As I closed the Zoom room, I knew things could only go one of two ways. Either my client would be so upset/angry/irritated with me, they’d serve notice… OR I’d done enough to help them see how much they were blocking their own potential, and they’d start to turn things around.
Regardless, I was sure I’d taken the best action for my client.
If they walked after this, I knew I’d carry no regrets and still feel sure I’d acted in their best interests.
As a coach, it’s not my job to be liked. Don’t get me wrong, of course, I want to be liked – we all do. BUT… I’m not being paid handsomely to be someone’s best friend. I’m there to help THEM be their best, achieve all they want and more.
I’m also there to ask the questions, help them see the patterns and identify the blocks their friends, perhaps, wouldn’t dare.
Sometimes, that can mean shining a light towards behaviours, actions and thoughts they really do not want to acknowledge. (Safely and in a properly held and grounded way, of course).
I really dislike the massive marketing push towards pound signs, flash cars and six/seven figure incomes being the end goal for coaches at the moment. I wish we’d stop selling people pipe dreams, promising certainties that don’t exist and going hell for leather towards material gains and ego goals.
I wish, instead of playing the one-upmanship game, we’d get back to what good coaching is really about – our clients.
We don’t need more coaches operating from a place of ego, willing to say anything to keep those clients singing their praises and showering them with gold. We need more humility, deep listening skills, power-full, intuitive questioning and the courage to ALWAYS put our clients’ progress ahead of our own material desires.
That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be richly rewarded for our work – it simply means we need to switch our thinking. The rich rewards come as a result of creating power-full transformation, support, encouragement and (when appropriate) challenges for our clients.
Do the work, be willing to rattle the cage; don’t constantly keep things safe, use manipulative language, or turn yourself into a crutch to shore up your own desires.
As a coach, I’ll be my clients’ biggest cheerleader – but I’ll also risk really p*ssing them off if that’s what’s needed for the growth they asked me to help them achieve.
Coaches reading this, do YOU care enough to risk being dumped?
Coachees reading this, do you trust your coach enough to allow them to challenge you?
In case you’re wondering, my client was pretty rattled after our call. They later confessed that they did think about sacking me, but then realised the truth of everything we’d discussed, and swiftly took some really positive steps they’d been putting off for too long. The result? One really happy client, now achieving more than before.
#UnleashYourAwesome
Taz X