The 6 things you’d never know about the coaching industry:
1. Only 20% of coaches earn a 6-figure salary according to Forbes. We need to raise this percentage! Most coaches unfortunately are not taught how to run a business and sales trainings are certainly limited. When you can focus on how to best serve your potential clients by asking questions, you will approach sales in an empowered way for both you and your clients.
2. The coaching industry is not regulated. I get asked all of the time by people who want to enter this industry where they should start in terms of training. The reality is that the coaching industry is not regulated. Meaning there is no governing board or association overseeing coaching. You “technically” don’t need a certification. A lot of successful coaches I have coached with personally actually don’t. They do though have a ton of experience and have also taken many trainings to master their approach. That being said, there is a reason coaching schools exists. Coaching is a skill that enables the client to self-reflect and discover what is best for them and is a process, and therefore needs to be learned. It is not consulting or therapy (even though you can offer a hybrid depending on your own training and experience). My answer is to pick-up a certification through a coaching school accredited with the ICF (International Coach Federation). If the industry does ever become regulated, then the government will look to the ICF. The ICF lists all of the coaching schools it recognizes that meet the ethics standards they have set out, and once you are certified through one of those schools you can be accredited with the ICF.
3. There’s a lot of shaming happening in the coaching industry. The attitude is that how can you coach someone if you don’t have the level of success you are coaching on. This makes no sense and is not what coaching is. Again, coaching is a process of helping others be the best version of themselves. It’s about helping them set their goals and holding them accountable so that they actually do what they say they want to do! An executive coach does not need to have personally earned a billion dollars in order to coach a billion dollar CEO. Anyone feeding you this line of B.S. is likely just trying to sell you on something.
4. Coaching can change the world. Imagine everyone having a personal cheerleader there to guide them, help them stay on track and create the most beautiful life? We all deserve this and each coach deserves to be compensated accordingly.
5. The most successful coaches charge based on the value they bring, not the amount of time they spend with a client. The trading time for dollars is an old model. The new and empowered method is about looking at what your client can potentially achieve by working with you and what that is worth to him or her. Now we can’t guarantee results, because it’s always up to the client on how much action they take and how willing they are to bring their goals to fruition, but the potential on what they can achieve is limitless.
6. Coaches are not responsible for their client’s results. This goes either way – they are not responsible for the client achieving their goals nor are they responsible for their clients not achieving their goals. This is about guiding the client to get in-touch with their own resources so that they have the tools to succeed in any area of their lives. We are merely the facilitators. If you are a coach, imagine if you stayed neutral either way? How refreshing, selfless AND what an amazing space you will create for your clients to take full responsibility for their own lives. YA!
Much Love,
Chris xoxo