Selecting a Life Coach & Assessing "Coachability"

Friday, 06 April 2012 00:07

Selecting a Life Coach & Assessing "Coachability"

By Denise Sheehan

Glossary Link Life coaches come in many variations and with numerous titles, including, but not limited to:

Soul Coach
Professional Coach
Transition Coach
Leadership Coach
Career Coach
Relationship Coach
Wellness Coach

Co-active coaches (as I am) don't offer advice or solutions. They don't choose your actions for you. They DO help you to access your inner wisdom, because YOU are naturally creative, resourceful, and whole! Guided by your inner wisdom, your life creatively unfolds with depth and meaning, attracting all you desire with much more focus, clarity, and abundance. Anyone with the desire and will to consciously create their dream-life, but who falls shy in implementation, can benefit from life-coaching.

Selecting the right coach for you is an important step on the path to creating your ideal life. Here's a process that may work for you:

Consult your friends about their coaches and or search the Internet for possible leads. The International Coach Federation has a directory you may find useful.
Consider: Would you like to work with your coach through the phone, in-person, through email, or on Skype?
Consider: Is it important to you that your coach have a credential or coach-specific training?
Consider: Would you prefer that your coach have expertise in a particular area, such as spirituality, business development, nutrition, healing, etc.?
Check out any products a coach offers, such as web sites, blogs, ezines, etc. to learn more about their expertise and clients (do you feel like you fit in?)
Engage in conversation with the coach by email or phone to learn more about their energy and communication style
Schedule a preliminary session to get a feel for the coaching style
Discuss your readiness to engage in coaching, your fit with the coach, and pricing
If this is the coach for you, get started and watch your life transform!

Speaking of your readiness to coach, this is an important consideration. To assess yourself for "coachability," consider the following:

Are you prepared to initiate calls/sessions with your coach and to be fully present?
Are you ready to identify and to act upon goals in between coaching sessions to improve your quality of life? Your coach will assist with the process.
Are you ready to explore your life's purpose, events and activities to deepen your learning and forward your action?
Are you prepared for disclosure with your coach? Your coach helps to build safety for this.
Are you willing to report your learning and actions to your coach?

You may find that you have a specific short-term goal you would like to reach where short-term coaching will meet your needs. You may also find, as I do, that engaging with a thinking partner and enlisting support from your coach in the long-term helps you to sustain forward motion in your life even as your goals change in response to the flow of your life. There's no "right" approach, and coaches are committed to meeting you where you are.