Is it time we all had a life or executive coach?

Whether you are climbing the corporate ladder or walking the path all your own as an entrepreneur, one fact remains true across the board, we all need a little?support?from time to time, someone on our side fighting the tough side to life with us.Living your best personal and professional?life?requires intentional self-reflection and continual?personal development.?

Even at our best, however, we all have blind spots that prevent us from seeing the whole picture

So, who do we turn to for unbiased evaluation and expertise? Enter the?life coach.

One thing I hear more and anything else at the moment is people saying,

“I'm not sure what I want, I know that I don't want my life to be like this, but I'm not sure what I actually do want my life to be like”

Many people know what they don't want in life, which is often the position they are currently in, but are uncertain as to what they do want.

Many people still hold the perception that a life coach is for people who are struggling to cope with the pressures of life, individuals who are missing a certain skill set that everyone else has and implements daily by default. The life coach offering much needed help to fix an issue in some way.

Executive coaching an offering reserved for managers and CEOs who needed help to manage their busy schedules whilst remaining sane in the process. But times have changed, for example, the UK has one of the strongest life coaching markets within Europe and emotional intelligence training which once considered only necessary for low performers, is now commonplace universally in the workplace and in high demand.

Working with a coach has even come to be something of a status symbol for executives and managers.

Good coaching is not prescriptive. It grows from a relationship and dialogue, and any client is accountable for taking powerful action on insights discussed with the coaching sessions.

There is a common misconception that coaching is an expensive luxury item, that all the information is readily available online in one form or another and indeed

To us as coaches,?life coaching is a necessity. We know how powerful and life changing a tool it is.

Everyone in the world can use a coach! Even a goal setting coach, but here’s the thing, to the outside world (non-coaches), life coaching isn’t a necessity…it’s a luxury.

It’s not covered by medical insurance. It’s not a licensed profession. It’s not something that jumps to the top of your mind when you think “how do I achieve this big personal life goal?”

And it is expensive, relatively.??It’s an investment.?It’s a luxury.

That means people don’t need it, instead they must?want?it.

And this principle works across all major luxury goods. Like, for example, an Apple iPhone. The iPhone is a luxury good, there are plenty of other mobile phone brands out there far cheaper (and better in some cases).

Let’s start with the financial investment, studies showed that 68% of individuals who hired coaches were able to make back their investment and?that executive coaching has a?788%?return on investment based on factors including increases in productivity and employee retention.

Ok, how can a metric be set against this outlay, ie. How can you accurately put a price on increased productivity and employee retention??

I get that argument and I'm not here to argue it, to argue many statistics often puts us in the realms of Homer Simpson who famously?(and brilliantly)?once quoted that?“68% of all statistics were incorrect’

Expense aside, how do we measure return of investment??

To answer that we need to look at what most coaches are selling.?So, the first thing I need to set clear is that any successful coach isn’t here just to sell coaching, weather it is life coaching, business coaching or personal development coaching, it’s not about me just imparting knowledge or relating stories from my professional football career to everyday scenarios,

So, what are we here to sell?

Successful coaches are selling a Goal + a Result.

People buy life coaching or executive because they want something – they have a goal in mind, a problem to be solved, and they want a specific end result.

What is goal?

·??????What is a goal?–?defined as an aim or a purpose

·??????What is goalsetting?- Goalsetting is the process of deciding?what?you want to do and setting action commitments towards?how?you will achieve that aim of purpose

·??????What is “a result?” -?A result is what happens when you achieve the goal.

So, whatever your goals are, and they can be anything, getting promoted to the next level, scaling your business X10, losing weight and getting fit, or?any number of things, success = A Goal + A Result.

Simply, if the goal is not achieved then the coach has not delivered an ROI

As a goal setting coach, I completely understand that, I understand how much revolves around you reaching your goals, your vision, your success, your reputation, your financial compensation, and my reputation, my financial compensation, my success revolves around that too.

So, it is a partnership, a coach and their client are both intrinsically linked to it being successful, they are a team and move forward with the mindset of shared vision of success.

Coaching gives clients a structured framework, or system, that helps drive them towards their results.?

There often will need to be a mindset shift of some sort within a client, certainly my role is to convince clients to step outside their comfort zone, try new things in order to establish a change of habit. Some of these they may like and continue and others they won’t and will not revisit which is absolutely fine. But that’s part of the process,

So, what can you expect from coaching?

·??????Clear description of a goalsetting framework?– looking at the different components of goalsetting

·??????Establishment of a clear vision or mission?– this will be both professionally and individually and include short, medium, and long-term goals.

·??????Prioritisation of these goals, in terms of importance and time bound

·??????Applied frameworks to link visions to daily tasks?– OKR’s Smart Goals

·??????Supporting lifestyle components to help productivity and goal achievement?– sleep, perfect average day, mindfulness, morning routine.

·??????Accountability?– my success as a coach as we’ve already seen centres around your success as a client – this is where it can get tricky, because my reputation is obviously intrinsically linked to your success, so at times if I don’t feel that there is adherence to the plan, in a focus that is my job if it is my duty to hold you accountable so there may be difficult conversations at times as has been the case with clients previously.

·??????Regular Check-Ins –?continued focus on the process is fundamental to us reaching the goal, we will discuss regularity of checking in on a goal but largely it will be on a weekly basis.

I always say to my clients that?my hope for our time together is not that I increase their knowledge, my hope for our time together is that I can simplify and help to increase their action.

One thing is for sure, and that is taking action creates momentum, momentum over time will lead to consistency, and consistency will always produce results. If you invest the time and effort with a coach, you are more likely to advance with greater speed and accountability than those who adopt a more passive “wait and see” position.

I'm sure it will continue to take time to alter the perception of life and executive coaching, but there is no doubt the industry is growing at an unprecedented rate, and as the popularity and awareness of the importance of this service increases, the question changes from,

“Can I afford to have a life coach/executive coach?”

to

“Can you afford?NOT?to have a life coach/executive coach?”

Please?get in touch?if you are ready to explore the prospect of life/executive coaching for yourself, or other members of your team – [email protected]