How to Select a Coach That Can Produce Bottom Line Results

With many so coaches available today, selecting a coach can be difficult.When starting our practice, we worked with Marshal Goldsmith who inspired us to create a coaching process that produced results for the client and the participant? Marshal is one of the world's leading executive coaches. We have incorporated many of his principles into our practice.

Here are some tips and FAQs that will help you in your decision. .

Should you pick your coach based on likeability?

Marshal Goldsmith once said, "I have never seen a study that correlates how much you love your coach and their effectiveness to change behaviors. In fact, if coaches become too concerned with being loved by their clients - they may not provide honest feedback when it is needed."

There are five different types of coaches according to Goldsmith: Life Coaches, Career Coaches, Strategy Coaches, Business Coaches, and Behavior Leadership Coaches. Make sure that the coach's primary focus is the area that is most important to you and the person who will get the coaching. Unfortunately, you will find many people try to coach others without the right experience, training, and skills. 

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What questions should you ask your prospective coach? 

1. How much experience do they have as an executive coach?
2. What did he/she do before they became an executive coach?
3. What levels of management have they coached?
4. Has he/she been trained by a reputable organization? 
5. How much training did they receive to become a coach?
6. How does the coach keep current?
7. Do they follow a coaching process?
8. Does the engagement have a timeline or is it open-ended?
9. How much time do they spend with the participant face-to-face?
10. Do they have training skills to help improve your effectiveness?
11. Are you comfortable with their style?
12. Will they tell you what you want to hear, or will they give you honest feedback?
13. Do they coach high-potentials?
14. What results have their clients achieved from coaching?
15. Are they willing to do an interview call to see it it's a good fit?
16. Is their process flexible?
17. Do they use a cookie-cutter process?

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How does the coaching process work?

Every client is unique and that's why we customize every engagement. There's no one-size-fits-all approach at Top Level Coaching. Typically a coach and client have two to four sessions a month.  Face-to-face meetings are ideal, but technology can also work very well. We may use other methods including phone, Webex, and email to support the coaching process. 

What would we focus on?

You or your manager may have a good idea about in what areas to focus on. However, we usually start with an in-depth assessment to be sure we are working on high priority areas. We typically use a 360º assessment survey give you a confidential look at your strengths and weakness. In most of our engagements we often interview stakeholders including subordinates, peers, boss, and compare that data to the leader's self assessment.

How is this different from therapy?

In therapy there is often some underlying emotional issue. The therapist helps a client to overcome emotional difficulties. In coaching, we only focus on behaviors.

How do we define success?

We typically ask that question upfront and get agreement early in our initial meetings. However, we often get stakeholders involved in the process to help us not only define success, but also to measure it.  Our goals is to measure our results to know that we have achieved some change for our clients.  

How long is a typical engagement?

Some clients hire a coach for a specific project or goal and when this is accomplished they stop. Some projects could take as few as six weeks.  Other clients may select a coach six to twelve months. Our average engagement is five months. Often clients gain so much from the experience and relationship that they choose to continue working with the coach. We ask most clients to commit to at least three months, to provide enough time to see results.  

How do we determine if the chemistry is right?

We encourage our prospective participants to talk with before engaging us. We offer a coaching call that usually lasts about an hour. There is no charge or obligation. It is designed to help each party to determine if the chemistry is right.  It will also provide the executive coach with a good understanding of the goals and objectives. The leader will have an opportunity to ask questions about coaching process. If you decide not to work with us, we will both move on.

How to get started . . .

Call Rob at 513.772.5115 to discuss Executive Coaching

or contact us learn more.

We provide executive leadership and coaching for our clients in Cincinnati, Dayton, Cleveland,
Columbus Ohio, Indianapolis, Indiana, Louisville, Lexington Kentucky, and Naples and SW Florida.

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