Getting The Right Coach For You

I have been coaching people in business for over 15 years now, I work mainly in the English NHS which spans senior leaders, doctors, chairs directors, nurses, midwives, accountants, CEOs.

People ask me who I can recommend, what makes a great coach and what they need to look for.

Some ideas in looking for a coach that suits you.

Ten top tips

1. Make sure that they follow an ethical framework, meaning that your conversation is in confidence, underpinned by a duty of care.

2. What kind of coach are you looking for, somebody who is going to really challenge you, somebody who has worked in your field off practice before, or somebody who has a special skills you need. Think about flexibility if you need to change your diary

3. Have a “chemistry call” speak with, ideally on a video call for a 15 /30-minute session so you can free of charge see how you may work together. An opportunity to ask them questions and see how they work.

4. If somebody comes recommended, recognise that they may have been the right coach for the person who recommenced them, but maybe they are not the right coach for you.

5. If you are having coaching f2f, I strongly recommend not doing it is a cafe of public place, you just don’t know who else is listening and it is harder to fully concentrate.

6. Look for a coach who helps you set boundaries, for example what do you want from coaching, how many sessions do you expect, for how long and over what period, what happens of you are not getting what you think you need?

7. Is there an opportunity for a review built into the relationship, a chance to extend the work you do together.

8. How long has your coach been coaching, do they have any testimonials they can share, with names of possible.

9. Who else does the coach work for and what about their supervision and support, so who is supervising your coach?

10. Are you happy having all your coaching on video calls, or f2f or hybrid, think about this before you start, the coach said cover this but if they don’t, know your preference, as coaches have their preferences too.