Make a quick search for coaches on leadership and you will come across a mixed bag of titles ranging from a life coach, business coach, executive coach, personal coach, and career coach to health coach, conflict coach, dating coach, sports coach, and performance coach. There is a host of other titles with experienced professionals from varied backgrounds occupying these roles. These individuals also range in their level of expertise from totally unqualified to highly professional. You will find one-man-bands and international franchises in the mix too. How then do you spot the one that you need for your organization?
While searching for coaches on leadership, what characteristics or factors do you look for in a person in order to hire them for the role? Given below are five questions that will help you narrow down to the right fit.
1. How will you work with my company and my team?
The most pressing factor while choosing a leadership coach is whether the coach fits the personality of your brand/company. This fit does not need to be cozy. The fit being referred to here is one of mutual respect and understanding. The answer to this question will reflect the coach’s nature and true style of working. It will give you a sense of whether you can continue this association comfortably or not.
2. What is your background and how does it apply to my business?
In specialist forms of coaching, coaches bring rich experience with them. They employ a pure, nuanced coaching process, which blends training and mentoring to better meet the clients’ particular needs. Having said that, don’t look at experience too rigidly. Your coach does not need to have done the coachees’ job beforehand; instead, they must have credible and transferable knowledge and experiences.
3. How big is your coaching company?
This question will help you to gauge the depth and breadth of knowledge, products, and services proffered by the leadership coach you are considering hiring. Employing a lone coach is not a case of a concern, and looking at the bigger companies is not necessary. There are a number of larger coaching schools and the graduates of the better ones will employ similar standards and techniques. Ordinarily, it is recommended that you work with a small number of trusted colleagues.
4. What is your company’s track record of business experience and results?
Finally, you’ll want to see and hear about the results your prospective coach has achieved in their career, both as a coach and before. You will also want to see and hear testimonials from a range of clients. Do reach out to and contact the clients to get first-hand feedback about your coach. In the glossy world of coaches on leadership, you may easily fall in to the trap of slick salesmanship. Beware and do not be fooled by the face value. This is especially important with bigger companies and franchise operations.