You’ve been looking at coaching and have decided to give it a try. Question is, how do you choose a coach? Here’s four tips to help.

Many coaches are excellent but as in any profession, not all of them. It helps to have a few basic areas covered first.

References
Ask colleagues who have had coaching about their coach. Ask a prospective coach if they can provide a reference. If these are good these move to the next step.

Membership of a relevant professional body
Coaching is unregulated and anyone can wake up in the morning and call themselves a coach.

The major professional bodies like Association for Coaching set requirements in training and experience for membership. Additionally, all members have to abide by rules and regulations regarding confidentiality, conflicts of interest and ethical behaviour.

Ask about these areas and if all is in place then things are looking good.

Rapport
You can work with a coach you don’t get on with but it’s not normally as good as working with someone you do get on with.

Meet potential coaches – in person or online – and see whether the relationship is likely to work for you.

Experience
In business and executive coaching, it tends to help if the coach has a business background. They probably know and understand at least some of the areas you want coaching on. Similarly, a coach without that background but who has coached many people in business will likely have a good understanding.

Discuss and be happy with their background and how they got to where they are today

<Contract
You will need to sign a contract and frequently you will need to pay some of it up front. That’s pretty standard. However, do check the cancellation terms and the insurance cover the coach has. If you are not happy then discuss with the coach or walk away.

That’s five tips; you got a bit extra by reading to the end of the post. I hope you find them helpful.

Remember coaching is for your benefit; choosing the right coach will help maximise that benefit.

If you want a few more tips contact me on al.ritchie@lateralcoaching.co.uk or through this website.