified coach who has learnt a process created by someone else and cleared an exam - please look for ‘thought leadership’

I am not saying certified coaches are no good. Some of them are. I am simply suggesting that certification should not be your criteria. The best coaches don’t need a certificate. In fact they’ll never get one or seek one. No Jack Welsch, Peter Drucker, Gary Kisten or any other coach you may admire has a certificate to validate them. They have a body of work for that.

• Thought Leadership

If there is one thing that will segregate the great from the good in coaching, it is thought leadership. What insights does this coach bring to the table. thought leadership doesn’t need you to launch some massive research on the person. There are certain give aways.

• Is the person independently doing something of his or her own. Thats a sign of some though leadership. Generally speaking (though not a rule), people employed by an organization and coaching largely will be following a though leadership than creating one. That’s the case with certifications too!

• Has the person written or published something.
• Does the person do something unique - everyone might not have an inclination to write so does he or she alternatively express it in a different way -  some unique form of training, some service, some initiative or some associations that suggest that he or she might have some emerging thought leadership.

Why is this important?

It’s very simple. “Unless I can think differently, I can’t help you do so.”

Past Experience

This is one more silly myth of coaching. Myth that people with credible past designations will make good coaches.

While in certain cases it may well be true but a myth nevertheless.

You see, ex-CEOs, ex HR Directors or whatever might be what you need. Having 20+ years of work experience is at most relevant only if it was in coaching. How is it relevant otherwise?

Please check on past experience BUT please check on past coaching experience. Everything else for your purpose is just packaging, not substance.

Also another reason why coaching experience is important is that most of our jobs whether  it be CEOs, CFOs or HR Directors in the past entails ‘taking decisions’.. Coaching on the other hand is a job where you don’t take decisions, you empower and motivate others to take decisions and action. 

This transition takes patience, experience and expertise. This transition can take a lifetime too. 

Past experience is very relevant though only past coaching experience is.

Integrity

This probably should have been a lot higher in the list. By integrity am not going to write the cliche honesty, trust etc.

By integrity I mean the integrity towards the role of the coach.

Is the coach committed to help you see breakthroughs, no matter what it takes.

In the end it is a lot about desire to see you do well than anything else that makes a coach create that breakthrough.. It takes a lot of back-end time in introspecting, reading ,thinking, creating to be able to consistently generate breakthroughs for your situation. It’s not about the hour that one spends with you.

Is the coach committed to that process. 

How will you find out?

You will discover this within a few sessions or months. However, there three ways to find out. I have already written about the first two 

firstly, the last question mentioned in the references will tell you. The question to ask was Will you have your son or daughter be coached by this coach? Why? Why not?

secondly, look for thought leadership versus certification based leadership and you’ll know. 

thirdly, check on the number of years the person spends with a client. Was it a one-off contract or did it extend beyond that to others in that organization?

A few more pointer before I sign off...

• A person willing to coach large numbers (in bulk) in your organization will never do justice to the job.

• A person willing to do very short term coaching (1-2 months) is not going to work. Thats not coaching. At best some form of consulting.

• There will always be a coach-client that will not match. If a coach let’s say is coaching 5 people in your organization, and not reverting to you with one that will not work out - then there is something wrong. It’s not that he or she is a bad coach and that’s why things don’t work out. But it just doesn’t match at times.

• A person divulging contents of a coaching conversation with someone else is a sure shot sign that you should look for another one.

A good coach, a great coach.... rather the right coach for you... can immensely help speed up things as well as lead you to a journey of leading a happier and a more fulfilling life...

Take care in selecting yours. Don’t be fooled by myths. Be sure.

Hope this will be of some help to you.

Sometimes none of this will help so the only way for you to help you will be to ‘dive-in’ and discover. Whats their to lose anyway...

yours,

Chetan Walia

To explore further with Chetan Walia or to engage coaching services, please write to chetan@leadership.in