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Here at the-Coaching Blog-run by Gerard O’Donovan, our aim is to constantly bring value to those seeking to improve their lives. Therefore we have a policy of publishing articles and materials by guest authors whom we value and appreciate. Today’s guest author is Karen Meager and John McLachlan (United Kingdom).
It seems that anyone who’s anyone has a Coach nowadays. And with good reason, working with a Coach can help you plan your career, make good decisions impacting your life, challenge your thinking and overcome obstacles that get in the way of you achieving your dream. The concept came from the sporting profession, people who had a coach were much more successful than those who trained alone. Most really successful people have had a coaching or use a Coach on a regular basis. Your success greatly depends on choosing both a good Coach and ones that’s right for you.
As experienced Coaches and Coaching Supervisors we want to promote the value of Coaching and continue to improve the quality of coaching offered. Clients and organisations have bad experiences because they have incompetent and poorly trained coaches. The problem is how do you know how to sift out the good from the bad and the ugly? The good news is it’s much easier when you are well informed.
There are some basic elements, all good Coaches should fulfil. Coaching is an unregulated profession and sadly there are some unprofessional people out there claiming to be a Coach so do your due diligence before going ahead. When searching for a Coach be sure to check out that they meet these:
They have a qualification that includes face to face training.
An online coaching qualification has no value, it’s a person to person process so needs a great deal of the training and practice to take place face to face. Ask the Coach how many face-to-face training hours they have had. The number of hours will vary and obviously the more they have had the better, but our suggestion has been wary of anyone who’s had less than 50 hours.
They are Supervised in their Coaching Work
All good coaches should be in supervision. This is not a management process, but a supportive one where a more experienced Coach (or sometimes group) supports them with their clients, their development and helps them make good choices for their clients. This is all done confidentially so your identity is never revealed. If a Coach tells you they are so experienced they don’t need a supervisor, don’t touch them with a bargepole. This demonstrates either arrogance or naivety – do you really want to work with someone who believes they know it all?
They should be a member of an organisation that has a Code of Ethics and a Complaints Process
Some Coaches are members of Coaching organisations, some are members of Therapeutic Organisations and some are members of a modality-specific organisation (e.g NLP). All are fine as long as they have both a code of ethics and a complaints process for yours and their protection.
They should have Professional Indemnity Insurance
This is a very basic thing that should be in place for all professionals working as a Coach. If a Coach is not insured you have no comeback if there is a cause for complaint, an uninsured Coach also indicates a lack of professionalism on their part.
Warning Signs
It is normal to have a conversation with a Coach before you start working with them, some do this face to face, some via Skype or FaceTime, some by phone. This is your opportunity to ask them questions and tell them a bit about what you want to work on. During this and the first few sessions there are some warning signs to look out for, which might indicate a lack of competence:
About the Authors
John and Karen are the authors of the highly acclaimed book Real Leaders for the Real World (£12.99, Panoma Press), and founders of Monkey Puzzle Training and Consultancy, a leading UK training company in NLP. Karen has an MBA specialising in strategy, financial strategy and human development. She is a UKCP registered Psychotherapist (DipNLPt), one of less than a handful of internationally accredited NLP Master Trainers, coach and leadership development specialist. John is one of less than a handful of internationally accredited NLP Master Trainers, a qualified therapist, clinical hypnotherapist, coach and leadership development specialist.
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