Secret Reasons that Coaches Kill Their Own Coaching Businesses
Statistics show that ninety percent of coaches make less than ten thousand dollars a year coaching. Why is that true? I think it is because too many coaches don't get out and seek clients. They are busy taking more courses to become a better coach or networking with other coaches. This article takes a look at the emotions behind this issue.
Perfectionism
Far too many coaches fail to get off the launching pad because they have an underlying desire to be perfect. This perfectionist attitude can stop you from starting anything if you don't think you can do it flawlessly. What happens if you coach someone and their life does not change? What if you coach someone and "bad" things happen to them? What if the solutions you help them find only create more challenges?
First let's remember that coaching is fluid and it is not all about you and how you coach. I firmly believe that you could be a monkey and be a good coach as long as you were a monkey that had good listening skills.
Think about how many people just need someone to listen to them with good listening skills! I believe that if you sat through an entire coaching session and did nothing more than listen to your client and encourage them to keep talking through their issues the client would receive great value from you as a coach. So don't let yourself believe the lie that coaching is totally dependent upon you or your coaching skills.
The fact is that if you want to get better at coaching you have to coach a lot. That means that you start now and go get some coaching clients. No, you will not be perfect and yes, you will make some mistakes but that is how we learn and improve our skills. I can guarantee that your skills as a coach will not increase until you begin coaching lots of clients.
Information Stagnation
Another perfectionist attitude I hear from coaches is I can't start marketing and doing things like the Internet or giving workshops because I don't have enough training.
Coaches are people who are curious and like to learn but this is a trap many coaches fall into and I call it "Information Stagnation". The thinking behind information stagnation is that one does not have the skills to do something perfectly therefore, one must take more classes and learn more before beginning a coaching business.
Wrong, the best way to learn is to be practicing coaching while getting information and input. You can get better at coaching by taking courses and I highly suggest it but you can also get in a rut of taking classes and never coaching.
Leave a Comment June 28, 2009
