185: How Coaching Works [Podcast]

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Want to know how coaching works?

I know I did before I got into my first coaching session. I had just shelled out a good amount of money and was coming into my first coaching call, wondering if it was going to help move the needle.

Since I started coaching, I get a lot of people asking me about how coaching works.

There is a curiosity about coaching – especially what we often call executive, career, or startup coaching – which all tend to look the same as how they operate – just with different desired outcomes. 

Recently a client told me that he was getting lots of advice from others (people who had expertise in the field), but yet, nothing was holding him accountable.

So today, I wanted to give a picture of how coaching works, who it can help, and why it might be worth the investment of your time and money.

How Coaching Works

Remember the old adage – “You get what you pay for.”? This adage tends to be true for advice as well.

Good coaching has four critical components:

1. It helps you define success. Most of us are not sure what success looks like. Even when we think we know, we have a clouded vision of success. Coaching helps you get clarity.
2. Gives you perspective. A coach should have worked with all kinds of people in all types of situations. So when they share information or ask you questions, they come from a breadth of experience. If you just get advice, coming from someone who is an expert at what you want to do, they can only speak to their expertise. Perspective helps you see more options.
3. They are invested in you. Think about fitness coaching. At the gym, the guy in great shape next to you is a good person to ask some questions about how he got in shape. He may give great answers and advice. But, he is not invested in you, nor is he interested in helping you meet your goals.
4. Accountability. This seems trivial but is the critical part. Once you have invested in you (by putting your skin in the game and paying for a coach), you will show up. You have invested. And, once you have invested, you will feel stupid if you do not do the work needed to help you grow. The coach, by sheer definition of the business, holds you accountable. You will feel pressure to answer for the work you did to meet your goal.

Want to check it out for free? Schedule Your 45-Minute Discovery Session with me. 

Click here to listen now.

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Links mentioned in this episode:

• Schedule Your 45-Minute Discovery Session with Dale
• Master of Engineering Management in Information Engineering and Management