8 Tips to Select the Right Coach

So you want a coach! Doesn’t everyone? There are lots of people and companies offering coaching services and they all want your business. Here are a few questions to ask and tips to consider to make sure you have the right coach for the right reasons.

1. Why do you want a coach? For yourself? For your people? It’s a good idea to think through this before making a commitment. Just because it may be “the current fad” you need to work out what you want from a coach. Meeting with a prospective coach (without obligation) can help you make a decision. The first difference is life coaching from business, executive or leadership coaching.

2. How will you and your coach determine the outcomes of the coaching program to benefit you and your organisation? What is the starting point? Does your coach have a proven process that they use to ensure there is some structure to the program?

3. What business experience and background does the coach bring to the coaching program? Coaches need not have experience in your industry and, indeed, sometimes it’s better that they don’t as they can be more objective. However, they do need to have experience in the business world so they understand how organisations work and the pressures that business people are under these days.

4. How is the program and fee structure set up? Are you buying a fixed number of sessions for a period of time? Or is the program likely to go on and on whether you continue to benefit from it or not? Having a fixed number of sessions and fixed fee structure provides you and the coach with an exit point and you and your organisation also know how much the program will cost. This sets some boundaries for the client and the coach. The client/organisation can then decide to continue the coaching if it is still of benefit after the initial program.

5. Are the coaching sessions face-to-face or over the telephone or a combination of both? The nature of the coaching program and geography will determine which is the most practical and cost effective for the client.

6. What support outside of the formal coaching sessions does the coach provide? There should be opportunity for the client to get email and telephone support for emergency or follow-up discussions outside of the formal sessions.

7. Where do the face-to-face coaching sessions take place? Ideally they will be on or near the client’s premises but not in the client’s own office – a meeting room on-site is a good option. This saves the client’s time in traveling to another location.

8. Does the coach have access to other resources? This may be other coaching professionals who can work with other people in the client organisation or supplement the primary coach with a different set of skills or approach. Or it may be access to research, journals, literature, models, tools, etc that will supplement the coaching program and tailor it to the needs of the client.

Written by Linda McDonald

Corporate Learning
129 Bent Street
Lindfield, NSW 2070
Tel 02 9416 1576 Fax 02 9416 6753
Email
www.corporatelearning.com.au