Needing a life coach and wanting a life coach are two very different things. Everyone needs a life coach, only the wisest hire a coach. Wanting a life coach is about wanting to create a life that is better than the one that you have, and being willing to stretch yourself a little bit each day. Leaping tall buildings isn’t necessary, although you often find your super power while being coached.
So, you want a life coach? Good for you. Now who do you hire? This is the hard part, believe it or not, because becoming a life coach is easy. How do you become one? You start calling yourself one. A low bar to entry plagues the profession. However, not all life coaches are created equal! So here are some tips for hiring a life coach.
Education and Experience
Explore your candidates’ education, training, and experience. Choose someone with training in psychology, behavioral training preferably a psychologist. In addition, to education in psychology, look for a coach with specific professional coach training and is credentialed as a life coach. I recommend Board Certified Coaches with a wealth of life experience are often great coaches. Coaches with life experience, life coach training, and an educational background in psychology are well grounded at a theoretical, conceptual, and pragmatic level as life coaches.
Have a Coaching Conversation
Have a conversation with your potential coaching candidates, preferably a coaching conversation. If it sounds like a sales pitch, keep looking. Find someone that will serve you fully as a coach. These coaches will give you a coaching experience not an enrollment conversation to truly help you in that moment without being attached to having you as a client. Good coaches listen, reflect, and ask questions. If you find value in the coaching conversation then find out the logistics.
Consider the Logistics
If your coaching experience was valuable then ask the coach what it would look like to work with them. Life coaches all work differently so don’t look for the best price look for the best fit. Who will serve you best? Who will be kind and honest with you? Good service often comes at a higher rate. In hiring a life coach, cheaper is not better. Hire the best life coach you can afford.
Life Coaches have Life Coaches
Ask your potential coach, if they have a coach. Good coaches are self-development junkies. They are being coached, going to trainings, living life, and educating themselves on a regular basis. Hire a coach that is walking their talk.
What Do Others Say
Ask for references or read testimonials from the coaches you are considering hiring. Talk to others that have worked with this coach. What was their experience? Has it been beneficial for them? Have they had lasting results?
Listen to Your Own Wisdom
Sit quietly and ask yourself if this coach is the one for you? Will they let you find your way? Or will they try to direct you to their agenda? Find a coach that will sojourn with you on your journey, not take you on side trips that might be interesting but not really where you want to go.
In the end trust your own sense of knowing about hiring a coach. Stay true to what you know is right for you. Not what you think, not what you feel, but what you know is true for you. That is the coach you want to hire for yourself.