Elite athletes have coaches. Maybe you and your team should, too.

If you want top-notch performance (for yourself or your team), take a lesson from every elite athlete and high-powered CEO and get yourself (or your team) a coach.?

Wondering what a coach actually does?

The short answer: whatever you want.

The long answer: it's complicated.

Think about coaching along two domains: individual and group. Individual coaching is an excellent choice for folks who are looking to get better themselves: their colleagues and teams may benefit, but the focus is on the single person.

Group coaching is a great choice when you’re trying to make systemic, even cultural change: everyone benefits not only from learning new ways of being and doing, but by supporting each other as the whole group makes lasting changes to what they say and do.

Wondering where to start? Here’s a quick guide to the three most common types of professional coaches you can find.

A Career Coach

A career coach guides you through professional transitions and job searches. Career coaches understand the ins and outs of selling yourself, communicating how freaking awesome you are, and doing it all with bullet points, key words, and scroll-stopping job materials.

If you’ve ever been a hiring manager or served on a search committee, you know the drill: your first priority is to find a reason to reject people’s materials. This sounds cruel but it’s actually efficient: the more quickly you winnow the pool to great candidates, the better.?

A career coach understands how you as the applicant can interrupt this process by selling you: your gifts, talents, expertise and quirks. A career coach knows how to shape your job materials so you’re clearly a top contender for the best hire ever.?

They can help you with all the other stuff related to a job search, too. They can help you prepare for interview questions, salary negotiations, the despair you'll feel when you're the second choice, and the joy you'll feel when you find that perfect fit and say yes to your next great gig. A good career coach can even? help you with vocational discernment, helping ensure you're applying for the right jobs in the right fields.?

Signs you might be ready for a career coach:

• You’re eyeing a promotion.
• You’re transitioning between jobs or industries.
• You’re applying for jobs but not getting interviews.
• You’re interviewing but not advancing to final rounds.
• Your job materials could use an overhaul.

Signs your team might be ready for a career coach:

• They want to advance their careers.
• They’re bored and need work that’s more challenging and engaging.
• You’re restructuring and know some of your team will need new roles.

Where to find career coaches:

• Check your institution’s Employee Assistance Plan (EAP) for free resources.
• Check your alma mater’s Career Center – they often provide career guidance for alums at all stages.
• Ask your mentors and network for referrals.
• Ask someone who recently got a new job or role if they worked with a coach.

?? Hiring a career coach is one way to acknowledge you’re ready to grow. If you see this readiness in your team, providing career coaching can be a great source of professional development.?Don't be afraid to be the boss who helped folks land the job of their dreams.

A Performance Coach

A performance coach is your guide-by-the-side once you're in the throes of a professional transition: maybe you're in a new role, maybe you’ve been handed a complex assignment ... but you're in it now and you need someone experienced to help you succeed.

Sports is an especially apt metaphor for performance coaches.

Performance coaches understand the game. They can see the whole playing field. They know the offensive and the defensive strategies. They "get it" -- what roles are needed for the team to function and win, what your position should be adding to the team, what specific skills you need to succeed, and even what training regimens will help you get better at what you need to do.

Performance coaches may have had your job – or a job like it. They may have supervised people in your role. They often have experience at the work itself and they're there to give you advice, tasks, strategies, regimens, mindset -- the whole shebang -- that will help you do your specific work better.

Performance coaches are helpful when you’re focused on your specific job and want to get better at it. You might keep your performance coach for a long time. You might find successive performance coaches. Mentors and sponsors can even serve the function of a performance coach.

Signs you might be ready for a performance coach:

• You've recently stepped into a new role and want to accelerate your understanding of what's expected of you.
• You're in a role that's complex and one (or more!) part(s) are sticky...and you'd like guidance from someone who's been there.
• You're worried about underperforming, or you know you could be doing better than you feel you're doing, and you want support from outside your institution.
• You working at a new level and don't yet have mentors or sponsors to guide you.

Signs your team might be ready for a performance coach:

• You’re taking on a big task that’s new to the group and want guidance from someone who’s been there before. For example, you might find a consultant who has implemented the same new system you’re working on, or a project manager who can help keep the new initiative moving smoothly.
• One or more colleagues are struggling to perform. They might need someone to guide their learning (like a tutor would); to help them develop better productivity habits; or even to support them working through an improvement plan.?
• You might also have someone on your team who is ready to serve as a performance coach because they’re expert in something that others need to learn. Consider giving them the opportunity to be a performance coach (you don’t need to call it that) as a way of helping them grow in their own leadership.

Where to find performance coaches:

• Find experts through your professional organizations.
• Google [topic] + [consultant] to find folks who serve people working on the challenge you’re facing.
• Ask your colleagues – including folks above you on the org chart – if they know any experts in the field or topic you need help with.

?? Hiring a performance coach can help you go further, faster – whether you’re working on your own growth or you’re focusing on your team’s development. Make sure you’re clear about whether the issue you want coaching for is a “growth” issue or a “remediation” issue. The latter can often be better solved through supervisory practices…but you can find a coach to help you with that, too!

A Transformational Coach

A transformational coach is your guide-by-your-side when you're seeking something deeper: self-awareness, self-knowledge, maybe even self-compassion or self-love. Transformational coaches commit themselves to your journey of personal growth and your personal agency as you chart your path.

Unlike job and performance coaches who have very specific tasks -- and so likely will share specific guidance and strategies, as well as give you tips and tricks to help you advance – a transformational coach knows that you are the expert in you.?

The transformational coach helps you bring out your “you-ness.” In a session with a transformational coach you'll mostly be answering questions, and those questions won’t be pre-determined: they emerge organically from the conversation.

Transformational coaching is powerful when you feel you’re at a turning point with something significant and want to explore your options before choosing how to move forward.

Transformational coaching can be equally powerful for the coachee and for their colleagues, because transformational coaching starts to shift how you respond to others. Once you've experienced a supportive coach who gives you space to have your own epiphanies, you'll find yourself being different with your colleagues:?You'll listen differently. You’ll ask different kinds of questions. You’ll start to create paths through curiosity and autonomy rather than through giving direction.

Transformational group coaching can be powerful for making lasting change. In a group coaching setting folks learn both how to be coached and how to coach others. A group of colleagues who experience coaching together are better able to support and guide each other through future challenges, both because they can help each other problem-solve at deeper levels and also because coaching experiences tend to deepen bonds among those coached.?

Signs you might be ready for a transformational coach:

• You’re feeling drawn to something bigger and you want to pursue it, even if you can’t tell entirely what it is.
• You feel in your bones that you’re meant for more.
• You feel constrained, like you’re fitting in by playing small.

Signs your team might be ready for transformational group coaching:

• They rely on you, a lot. Maybe too much. You’d like them to work together to solve problems before knocking on your door.?
• They’re ready for professional development that will help them bond without resorting to boring or embarrassing “team-building” activities.
• They have good ideas individually but don’t have a forum for sharing those with each other.

Where to find transformational coaches:

• Find experts through your professional organizations - people in your field might be coaches themselves or have good referrals.
• Google [topic] + [coach] to find good coaches who are familiar with what you’re trying to improve.
• Search LinkedIn for coaches – you can see highlights, articles they’ve written, and get a good sense for the work they do.

General guidelines for hiring a coach

1. Don’t try to find the coach with the lowest hourly rate. Your professional development should not be a race to the bottom.
2. In fact, don’t focus on the hourly rate at all. Focus on the outcome: what do you want the coach to do for you/your organization, and what is that outcome worth to you??
3. Be thoughtful about the credentials you want your coach to have. Just like college degrees, a credential can be a sign of completion but not excellence. Many terrific coaches don’t have formal credentials; many mediocre coaches do.?
4. Interview multiple coaches to find someone you will work well with.
5. Ask for reviews and testimonials. Your gut hit is important and so is your coach’s tested performance.
6. Make sure you talk about the parameters of the coaching engagement. Ask questions like how often you’ll meet, whether you’ll have work to do between sessions, whether your coach is available to you between scheduled conversations, etc.

Once you’ve found your ideal coach, commit to the process and – have a great time!

Curious about coaching? Let's chat! Message me here on LinkedIn, schedule some time on my calendar , or email me directly. I'd love to help you think through how coaching can benefit you and your institution.