Finding the right coach

A great friend of mine reached out this week asking me for advice on what to look for in an Executive Leadership Coach.

My answer to him was the following:

Essentials:

A track record of success in a chosen field before coaching.

Good client testimonials.

Personal connection during an introductory call.

Academic qualifications in psychology and / or coaching.

Affiliation with a governing body (ICF etc).

This forced me to take stock of my own approach.

I have invested heavily (both time and money) into learning about and understanding the art of executive coaching.

I’ve spent over 150hrs on executive coaching courses and thousands of dollars on qualification courses.

But the best coaching development has been the hundreds of hours actually coaching clients.

Yes –

A track record of success in a chosen field before coaching demonstrates professional competence and experience.

Good client testimonials evidence a coaches ability to support and forward clients.

Personal connection during an introductory call will develop rapport which is the first step to generating trust.

Academic qualifications in psychology or coaching show intellectual rigour and depth of associated knowledge.

Affiliation with a governing body supports the professionalism of the coaching industry and sets apart those with attained competencies.

But from my reflected experience, nothing can beat time spent sitting down 1-1 with a client and listening to their story before partnering with them to generate meaningful solutions.

So what?

For me at least, maybe it’s time to put the books down and get back to having powerful conversations with interesting people that little bit more often.