When you’re training to be a coach, it can seem like your work is never done. If you are training as a coach, maybe you are struggling to put it all together, or know where to get started. What you’ll learn from the article is some top tips from the coaches coach that will help you refocus your efforts & be more effective as a result.
This is my first tip simply because it’s so important to practice. It gets you used to talking to people about what you do. It gets you practically used to coaching. It gets you out there and coaching a range of people, and when you are coaching a range of people you are more likely to understand which group of people you have the biggest connection to, or which area you are most passionate to help identify & offer solutions to. And that’s the start of your niche. And that’s in turn the start of your marketing.
As a coach it’s crucial to walk your talk. In counselling as a profession, you have to have supervision & be in therapy yourself, and I think it’s crucial as a coach we consider how we are keeping ourselves grounded & professional. Your own coach (and preferably your own supervision) will definitely help you to do that. It gives you a safe space to explore what you want, your coaching practice, other elements which may be getting in the way of your coaching. As a trainee coach, it also can help give you the perspective on how your course is going or action plan what is next.
Different coach training schools all have their own approaches, however one thing is for certain is that you need to understand what all the elements of the course you are studying for. If you don’t know this and plan to cover all of them (see tip 4) your failing to plan - and this can lead to planning to fail! Your plan should consider when you want / need to complete your coach training, what may get in the way of you doing that, what time you have available & what support you can pull in to get it done.
Once you know what needs doing (your plan) a more tactical action plan is needed to be able to keep on track. Believe me, it’s easy to get diverted, and this is where fitting your plan into how you manage your time, and making diary commitments from your coach training, helps you gather momentum & focus on success.
So you’ve got a plan, you know what you are doing when. Fabulous. One other great element to keep in your focus as a trainee coach is what your overall goals are. Focusing every so often on the overall picture helps you remember exactly what you want to get out of being a coach, what you can put back into the world and the coaching profession, and helps keep you on track and moving smoothly towards the finishing line.
There are two sides to the idea here of reflecting and reviewing as a trainee coach. One is at a practical level about how your course is going. Once you have your overall goals, your plan & your actions, you need to commit some time to sit down and review your plan every so often to check it is on course. Because then if you aren’t on course you can correct your path & understand what is now required for a successful completion.
The second important element of reflection & review as a coach is to review the way that your coaching skills are growing and refining, and what you are learning from working with your clients. This is a great skill to start when you are already in learning mode, and if you can do this right from the start then hopefully it is a skill you will continue when you are a qualified professional coach.
This is my tip from experience & hearing the experiences of coaches I have worked with as trainee coaches. Doing things as you are in the moment, such as completing your training log when you are coaching, or your reflective notes, will pay dividends later. First of all, it stops it feeling like it is just a paper exercise. Secondly, your power of recall will be much higher which means that it is more likely that you will have powerful notes at your aid. And thirdly, it makes life much, much easier at the end of your course!
Claire Chapman is the coaches coach specializing in working with trainee & newly qualified coaches. Claire focuses on helping coaches to unearth their core strengths, to create space to explore themselves, their coaching & their business, & then to take tangible action to get the right results. Claire works with coaches via telephone for one to one coaching & with the Get Clients Now!(TM) program and other group coaching sessions. Visit the website now to sign up to receive the 30 day e-course “Lessons for Life” what they didn’t teach you at coach training school - and what to do about it. http://www.growasacoach.com
Tags: coaching for coaches, professional coaching, trainee coaches