Who will you trust? (part 1)

Heather Townsend — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:24:55 +0000

My husband will tell you otherwise, but it’s not normal for me to have a big rant over something. Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do for a living. I genuinely get a real kick out of helping an individual or organisation develop. My only problem with what I do, is that it is pretty much unregulated – what that means is that any Tom, Dick or Harry can set themselves up as a Coach or Training Consultancy.

So let’s start with coaching. [In my next post on the blog, I will look at training] It is only since the 1970s that coaching has emerged as an independent discipline, moving into business away from the sports field. In fact Timothy Gallway, the founder of modern day coaching, did not publish his famous book on coaching ‘the Inner Game’ until 1997. Do a search on Google today and there are over 44 million hits for ‘coaching training providers’. In fact one ad on the Google search has a ‘free report’ which will show me how to make £5000 every month as a life coach. [As a professional coach, I am somewhat sceptical about this claim!] In addition to the many coaching qualifications I now hold, I hold a certificate in life coaching – and didn’t actually have to do any coaching to gain my qualification. Is it any wonder that there are a lot of poor coaches out there who will promise far more than they can deliver, take a lot of your money, and potentially do more harm than good?

So how do you go about finding the right coach for you?

1. It’s not the letters that count

It seems that every coaching training provider will award you a set of acronyms once you have paid them enough money and jumped over enough hoops for them. If you are UK based look for whether your coach holds an accredited coaching qualification from any of the big three coaching associations – International Coaching Federation (ICF), Association of Coaching (AC) or European Mentoring Coaching Council. Membership of one of these associations is not enough – you can become an affiliate member of these associations by virtue of paying your annual membership fee.

2. Price is not a guarantee of success or experience

Unlike some of the regulated professions such as financial services, accountancy or the law, anyone can call themselves a coach, and charge what people are willing to pay. Before you sign up with a coach do ask for (and check) references from previous clients. If the coach does not have any attributed case studies, testimonials, or feedback on their website be wary… If anyone guarantees you success, walk away…

3. Check the chemistry

Rapport is very important between a coach and their client. Sometimes, despite the best intentions of both parties, a relationship just doesn’t gel. Good coaches will always spend time getting to know you, and what you want out of the coaching relationship – BEFORE, starting to charge you for their time. I pride myself on being able to build up rapport with nearly everyone I meet, however, I know that there are some types of coaches that wouldn’t work for me – but work for other people.

4. Ask around

The very good (and established!) coaches very rarely have to advertise their services. A decent coach with an established business will gain over 90% of their warm leads from referrals – normally happy satisfied previous clients. Having said that, a coach advertising their services, doesn’t necessarily mean there is something wrong with them – but do ask some questions where they find most of their clients.

5. Do they walk the walk & talk the talk?

What I mean is, who is coaching them at this present time? A lot of people have become coaches because they believe they can make a few bob, whilst not really living and breathing the ethics of coaching. A decent coach will be regularly coached by someone else. If your coach can’t answer the question – what’s your view of supervision for coaches… walk away…

Just because your coach has been a top exec, pyschotherapist or acknowledged leadership expert – doesn’t necessarily make them a good coach.

6. Do they have professional indemnity (PI) insurance?

Any good coach should have PI insurance. Would you use a doctor, accountant or lawyer who didn’t have PI insurance? So why work with a coach who doesn’t have PI insurance – you are placing similar levels of trust in them as your accountant or lawyer. In effect, if your coach does not have PI insurance they are taking a business shortcut. Where else may they have taken shortcuts – and potentially how could that negatively impact yourself? For example, I have just been hearing of business coaches who, without being a qualified accountant or FSA regulated individual, advise on overdrafts and loans to their clients. So be careful!

Heather Townsend, the founder of The Efficiency Coach, holds an Associate Certified Coach credential from the International Coaching Federation, and vaid PI insurance from Towergate. If you would like to explore what a coaching relationship could do for you, please give me a call + 44 (0) 1234 48 0123 or drop me a line, heather@theefficiencycoach.co.uk

How to achieve more with your continuing professional development

Heather Townsend — Sat, 09 May 2009 17:29:40 +0000

I was in my local library today. (For those of you in the UK, libraries are a great resource to help you achieve more for your time and effort). As I walked in I noticed there were balloons up – and it was ‘adult learning week’.

This got me thinking, how can you achieve more with your personal professional development. Because, let’s be honest, the annual Continuing Professional Development returns to the institutes can be a right pain in the back side.

The CIPD has recently cottoned onto what effective Continuing Professional Development is (and isn’t). It’s any activity or thinking that you do that progresses your learning. Yes, really that simple. However, I fear that some of the professional institutes, such as the law society, are not quite as far advanced in their thinking, as they still require you to attend or complete formal learning events. Although the good news is that you can count coaching hours towards your CPD requirements for the law society.

Here are some of my top tips for achieving more with your professional development, regardless of how much your training budget has been cut in the last 12 months:

1. Do you or your company need to pay for the training, coaching, qualifications - there may be funding available

2. Find and work with a mentor

3. Sign up for free seminars (both in person and virtual events)

4. Use every piece of work that you do as a learning opportunity. At the end of the piece of work, ask yourself, ‘what have I learnt’ and ‘how can I apply my learning in the future’

5. Write down objectives for your personal development – you are more likely to achieve them

6. Join and borrow books from your local library

7. Build in time in your normal working week to plan, record and reflect on your learnings during the week

8. Use the services of a professional coach, such as a coach from ‘The Efficiency Coach’

9. Keep a note pad handy to jot down ideas, thoughts, learnings from useful, day-to-day experiences – for example, negotiating with a local tradesperson

10. Ask to shadow or bag carry for a more senior colleague

11. Subscribe to professional internet forums and participate in on-line discussion groups

If you have been inspired by reading this blog, or want to talk further how to achieve more with your personal development – why not drop us a line on heather@theefficiencycoach.co.uk, look at my website on www.theefficiencycoach.co.uk, or call me on 01234 48 0123. We would love to hear from you.

The Thoughts And Ideas Of The Efficiency Coach » personal coaching

Who will you trust? (part 1)

How to achieve more with your continuing professional development