7 Habits of Highly Effective Coachees: #1 - Finding the Right Coach

Author: Debbie Inglis

Website: squaretwo.co.uk

To celebrate International Coaching Week #ICW2019, which starts today, I've set myself a challenge to post each day around the same coaching theme. I've chosen to call it "7 Habits of Highly Effective Coachees".

Today's focus is on finding the right coach for you. With so many coaches in the coaching arena now, it can be difficult to find the right one for you.

I've worked with several different coaches over the years; all have their own style. Together with their experiences, training, sector or topic specialism (if they have one), they're all unique. In my experience, there isn't just one coach who is suitable for each of us. It can depend on the situation or goal that we're aiming for.

For example, you may work with a Leadership or Executive Coach in your workplace, a Life Coach for non-work goals, a Career Coach if you're looking to change your career or look for promotion, a Wellbeing Coach if you're looking to improve this aspect of your life, and so on.

Also, the more experience you have of being coached, the more you know what style of coaching works for you. I tend to prefer the totally non-directive style, which includes a very open and honest approach from the coach, who is also an excellent listener and works intuitively, rather than following a specific coaching model.

So how could you make a decision?

​To offer some guidance here, I use a mental checklist when thinking about employing a coach. The one below is a guide and a way to start or develop your own checklist, so you can reach a decision with more clarity, certainty and confidence.

Choosing a Coach - Checklist​

1. What's my focus for this particular coaching programme?
2. Do I want a coach who specialises in this area?
3. Do they offer a consultation, where I can get to know them a bit so I can see if we connect? *This is one of the most important for me. See further checklist below for the consultation conversation.
4. Do they have the appropriate level of coaching training / experience? (e.g. if my focus is a particularly tricky issue, I may want someone with lots of coaching hours under their belt, or they're a specialist in the area I want help with.)
5. Do they adhere to a recognised Coaching Body’s code of ethics?
6. Is the price right for my budget? Sometimes I'm willing to pay a bit more, if it's the right coach for me, and there's a strong level of rapport, from our initial conversation.
7. Do they work in a way that suits me? (E.g. online, phone or face-to-face sessions)

Some of the above questions can be answered by looking at a coach's website; others need a more direct approach.

*Consultation Checklist​

Having a good level of rapport with a coach is vital for me. I work on developing it quickly with clients that I coach, so it's a no-brainer that I want to get a sense that another coach wants to develop the same with me.

​Here are a few questions that I ask myself when deciding how much rapport there is during an initial consultation conversation.

1. How interested do they sound in me / what I'm brining to coaching?
2. Who's doing most of the talking? (It shouldn't be them!)
3. How much eye contact am I getting? (If we're face-to-face)
4. How connected do I feel to them?
5. How easy do I find it to open up to them?

Which questions would be on your Checklist? 
​Feel free to post these in the comments section - click on the link under the blog title.

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Debbie Inglis is a Leadership Coach specialising in Mental Toughness & Resilience. She also delivers accredited Coaching Skills Training and is a Supervision Coach. Debbie works across the UK and Internationally with leaders and their teams to maximise leadership performance, create more resilient, confident, and motivated teams - in a way that brings out the best in them.

Connect with Debbie on LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter

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