Want To Transition Into Coaching Successfully? Here Are 3 Counterintutive Truths You Need To Know. Turn on

“I really want to become a coach, but I don’t know where to begin.”

Every few weeks, I receive this question in my inbox from someone who is aspiring to become a coach.

And every time it takes me back to that moment almost a decade ago, when I left my corporate consulting career to transition into the world of coaching and transformation.

I remember how I was filled with an amazing sense of excitement and a burning desire to make a difference. Everything seemed achievable and possible.

Until I soon realized that being passionate is just one of the many ingredients you need to become a successful coach.

You also need a unique set of competencies, a solid foundational understanding of human behaviour and a growth mindset that is obsessed with learning by failing.

To be honest, I am not surprised to see so many aspiring coaches struggle to make this transition successfully. It pains me, but it doesn’t surprise me.

Throughout my journey of training thousands of coaches, I’ve identified 3 key problems that gets in every coach’s way and 3 counterintuitive ways to overcome it.

1. The Problem of Overwhelm.

The world of coaching is massive and continuously expanding everyday. The opportunities are limitless and so are the millions of resources available online – so much so that it’s easy to get lost and overwhelmed.

The main problem for new coaches is that instead of relentlessly focusing on what is important, they focus on everything else. They work less effectively because they get distracted by ‘busywork’. Busywork is easier and more fun than real work but it does not count and won’t lead to success, no matter how intensely you do it.

None of this is the “wrong” thing to do. It’s just not right for the stage of business that most new coaches are at.

CounterIntuitive Truth #1: Focus on the Foundational 20%

Instead of doing a lot of different things to keep you busy, the key at this stage is to

Do a few things but do them really well.

Focus on the foundational 20% that really counts to make your coaching more result oriented and valuable.

If you can spend as much time reading, learning and most importantly applying these principles you’ll already be miles ahead of most other coaches.

2. The Problem of Confidence.

Too many coaches wait to feel confident before they start coaching and finding clients.

And in order to build their confidence, they take another new course, read another new book or watch another new Youtube video online.

While their hunger for learning is high, it does not solve the real problem – finding confidence to take action and actually start coaching.

CounterIntuitive Truth 2: Commit & Track the Right Measures of Success

Don’t wait for confidence to magically appear before you begin coaching.

Confidence is the RESULT and not a REQUIREMENT for you to start coaching.

The key is to COMMIT to activities that enhance your coaching capabilities and MEASURE your progress effectively.

Here’s a simple 2 step process:

1. Commit to having a 100 powerful coaching conversations in 90 Days

2. Once you commit to this challenge, track the right metrics of success.

What is the right metric of success? It is one that tracks your behaviours, not their result.

Over 90 days, DO NOT measure how much money you have in the bank as a result of coaching.

Instead, measure:

1. How many new people did you INVITE to have a conversation with you?

2. How many of those did you CONNECT with more deeply to coach them?

3. How many of those who you connected with did you PROPOSE your coaching services to?

Taking on this commitment will require COURAGE but it will also build your new CAPABILITY to coach different kinds of people without hestiation.

There’s only way to get better at coaching – by committing to coach your ass off!

3. The Problem of Competing Commitments.

Competing commitments are the hidden unconscious biases that drive the actions we take. They are what comes between our best intentions and our lack of action towards them.

While most new coaches have the highest intention of wanting to make a difference for their clients, it’s their own competing commitments that stops them from actually finding clients to do the work with. It acts as their biggest roadblock to change.

CounterIntuitive Truth #3 —> Hire Your Own Coach

This is where it is important for new coaches to work with their own coach or mentor who can draw out their why, mirror their own biases and beliefs and coach them to uncover their true values.

If you are training to become a coach but have not invested in your own coaching then it becomes evident after a while.

Coaching brings out unique challenges and unless you have been through the process yourself, it becomes harder to relate to what your client is experiencing.

Finally, when you have invested in your own coaching, you are walking your talk – and this gives you the confidence to communicate your own worth as a coach to your clients.