Managing Yourself:
Are You Ready for a Coach?

The world of work is changing, and fast. Having a successful career means continually learning and adapting to rapidly evolving environments.

You can't do it alone. Coaching yourself is like the blind leading the blind: You can't know what you don't know.

The age of customization has brought us the personal trainer, personal shopper and personal computer. Now, there's a proliferation of personal development services available to help you reap more from your career: the executive coach.

Coaching occurs all the time within an organization as a management or leadership style. But what we are referring to here is coaching from an executive coach who is professionally trained and hired externally, and whose sole job is to provide development opportunities.

The trend to engage personal development coaching services has grown steadily for more than a decade. While there is no definitive count of the number of coaches practicing in the United States and abroad, their ranks have swelled.

No universal certification guarantees quality or qualifications. Former outplacement specialists, therapists, psychologists, HR specialists and motivational speakers have transformed themselves into executive coaches. Some have undergone rigorous coach training programs, and some are talented and highly intuitive people without formal instruction.

While coaches were originally assigned to those experiencing difficulties or in danger of derailment, there is now wider acceptance of hiring coaches for even the most successful managers. Organizations recognize that people can grow and change. Having a coach assigned to you often signals career advancement.

Who Needs a Coach?

A coach can be most useful at particular career points:

1. You are transitioning into a new career stage. You are being promoted to a management or leadership position that requires new skills.
   
   
2. You lack fulfillment in your present position and are considering a career change, within the same company or externally.
   
   
3. You are experiencing stress and sense you may be on the road to burnout.
   
   
4. You want to improve your ability to manage and influence others by understanding how to navigate office politics.
   
   
5. Your relationship and networking skills have become more pertinent as you increase career responsibilities and want to learn better "people skills."
   
   
6. You want to improve your emotional intelligence and learn to better manage your inner experiences so you can manage others more effectively.
   
   
7. You are dealing with global issues: long-distance responsibilities or actual relocation.
   
   
8. You are experiencing diversity challenges that you'd like to handle better.
   
   
9. The strengths and talents you brought to your job are not the ones that will guarantee future career success.

Are You Ready for Coaching?

Some people are more aware than others of their weaknesses. The best way to fortify genuine self-worth and self-esteem is to work with a trained professional and examine self-beliefs.

Unfortunately, some who desire a coach are unprepared or unwilling to do the work. Coaching requires tremendous courage to face what other people may be saying about you, as well as the ability to treat their perceptions as valuable feedback. A coach can help you overcome inherent defense mechanisms that keep you in denial about your shortcomings.

How to Pick Your Coach

Hiring your own coach creates some challenges: They can be expensive, and you will have to research the best one for your specific needs.

Be aware that in selecting a coach based on your personal feelings, you may not pick someone who best fits your needs. In other words, you run the risk of choosing someone you like, rather than someone you need.

Hire your own coach if you have questions or concerns about remaining with your company or personal development issues that are best left confidential. If you decide to take the plunge, contact your human resources department and ask for referrals.

You may also contact the local chapter of a national professional association, such as the American Society for Training and Development, International Coach Federation, or other coach and mentor groups. Be sure to specify that you want a business or executive coach, rather than a personal or life coach. You want someone with experience in organizations and with executives. Pick a coach who has formal education in psychology or organizational development, as well as experience in real-world business dynamics.

Having a coach assigned to you by your company also poses a few problems. You probably won't get to choose your coach, and you will have to deal with confidentiality issues. Because the organization-not you-is the client, it can set the ground rules. You can-and should-require a confidentiality agreement in such cases. Ask for an upfront agreement about what your coach will tell your employer.

If you don't feel you can confide in your coach about the real issues that concern you, you would be better off hiring your own coach.

How Does Coaching Take Place?

All coaching includes a process of assessment, setting goals for change, a plan for achieving these goals, accountability and a timeline for working together (anywhere from 3 months to a year or more).

Before retaining a coach, ask about methods used, the steps you will be required to complete, how much time is involved, whether coaching will take place in person or by phone, which coaching model is used, whether outside contact with peers will occur and the limits of confidentiality. Set review periods to evaluate progress and determine if coaching will continue (and for how long).

By virtue of the learning experience gained from coaching, you acquire skills to continue learning in the real world without a coach. Some studies suggest coaching programs have high returns on investments-as much as 500 to 800 percent. It makes good business sense to invest in your leadership development.
 

Terry Barnhart, CEO
Terry Barnhart Associates

How do the results you want compare to the results you get? Have your results fulfilled the dreams of what could have been? Terry Barnhart has a passion for helping people use more of their potential, inspiring them to motivate themselves to greater achievement. Through individual coaching and leadership development and similar work with groups and teams, Terry lives his purpose, helping others achieve the freedom to become more.

With thirty years of experience as a public relations and marketing professional, an entrepreneur and a trusted advisor to business people, Terry brings a wealth of strategic thinking and focus to his clients. He understands the emotions felt by those in the left "unfulfilled", and the desires to do more and be more. He has been there himself and maintains a personal coaching relationship as well.

Terry has written a numerous articles on leadership and speaks regularly at a variety of local, regional and national conventions and meetings. His exceptional communication skills enable him to relate to his clients on many levels, and to help them achieve their goals. His numerous clients come from nearly every spectrum of business and industry, from attorneys to financial planners, bankers to graphics artists, and manufacturers to jewelers. He customizes coaching to meet the unique needs of every client.