Are you ready to be coached?
Are you ready to be coached?
Avoid wasting your money until you are ready. Let me explain…
You’ve decided that you have some communication issues that you would like to improve upon and a coach is the solution to help you achieve your goals. Resolving to make change is a wonderful goal but too often, people with best intentions are unable to achieve their goals. Too often, we have unrealistic goals and don’t realize how difficult change can be.
Before you hire a communication skills coach, let me help you sort through your readiness for coaching. Here are four questions you should answer with honest responses before jumping on to a coaching program. Depending on your responses, you may want to enroll now or you may want to give yourself a little more time to become prepared.
- Do you have a particular reason for wanting coaching? What benefit will you gain? If you are clear about the benefit then it is motivating to keep up with the work of making changes. People often say that they realize that improved communication skills will help them with their self-confidence, or get them promoted or even make more money. If you know these things, you are likely to stay motivated. If you don’t think that there are any issues at this time, you probably aren’t a good candidate for coaching right now.
- Do you have time to practice? Intentional daily practice is a necessity for new skills to become habits. Experts say that it takes 21 days to make a behavior a habit and 6 months for it to become part of your personality. So, be sure to check your calendar before beginning to see if you have the time so that you can whole-heartedly put effort into the process.
- Are you comfortable with making small steps towards a bigger goal or do you have an expectation that after 8 weeks of training you will be perfect? You might be able to make a lot of changes if you can practice a lot every day. But most working adults don’t have the time to practice a lot each day. So, making progress on just 1-3 goals in two months is about all a busy professional has time for. Mastery of the goals may be attainable but it depends on the effort and the person’s skill level. As you know, mastery of any goal takes time and perseverance with little steps.
- Do you have support from your boss and colleagues regarding the changes that you want to make? These key stakeholders are an important part of the process and need to be on board with your goals. With their support, you are more likely to succeed.
Are you ready to be coached? If you understand the benefit, have the time and support of others and are comfortable making changes on just a few goals, you are ready to begin.
If you don’t have the time or support and don’t think that there are any issues, you may not be ready for coaching at this time. Instead of wasting your money, wait until you are ready to be 100% invested in the experience. A good coach will help determine the areas of need and what changes will make the most impact. A coach can also be a great motivator and supporter but ultimately, you are the one who has to do the work. Once you are ready, the benefits to you and your employer are immense.
If you are looking to elevate your brand, have you considered changing the way that you sound? My book will help you get started with awareness of the speech, language and voice characteristics that contribute to your brand. Learn and master them.