The secret of a well paid coach

There’s one thing I fear and love the most in what I do. CHANGE. And although coaching is rather new as a field itself, there has been quite a lot of hassle around where it seems to go as a profession. Coaches keep trying to prove the benefits of what they do across projects, teams, businesses, start-ups, but isn’t that obvious enough?

There’s the classic example of a study conducted by Manchester Inc. on 100 executives from Fortune 1000, which shows that the ROI of coaching is almost six times its investment. But more recent statistics say that less and less people are using this way of proving coaching benefits. Most external coaches (28%), including myself, now use Marshall Goldsmith’s 360 assessments before and after coaching contracts, says the 2014 Executive Coaching Survey by www.sherpacoaching.com. Followed by the well-being and engagement framework (21%) used by internal coaches. And, truth be told, their take is getting more and more relevant, as this year, 60% of companies will hire an internal coach to build personalized and on-going development programs.

A few days ago, Mara (not her real name), who’s been working in the HR department of her company for the past couple of years, paid us a visit in the Coaching Attic. We drank a tea, watched the kids fearlessly playing outside in the freezing -7 degrees and had a little talk about her new approach at the job. After enrolling in the first edition of ICA Balkans, she’s been keen to find a way to apply the coaching principles she learned in school in her day-to-day work.

I must tell you there is a whole breed of young well-paid professionals, especially women, who are willing to invest time to grow and rise. They want to change the way they live the corporate life and they finally understood the chance starts with themselves.

What these professionals found in coaching is an opportunity to shift a mindset. To go from the classic problem solving approach and the tendency to rush in with solutions, which poison teams, to being more open to listen. This helps them to change the way they lead their teams, enhance their relationships with the so-called internal clients and mold the relationship with the management. These are huge steps towards a better life.

But, just as Mara remembers, to listen more than to solve is one hard damn thing! It means to go where your peer is. It means to listen on different levels. It means to listen both to facts and to the decisions that someone is implicitly mentioning about when talking. Listening is hard as hell because you first have to quiet the voice inside your head. To stop interpreting what the other person talks about. Listening doesn’t mean hearing. Otherwise, you lost your peer!

The 2014 research I mentioned above says companies use coaching mostly for leadership development, for addressing a specific problem and for assisting a transition. And while male coaches are usually contracted to work with people in need of leadership, women are ace at assisting people in transition, meaning they have a new job or they were promoted.

Mara says she’s also found some inner peace through coaching. And I can see how. Our meeting was that kind of moment when I meet someone after a while and I can notice that suddenly it’s easier to connect. Because most often people tend to talk over each other and finish with the impression that no one ever really listened. It wasn’t the case.

That’s because accessing coaching is more about developing experiences versus developing your career. It is a way to redesign your life in small steps. For example, one of our students in ICA Balkans Bridging Program has a full time job, but found through the global platform a paid client from Bermuda.

As Mara puts it, this is quite the right time to put an end to job-related noise and frustration. To grow proud and satisfied.

And there’s a way to this.

Join the free demo workshops Coaching 101 in the Coaching Attic, starting Feb. 13. The workshops are a real module from the coaching school and you can get a taste of what’s it like and what it could help you with.

PLUS: We will randomly give 2 gifts to participants:

1. We will give an Executive Coaching Package as an enrolling gift – intensive coaching package with 4 coaching sessions – valued at 800 EUR, to work on your challenges. So you can get the power to find a new job, gain confidence in your services, solve a personal challenge with your family, better understand your team and become a better manager.

2. A special Black Tuesday kind of discount for the school certified and essentials HR program.

Register here: