Category Archives: Coaching

Motivating Your Clients

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If I could motivate 100% of people 100% of the time, I’d probably be the richest man in the world. We all want to do something we just can’t seem to make ourselves do. We want to lose weight, we want more money, we want to learn a new language– it never seems to end.

Why would we expect our clients to be any different? It’s especially hard if the learner hasn’t really chosen to be there or isn’t sure about being there. We know how hard it can be to teach someone who doesn’t want to be there—maybe you’ve even been that person.

What’s really discouraging is trying to motivate people who’ve chosen to be there and still can’t seem to get on top of things. That’s probably the type you’ll be dealing with the most.

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When to End the Coaching Relationship

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As a coach, you work really hard to impact people’s lives. You want every single one of your coaching clients to succeed. It means a lot to you – you wouldn’t be coaching if that weren’t the case.

The coaching relationship has to end sometime, though. I’m not saying that there won’t be certain coaching relationships that go on for years or even over the span of a lifetime. But those times are few and far between. Typically, the coaching relationship will end.

There are different ways to manage this. You might have an end point in mind when you first get started with the coaching. Maybe you’re running a one-month program or something like that. Or, maybe it’s up to the client to decide how long the coaching relationship will last – as long as they keep paying you, you’ll keep coaching them. But, there are some things to consider above and beyond that.

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How Will You Communicate?

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Deciding Where to Mentor People

Where you mentor people as a coach depends greatly on the type of coaching you’re doing. Some reading this will end up coaching in person. Others (maybe even most) reading this will end up coaching mostly online or over the phone. Make your choice now so you can clearly present options to your client.

Whether you meet your client in person or not, the environment should be professional but comfortable. I hesitate to say casual, but it should be nearly so. You want people to let their guard down. You’re not their boss, you’re not their colleague— you’re someone they can really confide in and look up to.

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Improving Your Teaching Skills

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Knowledge is power. There’s something you know that other people are desperate to know. Whether it’s information for their business, life, or passions, you can do people a great service when you teach them. It’s an excellent way to help others while leaving your mark on this world.

After all, you’ve spent a lot of time and effort to become an expert on something. You’ve used a lot of elbow grease and spent a lot of your time and money on a particular skill or topic. Surely, it’s a good idea to pass your knowledge along to other people in the form of coaching, right? People are clamoring to know what you know, after all.

But, what about all of the crummy teachers and coaches you’ve had in your life? What about the books you’ve read that didn’t actually teach you a darn thing? What about the confusion you’ve felt when trying to get a grasp on new concepts and your teacher didn’t know the first thing about helping you?

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Building Your Integrity as a Potential Coach

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If people are going to hire you as their coach, then they need to trust you. They need to feel like you are a true authority on the topic they are interested in.

Depending on how you view your authority and reach in the market right now, you may or may not need to do a little bit of work. I don’t think it will take a long time to get to the point where you need to be – a lot of this has to do with perception (how others perceive you as a coach as well as how you perceive yourself). You have to be strategic about building your integrity as a coach.

You should know your subject well. You don’t want to pretend anything as a coach. You want to actually be able to help people – not just take their money. If you’re just taking their money and you don’t know your stuff, then you’re not doing your job and what you are doing might be fraudulent. I’m not saying you’d ever do that, but it’s time to make sure.

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