How to Find the Right Life Coach
If you're considering working with a life coach, it's important to find one who is qualified and experienced. You can ask your friends, family, or colleagues for recommendations. You can also search for life coaches online or in your local directory.
Once you've found a few potential life coaches, schedule a consultation with each one. This will give you a chance to learn more about their overall availability, demeanor, and coaching style, all of which will help you see if they're a good fit for you. Trust your gut on this one. Keep in mind a great coach is going to be friendly, calm, accepting, non-judgemental, and supportive. Coaches can be assertive but should not be bossy, authoritative, crass, sarcastic or make you feel uncomfortable in any way.
Here are some questions you might ask during your consultation:
What is your coaching style? They may also ask you how you “like or prefer” to be coached.
What are your areas of expertise? See my blog post on the different types of coaches.
What are your success rates? Are they tracking this? They might not be. What defines success to you? Be ready for them to ask you that before they answer!
What are your fees? This can be a tough one and you cannot judge a coach by their fees. There are many coaches who undercharge, because they have been in the field for a long-time and may not keep up with the going rate. Most likely, those coaches will be overbooked and unavailable. If price is a considerable factor for you, group coaching might be an option, because it is usually less expensive.
What is your cancellation policy? Since one-on-one coaching is something that is by appointment only, you can expect strict cancellation policies and enforcement of late cancellation fees.
What else might you ask? What’s important to you before you make a decision to work with a coach? Coaching conversations, although confidential, get deep and “intimate” quickly. You’ll get the most out of your sessions when you work with the coach you feel most comfortable with. It's important to find a life coach that you feel comfortable with and that you trust. You should also feel confident that they can help you to achieve your goals.
