10 Reasons working with a coach can help you

Your current support network is likely your primary go-to for “coach-like” conversations and you should leverage this to the fullest, but you should also be mindful of the following:

• Your family, friends and co-workers know you on a personal level and may already be familiar with your current environment to a certain extent (your lifestyle, your work, your goals, the people in your life, etc..). Given this fact, how unbiased will their perspective be?
• How “coach-like” are your conversations with your current support network? Are they giving you advice or are they helping you discover what you want? Did you even ask for their advice?
• How comfortable do you feel truly sharing what’s on your mind?

Here are 10 reasons to consider working with a professional coach:

1. Coaches create a space of trust and safety for you to feel comfortable sharing.
2. You set the agenda and the goalpost for the outcome of the coaching conversation.
3. You have some desired state which you want to get to. This can be improvement in a certain area: career, personal goals, or simply to obtain perspective or heightened awareness about a situation.
4. The coach facilitates the conversation leveraging a framework to get you to your desired state.
5. Professional coaches will primarily facilitate your learning and growth through coaching conversations that help you create awareness and insights.
6. Coaches can also offer you advice but should always ask you first if you want the advice before sharing it.
7. Coaches are passionate about helping you feel more capable of achieving your goals and are invested in your best interests.
8. You may benefit from having a conversation with a coach (someone outside your immediate support network) to get a different perspective.
9. Professional coaches maintain confidentiality of their clients.
10. You are in control. The coach is simply a partner in your journey.

Coaching conversations do not happen without the acknowledgement and awareness of the person being coached that they are engaging into a coaching conversation.