Performance, executive or transformational coach – how to choose?

A coach can be any number of things, depending on who you ask and the context of the conversation:?There is no one definition, there are many categories, and there are many more specialities. ?Even a selection of coaches with the same ‘title’ will give you a different answer.? But let’s pretend there is a shared definition, and that it might be something like this for the following three examples…

A performance coach helps you to maximise your potential and achieve your goals, and is all about results, getting you to where you want to be as quickly and efficiently as possible.?The promise of a performance coach is to help you to overcome obstacles to achieve specific outcomes and aims.

An executive coach works with senior leaders and brings a strategic, organisational focus, working with you to navigate business, leadership and career related-challenges.?An executive coach usually brings to the conversation a wealth of experience, whether from their professional background, and/or through working with a broad range of businesses and sectors as a coach or consultant.

A transformational coach works with clients to bring about personal and professional transformation, through a combination of enhanced self-awareness, mindset shifts, and skills development.?The focus is on the transformational process: ?Rather than starting with a specific goal, the coach works with you to trust the process and allow your desired outcomes to emerge as part of the coaching.

I am sure there will be many who vehemently disagree with my attempts to differentiate and define these sub-groups.??I do not blame them:?Working in a profession that is so broad and expansive and, dare I say it, crowded, coaches invest considerable time in setting themselves apart in a busy marketplace:? The ‘label’ or title I choose as a coach starts to define who I am as a person, and if someone attaches a different meaning to the title I have chosen, that can feel threatening, whether to my confidence, my identity, or my brand.? And I wonder whether this might be part of the problem.?

Rather than focusing on telling you what type of coach I am, or how and where I got my certifications, accreditations, credentials, licences, qualifications, and at which level and with what professional body, and therefore what ‘label’ of coach I am, let’s start with you.?

A good coach knows that coaching is in service of you – and starts with what you want, need and expect from coaching.? Exploring and co-creating your coaching experience is an essential beginning (and ongoing conversation) of any coaching relationship:?What experience of coaching have you had before now?? What did you like / not like??What are you looking for in a coach this time?? What has led you to seek out a coach at this point in your life / career / week?? How clear are you about what you need from coaching?? What else would you like me to know or be aware of at this stage?

It might be that you have a very specific outcome that you want to achieve, and that you want a coach who will support and challenge you to hit that target.?Maybe you are a business going through transition and you need coaching for a range of people as you move forwards together.?It might be you are at a career cross-roads and are looking for a coach to work with you as you consider your options and decide a way forward.?You might see coaching as part of your wellbeing practice, as a restorative slot in your diary.?Perhaps you are transitioning to a more senior or new role and want coaching support through a specific situation or period of time.?Maybe you are a senior leader who needs a regular slot in your diary to pause and reflect, with the professional support of a coach.?Perhaps you have a specific challenge you are working on and you are not sure how to tackle it.?You might have received feedback about your style or approach and want to process and work with this.?The list goes on, as it should; each person or business who seeks out coaching comes with their unique personality, situation, expectations and needs.

So we're back to where we started:? How to choose??

There is no quick answer to this. ?If you know exactly what the subject area is from the outset (you want a tennis coach, diversity coach, or marketing coach, for example), this certainly helps to narrow down the options.?A life coach usually focuses on personal clients, and a business coach works in professional settings, but even this attempt at definition is unclear.

Instead, lets outline a few ways to narrow down your options:

• A good coach will offer you what is often called a chemistry call.?This is a two-way process that allows both you and the coach to ask questions and check rapport before making any commitment.? You should not feel pressured to make a decision during the call.
• Check out a few coaches to get a flavour for the different styles and approaches, as this can form part of the process of you knowing what you want. Keep in mind the primacy and recency effect: ?We remember the first and last more than the middle. ?Be clear beforehand what you want to ‘check out’, and make notes immediately after each call so that you are not leaning on your unreliable memory, which is designed to short-cut decisions.

The coaching qualifications scene is confusing even for those who are in it.? Unless you are confident you understand what all the different titles mean, start by asking the coach a few questions:

• What personal and professional development are you currently engaged in??A good coach should easily answer this question, and be clear about both what they are working on in themselves (the coach being the main ‘tool’ of coaching), and how they are developing their coaching practice or skills.
• If needed:?What is the most recent CPD you engaged in? ?Look for a range of development activities in the past year (reading, podcasts, research, training etc.); otherwise, there is a risk of ‘stale’ practice.
• Who is your supervisor and how often do you work with them??An ethical coach will have regular supervision to cover their coaching practice, keeping them ‘safe and sharp’ as a practitioner.? They might mention how much coaching they do and how this may inform the regularity of their supervision.? Coaches will often engage in a mix of professional and peer-to-peer supervision.? Consider how important it is to you for your coach to be working with a qualified supervisor versus a peer coach.
• How long have you been coaching?? This can be interesting to find out, but remember that anyone can do anything badly for a long period of time.? Engaging in reflective practice, feedback and evaluation, and personal/professional development is at least as important as length of time in practice.
• How has your coaching practice changed over this time?? This is where we learn about the coaches’ own journey; if they have not been or are not on their own development journey, one might question why they are working with other people in this way.

This is a starting point, and has hopefully helped you clarify what you might need and want, and how to go about finding it. ?Remember, that relationships take time to develop, and this applies to coaching too.?Equally, whether working towards specific goals or personal transformation, the impact of coaching itself takes time.? If someone promises you overnight results, be wary.??If a coach suggests you take time over the coaching agreement and setting up the relationship well, this is an encouraging sign.? Your agreement should allow for either of you to end the relationship any point if it is no longer right for any reason (e.g., if the original aims have been achieved, or there is a conflict of interest).? Good practice encourages you to engage in a final conversation to share feedback and end the coaching relationship well.? Perhaps ‘how to end well’ is a conversation for another day… for now, start with the end in mind.