“When you ask the questions, listen to the answers analytically, but listen with your heart also. Who feels right for you? Trust your judgment and go with that person.”
Debra A. Benton, Executive Coach, “Secrets of a CEO Coach.”
In the above book, Debra A. Benton poses 13 questions that you should ask of any coach you are thinking of working with. This section holds my answers to Debra’s questions, along with one I’ve added for myself. The questions are:
- What can I expect to achieve working with you?
- How do we take advantage of what I already do well?
- What mistakes will you help me avoid?
- Would anyone be working with me besides you?
- How would we work together?
- What will I get from you?
- Why are you in this business?
- Why should I elect to work with you?
- When would we be able to start?
- What is your schedule/volume? Will I have the time I need with you?
- How long do we work together?
- How do you charge for your services?
- Do you have a track record of helping individuals reaching their goals?
- (And the question I would ask me is . . . ) What makes you worth ‘n’ thousand a year of my money?
What can I expect to achieve working with you?
The answer to this question is constrained by your own goals and ambition and by our joint ability to form a strong partnership. If you approach our collaboration with motivation and the widest sphere of reference, the results experienced by my clients show that over time you can expect a transformation in your business and personal life. This literally means you will enjoy life more and achieve more of what is truly important to you.
How do we take advantage of what I already do well?
We use it in many ways. To start with, one thing you do well is the kind of research that has led you to this point. We use your motivation to change and improve as a primary driver. Other abilities are used as examples of your true competence and as touchstones when you step off into trying new behaviors.
What mistakes will you help me avoid?
I don’t see myself as your protector. I believe people need to make their own ‘mistakes’, though I see them more accurately as ‘discoveries’. However, I will frequently drop quite substantial hints to you so that you can assess situations for yourself and learn to recognize the internal signals that tell you to take care. I believe this is how we learn things for ourselves and build confidence in our own judgment.
Life’s ‘mistakes’ tend to be rooted in faulty patterns of behavior that are often embedded in our unconscious. As a life coach who was also a psychotherapist I can help you perceive such situations. For example, when you are unconsciously following a pattern that has failed you before, you will almost certainly hear me say: “Doesn’t this sound a bit like that time when . . .?” Or, I might encourage you to examine more closely the true nature of an emotion that is driving you to act in a certain way.
Would anyone be working with me besides you?
Absolutely not. The most effective life coaching relationships have deep connections and understandings that are unique between the life coach and client. They are true partnerships, unlike, say, training relationships where all that is sought is a mechanical exchange of information.
Prospective working relationships are really covered on the Skype, ‘phone and online page. Suffice to say here that I will work with you to create a working format that meets your needs.
All the information and wisdom I have to offer, delivered with as much skill as I possess. This will quite often mean your hearing things you had not expected, and being challenged to look at things from a new and perhaps discomforting angle. Hopefully I am skillful enough to do this with you without driving you away.
Because it unites three passions with a – for me – ideal life style. The passions are:
- People. I am endlessly curious about human beings, what makes us do what we do and how we develop. I believe we have immense capabilities.
- Improvement. I am one of those people who cannot leave things alone but has always to be enhancing their efficiency, their beauty and their desirability.
- Collaboration. For me the joy of work is hugely enhanced when undertaken with one or more others.
I very selfishly want the world to be a good place for me and the best way to achieve that is to surround myself with happy healthy people. Hence I devote myself to helping others find health and happiness.
Why should I elect to work with you?
There’s one main reason I can think of. It’s because you’ve done an evaluation of a number of life coaches and you’ve decided that I am the one who can go with you further and more comprehensively than the rest. Otherwise you’d be wasting your time and money and probably be building up to an angry departure. I am not a life-coach-for-everyperson. My clients, just like other coaches’, have recognizable characteristics in common.
When would we be able to start?
That depends on coordinating my schedule and yours so we would need to discuss it first. I like to get started immediately, however, and will be very flexible to make that happen.
What is your schedule/volume? Will I have the time I need with you?
I don’t commit to working with someone unless I know I have the time I say I have. The work is very intense and demanding so I keep client-hours down to a sustainable number.
It all depends. It is possible to do something useful in as little as six sessions if your goal is to work through a transition or something similar. It is far more valuable to think in terms of a life-changing relationship that will last some years. It is for you to determine how much of your time and money you want to invest in an initial commitment. You can end our work immediately you think we are not meeting your needs.
How do you charge for your services?
The full answer to this is on the “Payment Form” page. My pricing strategy is based on a single hourly rate for fifty-minute sessions. I typically require payment monthly in advance, with a discount for 6 sessions paid for at one time. Clients do not pay for sessions when I am not available.
Do you have a track record of helping individuals reaching their goals?
Very much so, otherwise I would do something else for a living. My clients’ triumphs are very much part of what makes my working life enjoyable. I have proved myself at enough more-lucrative occupations to know I do this because I love it. Part of loving it is knowing that I am good at it.
(And the question I would ask me is . . . ) What makes you worth ‘n’ thousand a year of my money?
It’s not just me and my qualities that have to justify your expenditure, it’s the results of our joint collaboration. You aren’t renting an hour of my time to ask questions, you’re investing in an ongoing partnership with an experienced partner.
The returns from this partnership are different for each of us. I get my fee, my pleasure in working with you, and satisfaction in your success. You get all the rewards implicit in your situation and from fulfilling your potential.
I hope this information has been helpful to you. If you would like to find out more about Dynamic Life Coaching or myself, please use the form below to schedule a free 50-minute ‘phone or Skype discussion.