How to choose the right business coach?
How to choose a business coach for your company or to participate in open programs? You should pay attention to their self-promotion, the arguments they give in favor of cooperation with them. Because the seemingly positive at first glance, the arguments of the consultants may turn out to be only a bait for the client, which has little to do with the real qualifications of the coach. We will consider some of them further.
Number of clients
The list of clients and the list of companies where events were held by this coach are not the same thing. This is about the same as the number of students and the number of academic hours a teacher has — the first does not speak at all about a person’s experience, and the second is one of the actual indicators of the amount of work.
Honorary title
If the coach you have found for yourself has the title of “Best Business Coach of the Year”, do not rush to rejoice. Any award is, first of all, a matter of marketing, to a lesser extent — good luck, and sometimes real merit. Take, for example, the well-known “Oscar”. Who will receive the award is influenced primarily by the marketing indicators of the film, the studios promoting the film, the calculated profit from the rental and many other factors. And the acting itself or the quality of the picture comes after that. So is the coach. The ability to make a fuss and get an award does not speak at all about a person’s professional qualities. For example, many legendary Hollywood actors have not yet received an Oscar, but they are the best in their field, while others receive an award and are forgotten after a couple of years.
Constant loading
This usually indicates that the coach does not have any client work. In this case, you, as a client, will most likely receive a standard set of knowledge that is not customized in any way for the specifics of your business.
Long experience
Let’s say a coach claims that he has 20 years of experience. And there are two things that can alert you right away. The first is that trainings in the Russian Federation appeared in the late 90s — early 2000s, and the second is if such a consultant is 30 or 40 years old. Where such an experience comes from is unclear.
Creator of many training programs
In order to create only one training program, and a unique and really working one, you need to work hard, and even then it’s not a fact that you will succeed. Is it worth talking in this case about what it is like to create a dozen such programs. Therefore, if you see such an item from a coach, most likely it is either “borrowed” techniques or not techniques at all, but just topics, chapters from them. In this case, the only thing in which the coach is really the creator is in inventing his own names and re—using, at best, already existing techniques.
Qualification
It can be quite difficult to define it due to the fact that there are no common standards, and besides, managers themselves are not coaches. Here it will be useful to watch the coach’s performance live or ask him how he gives his program. If these are just questions and answers, then this is not a training at all, but more like a seminar or lecture. And if the coach’s program includes role—playing games, brainstorming sessions, discussions, etc. – this is already your person. Special attention should be paid to the interest of the coach himself in the process, how much he “burns” with his work and whether he can attract other people with it.
Education
Higher education and, preferably, on the topic of trainings. Of course, in our time, cases of geniuses without a completed education are not uncommon, but these are rather exceptions to the rules. Taking this into account, here are the advantages of higher education — confidence in the speaker increases; in which case he will be able to quickly navigate and answer unexpected questions; hence it follows that he has a fair amount of information.
Speech
A good speech is, as a rule, when a person can explain complex things in simple language. And no matter how simple it sounds, putting it into practice is a separate art. A pleasant voice will be another plus in your coach’s piggy bank. Often, a person’s manner of communication and goodwill play a greater role than the baggage of knowledge.
Age
30 years and older. Ideally 40, give or take, years. By this time, the coach has accumulated a certain stock of knowledge, he is gaining experience, both life and professional — and these are things that, like the manner of communication, are difficult to replace with something. However, it is worth noting that the coach may be older than 40 and 45 years.
Experience
30 trainings is the minimum from which the coach’s confidence count begins. It is also important to pay attention to how many trainings were conducted on specific topics. The experience of “non-coaching” work also matters. It must be at least five years old. Again, if the field of work coincides with the field of training — great.
Reviews
Reviews, thanks, written recommendations are a good indicator of the coach’s work, but the problem is that you can write all this yourself or ask friends. Therefore, for greater reliability, it is better to communicate with former clients of this coach.
Articles and books
In the process of writing, we better structure, understand and remember information, so the presence of publications is a good sign. If the texts are well written, easy to read and assimilate, it is quite possible that the coach will be able to demonstrate the same thing live at the performance. On the other hand, writing and performing are different things, so here’s how lucky you are.
Ideology
It is very important to know what values and ideas the coach puts into his material. Maybe they don’t quite fit your company’s policy. For example, an organization with a clear hierarchy and strict rules is unlikely to be suitable for a coach who promotes democratic values in relation to staff.
Payment level
Both large and small fees require justification. A high price does not guarantee quality yet, but most likely reflects a competent PR coach. Therefore, it is worth focusing on an adequate price on the market and guided by other parameters in choosing a trainer.
Type of employment
Both a freelance coach and a coach working in the company — both have their pros and cons, so here each client decides for himself. The advantages of a freelancer often include a lower price, flexibility in terms. The company also has its advantages: higher responsibility, branded developments and handouts, replacement of a coach if necessary or the involvement of several coaches at once, which undoubtedly changes the pace of work.
Coach’s actions
The initial stage of the coach’s work is one of the most important. As a rule, it is already possible to understand in general terms what this specialist is. If the coach says that “everything is already clear” or “it will be seen at the training”, “we will figure it out on the spot” — this is already a reason to doubt his competence. A professional would definitely ask clarifying questions concerning various aspects of the upcoming event, such as the composition of participants, standards of the organization, its tasks, desired results and vision of the event.