I’ve recently been discussing the essentials of coaching and coaching skills at academic conferences and in client meetings. These discussions have revealed a real lack of understanding about what being a coach means and what coaching actually looks like.
In this post, I’d like to highlight the bare essentials to look for when choosing a coach – either for yourself or your organisation. Because a poorly-trained coach can have a more negative impact than no coaching at all.
The problem
Coaching can be an extremely impactful and even transformational development activity. Coaches can help their clients navigate career transitions, cope with change, cultivate resilience and take brave steps in the direction of their goals.
That said, in the UK at least, anyone can call themselves a coach. Yes, you read that correctly. An unqualified and/or unethical coach can have a devastating impact on their clients. As an accredited coaching psychologist, I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve listened to clients sharing their coaching ‘horror stories’ from the past. Exceeding the limits of their professional competence, failing to maintain appropriate boundaries in their relationships, or simply breeching confidentiality. I’ve heard it all.
Selecting a coach is therefore a key step in the coaching process, but one that many people find challenging. What does good coaching look like? What should a coach be able to do? How can you find out more about your coach and their experience? Read on for my suggestions for the absolute bare minimum anyone calling themselves a coach should be able to demonstrate.
Choosing a coach: What to look for
Training
This might seem like an obvious point, but your coach should have completed coaching skills training and not just rely on their ‘workplace experience’ or ‘common sense’. Our training is what gives coaching practitioners a deeper understanding of ethical boundaries, dealing with coaching challenges, and clarity on the limits of our professional competence. It’s insufficient to read a coaching book, or watch a few videos, and declare yourself a coach!
And no, general experience as a manager or leader doesn’t automatically make you a coach. It gives you a valuable understanding of the workplace and topics like careers, performance, conflict and politics. This experience could definitely make you a valued mentor. But without training in coaching skills, you run the risk of conflating these two roles and confusing your clients.
Accreditation
Your coach should be professionally accredited by a reputable coaching organisation. Accreditation means they have at least the minimum standards required by that organisation, including a set number of coaching hours, specified training hours, and adherence to an ethical framework for coaching practice.
There’s no such thing as ‘perfect’ when it comes to accrediting bodies (and there are more than a few!) but accreditation will at least give you recourse to a formal complaints procedure if things go off piste during the coaching process.
Supervision
Your coach should be involved in ongoing professional supervision with an appropriate professional, which helps them navigate professional challenges and operate ethically and effectively. Supervision gives coaches an opportunity to discuss and reflect on their coaching practice, with a view to engage in ongoing improvements and learning. Supervision also provides a dedicated space for the discussion of coaching challenges and ethical quandaries.
Without supervision, a coach is left to use their own judgement when facing a difficulty, which comes with all the usual caveats about how we make decisions under pressure or when our interests are challenged.
Evidence-based methods
This might also fit into the ‘obviously’ category, but your coach should use evidence-based coaching approaches. Not just ‘best practice’ or ‘popular’, but approaches to coaching that are supported by good quality scientific evidence. When we use an evidence-based approach, we not only know that it works, but we know how it works, and for whom it works.
Not all coaching approaches are rooted in evidence and many have gained traction because they have a snappy acronym or use terminology like ‘Neuroscience’ with an unhelpful level of creativity. By way of comparison, at WorkLifePsych, our coaching approach is based on Acceptance and Commitment Theory (ACT) which has decades of high quality research studies to support its use in a whole range of contexts, from therapy to coaching.
Transparency
Your coach should be able to explain how their coaching approaches work and why they use the tools they do. Coaching isn’t magic and the approaches used need to match the context. So you coach should be able to explain to you how and why they use certain coaching tools and how they can meet your particular needs.
This is closely related to being evidence-based and is a great way of understanding whether your coach really knows what they’re doing.
Chemistry
Your coach should be happy to offer a free ‘chemistry session‘ to answer all your questions and find out more about you. Coaches need to understand that what their prospective clients want to work on is a good fit for coaching before agreeing to work with them. The chemistry conversation allows them to better understand your context and your goal or needs.
So if you indicated that you want to overcome your relationship breakdown or deal with your substance abuse problem, then any coach not specifically trained in these issues (which really implies clinical or counselling training) should be able to effectively refer you to someone more qualified.
The chemistry conversation also gives you an excellent opportunity to ask all of the above questions, so you can make an informed decision about who to work with. And remember: questions aren’t limited to the chemistry session. If in doubt at any point in the coaching process, ask your coach to elaborate or explain.
What next?
You can find out more about our approach to coaching over on our Coaching page. You can find answers to your coaching questions on our FAQ page. We also have a range of coaching-related videos over on our YouTube channel (including one on this very topic!).
Of course, if you’d like to discuss your coaching requirements, you can easily book a free, no-commitment chemistry session via this link.
