Life Coach Path and National Coach Academy teamed up for an interview on future life coaches. Life coaching business development requires tenacity and tenure in the marketplace. Garnering attention and exposure has less to do with self-promotion and relies more on the proverbial search and vetting process. Over the last couple of decades, life coaching has become a sought-after role for those desiring to be of service to others in more helpful ways.
There are numerous opportunities for life coach training from a variety online programs, organizations and schools. What makes a good life coach? Having a life first helps; one that includes a generous portion of experience and success across at least a few industries. Life experience provides a rich resource of opportunities for empathy and understanding, let alone anecdotes and insight to share with others.
I was recently interviewed by Brandon Baker from Life Coach Path for the National Coach Academy’s blog and website. The interview was based on considerations for aspiring and current life coaches, offering some perspectives of the process. I’m twice Brandon’s age, so the experiential wisdom garnered might be informative and valuable to aspiring coaches. One of the key points featured in the article was this…
Anyone that is striving to develop a change in their lives has to come upon that on their own. It creates the buy in for their self-discovery and I just lead them through the process. […] I have to be able to sit with it, listen intently, get out of my own way, and respond when I feel the prompting to.
It really is a personal choice to grow. We all know that, but the activity presents differently for many. Life coaching is generally transactional by nature, leading to specific action plans for accomplishing goals and objectives. Transformational life coaching, on the other hand, is about self-awareness and changing what isn’t working as well as creating the action plan. A life of obsessing on self-awareness and development certainly adds more arrows to the quiver when exposing aberrant or incongruous patterns.
Another tasty tidbit from our interview:
NCA: What is one piece of guidance that you would offer to somebody who is just starting out in their coaching career?
Zen: Get guidance from someone who’s already done it. Hire your own coach. That way, you example what it is that you’re doing. In life, to be the best coach, we have to follow the guidance that we set forth for our clients. Otherwise, what good are they? If we don’t follow our own advice, how can we grow as a coach or learn the process of our own growth?
What matters is that if you’ve found your passion is moving you toward something, find out who has already gone down the same or similar road and inquire. I don’t know how it happened, specifically, though I’ve always seemed to gravitate toward people 10 or 15 years my senior. I’ve done it since late in high school, probably because I was a bit more mature for my age. Physically I even had a full beard in my freshman year, though I’m not sure my emotional maturity coincided.
Fast forward to 2020 and a lot of turmoil in society as we continue our efforts for sustainability and world peace, let alone our next US President. Individually, most folks don’t have the time to do anything toward those ends, though they can make the effort for aligning the personal behaviors and plans with goals and objectives that increase the quality of life and garner greater happiness. No one is alone. Whether you are on a life coach path or working on achieving goals for 2020, ask for help if you need it, and maybe even if you think you do not.
Many coaches begin by wanting to work on themselves, which is what happens as one learns the ropes, so to speak. The consummate professional knows they have to ‘practice what they preach’ and be an example of the work or their integrity comes into question. It may not be visible from an observer, but the inner monitor always knows. Not to put all our eggs in one basket, other coaching institutions are available and worth investigating.
We all work on elevator pitches, right? Something we can say in a short amount of time that gets people to inquire further, perhaps giving you the opportunity to ask questions that can lead to a business relationship. A few years ago we had a contest for Speakers Resource Organization, keeping it under 10-seconds. I’m kind of a ham and engage others easily, yet this gave me an opportunity to test the following: