![]() |
WebsiteAlways |
Is Coaching For You?
More and more people have less and less time, but have greater demands both personally and professionally. This situation has resulted in the emergence of personal coaching within four basic areas: Financial, Physical or Fitness, Life or Career and Executive Performance. FINANCIAL COACHES help individuals with the myriad of financial decision facing today's working and retired population. Just a few years ago, these people viewed themselves as financial advisors or consultants. Coaching appears to be less intimidating and more supportive. PHYSICAL COACHES assist individuals to build or rebuild their physical health. CAREER or TRANSITION COACHES help individuals to identify the obstacles that prevent future growth and excellence. Many career coaches promote their credentials because they have achieved some certification program. EXECUTIVE COACHES also, assist people in reaching that next level of excellence and growth. However executive coaches differ from career coaches in that pre-determined benchmarks are identified. These coaches identified specific measurable benchmarks and help to align the personal and professional lives of their clients. Additionally, there is research that suggests this type of coaching can deliver significant return on investment and dramatically improve productivity. In one Fortune 500 company, the absence of coaching after training demonstrated a potential loss of new skills by 87%. If are you considering coaching, these 10 tips may help you select a coach to best fit your needs. 1. Identify - Before you pick up the phone, search the Internet or ask a friend, identify why you desire a coach. Be as specific as possible. Try to answer the following question: What has kept me from achieving or getting me to where I want to be or go? 2. Referrals - Ask for someone who can validate measurable results. If you are thinking of hiring a coach and believe that you have found a coach to your liking, then ask for referrals. Your questions to the referral may be: Did you achieve your desired results? How long did it take for those results to be achieved? What was the best experience from this coaching process? Are you still a client of this coach? Would you recommend this coach? Why did you hire this coach over another coach? Were the sessions engaging and fun? 3. Time frame - Begin with a minimum of 1 hour sessions to 2 hours. Sessions should be scheduled to provide opportunities for reinfocement, feedback and practice. Coaching is usually scheduled before or after the workday for the "coachee." This type of scheduling respects the productivity of the "coachee." 4. Curriculum - Relevant, proven and promotes measurable growth. If possible, audio reinforcement should be available to maximize the forthcoming coaching session. Research suggests that a one time exposure to a learning event generates 50% retention after 24 hours, 25% after 48 hours and 2% aftr 16 days. Space repetition or what some call rote memorization strengthens cognitive, long term memory retention. We all know what 10x10 is without thinking, but answering what 23x24 is takes far more time. 5. Tools - Provide a means for turning the words into positive measurable outcomes. A well structured Action Plan helps to build balance and provides a place for all written goals and reflective journaliing. Additional handouts or activities help to make the necessary connections between learning (the acquisition of knowledge) and performance (the application of knowledge). 6. Opportunity - For ongoing sessions after initial sessions have been completed. Reinforcement is critical as it takes time to change 10, 20 or even 30 years of the previous, conditioned behavior. These sessions are shorter usually 15 to 30 minutes and provide a vehicle for accountability. 7. Fees - Range from $50 to $200 per hour and up. Determine what your benchmarks are and use those benchmarks to help determine your return on investment. Ask if a money back guaranteed is available. A positive return on investment should be secured within 6-12 months. 8. Credentials - Use references because the "proof is in the pudding." Many coaches promote their credentials, but research suggest that many business, career, transition or executive coaches actually earn less than $25,000 annually. The focus should reside on the outcomes from the coaching that you are expecting and not the credentials of the coach. 9. Complimentary Session - Ask for a complimentary session to see if you like the coach and feel that the coach understands what you are attempting to achieve. In many cases, these sessions are at no charge. 10.Check - Before you hire a coach, check to make sure that you are committed to doing what you need to do. Coaches are a resource for individuals and not what some believe are a magic pill. The success of any coaching relationship is dependent upon both individuals. Leanne Hoagland-Smith is President of ADVANCED SYSTEMS, The Process Specialist. With over 25 years of business and education experience, she partners with her clients to connect the 3P's of Passion, Purpose and Performance to affect sustainable change in 4 key areas: financials, leadership, relationships and growth & innovation with a variety of industries. Her ROI solutions align the strategies, systems and people to develop loyal internal customers leading to loyal external customers. She is the co-author of M.A.G.I.C.A.L. Potential:Living an Amazing Life Beyond Purpose to Achievement due for June 205 release. Leanne also speaks nationally to a variety of audiences. Please call Leanne a call at 219.759.5601 or email leanne@processspecialist.com if you are seeking sustainable results for your business or yourself. Copyright 2005 Leanne Hoagland-Smith, http://www.processspecialist.com Permission to publish this article, electronically or in print, as long as the bylines are included, with a live link, and the article is not changed in any way (grammatical corrections accepted).
MORE RESOURCES:
Coaching - Google News |
RELATED ARTICLES
Becoming An Empowered Consumer How many times have you said to yourself?"I just wish that company would treat me like they appreciated my business!"?For many years I trained Customer Service Reps at a large corporation. There is no doubt that it was during those years I personally became a consumer with rather high standards and expectations. Truth About Life Coaching School Accreditation With life coaching becoming "the" career choice in this millennium, many of you are seeking the right choice for training and certification. Hopefully this article will answer some of your questions. Top 10 Ways to Coach Yourself to Total Success! Coaching is about being your best. It's about performance, about "staying the course" and, in the end, about creating and living the life you really want. You Can Get There From Here But first you've got to raise your standards.I know at some point you had big dreams. Why Things Are The Way They Are Things are the way you think they are, because you think they are that way. An interesting statement I know, but let's break it down a bit if you will, and see what this Really means. HR Professional in New Avtaar: HR as a Coach and Mentor IntroductionThese days in corporate sector, everybody is talking about the role of HR professional as a coach and mentor. People are exited as well as confused. How to Create Your Ideal Life - Excerpt from Individual Power When I lost it all, I felt powerless. During my darkest hours, I wrote letters to God asking "why?" I received answers in writing. Becoming An Information Filter And A Knowledge Sponge As the title states, "Become an Information Filter and a Knowledge Sponge." On your daily journey to achieve your WHY, you will travel through many different avenues and sometimes you will ask yourself, "Why do I need to meet this person or experience this situation?" The key is to truly understand that you must become an information filter and use your personal God-given filters -- your eyes and your ears. The Real Truth About Working Smarter, Not Harder Running a business or department can often stretch you to the limit.To be effective at doing what you do best, it's imperative to look at what tasks you can either delegate or outsource. Secrets of Creating Interpersonal Power If you work with people, as a company owner, manager and team leader or on the customer interface, your impact on others is your most important asset! Someone creating 'Interpersonal Power', as I see it, has the ability to inspire, motivate and facilitate outstanding action in another.In 1996 I won the Olympic Games in Atlanta, GA, in Whitewater Slalom. Your Personal Treasure Chest Sometimes it is helpful to review several of the basic components of THE ENCHANTED SELF. That's what I've decided to do this time. Get Coached! Coaching is a hot trend at a growing number of companies, from IBM and Dow Chemical to entrepreneurial start ups. According to a recent survey by The Hay Group, an international human resources consultancy, between 25 percent and 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies use executive coaches. Success Coaching - What Bill Gates and You Should Have In Common He was just a teenager, but he was already displaying the powerful habits that would one day make him a billionaire.I had to dart down to Atlanta on Monday for a business meeting with a partner of mine and grabbed a new book to read on the plane. Whats in it for me if I Hire A Coach? 1. An unshakable foundation:Create and build your life from the ground up. Friends? I met my friend when we were in graduate school, and we enjoyed hanging out together outside of classes. After receiving our degrees, we both left school to live in different states. Getting Unstuck: Moving Forward To Success Ever find yourself stuck in that awful loop of inactivity? You circle around and around between wanting to move forward and then apathy? Covering the same ground and never moving forward? It could be that you are stuck in the web of your own comfort zone. It's a place we hang out at that's routine, predicable and safe. Its Game Time! Four Powerful Lessons in the Game of Life I turned 29 last week, and if statistics are right and I die on or around my 78th birthday, I am almost 40% done. In a numbers game, that is pretty close to half way. 6 Practices for Achieving Excellent Self-Care Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) often feel like they are running behind schedule, and just don't have the time get everything done. As a result, many ADDers end up sacrificing their own self-care in order to scratch off items on their to-do lists. Why Pacing and Leading is for Wimps! Okay, you have read some books on body language and they all said you must mirror and match, pace and lead.. Mid Life Crisis and the Great American Dream One of the mainstays of American culture is the "Great American Dream". Immigrants would uproot their families and leave their homeland in the hopes of experiencing the freedom and opportunity that awaits them in America. |
| Interesting articles | Home | site map | Link |
| © 2006 |