Introduction from Cathy Goodwin, Blog Owner:
This post from Christian Mickelsen struck a chord with me. I’ve gotten so frustrated with business coaches who say, “You have to be a 6-figure coach to coach someone to a 6 figure income and a 7-figure coach to coach someone to a 7-figure income.”
That’s SOMEtimes true, but not always. I’ve met people earning 6-figures and 7-figures who couldn’t coach a client out of a paper bag. And I’ve met struggling coaches who know how to make others shine even while their own light is buried under a bushel.
In my own case, my first website was a career site (and I still keep it going). I’ve always been too much of a maverick to survive corporate life, yet I’ve successfully coached many clients to manage their corporate careers.
Think about basketball. Hall of Famer Cynthia Cooper struggled as head coach of a WNBA team. Coaches Auriemma and Summitt were good players but nothing like the players they’ve coached to greatness.
So when you hire a coach, I recommend asking not, “How well have you done?” but, “What’s the story with your clients? I cover this point in my Quick Start Guide To Coach Marketing .
Here’s the guest post:
Have you heard people telling you that you can only coach people to do things that you have done. For example:
=> If you are going to coach someone on weight loss, you have to be slim.
=> If you are going to coach business owners, you have to have succeeded in your own business.
=> If you are going to be a relationship coach you must have a great relationship.
It seems to make sense, but it’s a lie. And what’s worse is what this lie can do to you.
It can make you…
=> Doubt yourself
=> Wonder if you’re successful enough (and ‘successful enough’ is always just out of reach)
=> Make you pull back your business building activities.
=> Keep you stuck in a lack-luster coaching business.
You deserve to feel your greatness,and enjoy powerful coaching confidence so that your clients and all of your potential future clients get the value of your coaching.
*** Own your Greatness, Even if… ***
You haven’t achieved *super success.* Allow me to help…
1. While I was behind on my mortgage, I was coaching business owners to make more money. And guess what?! They did!
2. While I was single, I coached a client to find a new relationship. And guess what?!! He did!
Can you coach people to achieve successes that you’ve never had? Of course you can! Does it help if you’ve done it yourself? Sure. But, don’t let that stop you.
Will it make it easier for you to get clients if you’ve done it yourself? It will probably be a bit easier. But, don’t let it stop you from marketing yourself.
Does it make you a hypocrite? No! A very famous Olympic coach never won a gold medal as a gymnast, but won many as a coach (or to be more accurate, his gymnasts did).
*** What It’s Really About ***
Remember, it’s not about how successful you are, it’s about how successful YOUR CLIENTS are! And at any moment in time there are millions of people who would hire a coach right on the spot if there was one that was reaching them and marketing to them well. Why?
Right now there are people all over the world that are having problems that they can’t solve on their own (or can’t solve fast enough) And…
Right now there are people all over the world that have big dreams and goals and they aren’t able to get there on their own (or get there as fast as they want).
These are the people that need you. These are the people that need you to become a super great coach and a super great marketer.
Don’t believe the hype! If you are a great coach, the world needs you and it needs you NOW. Stop trying to measure up to something, and…
*** Let’s Get People Coached! **
C Mickelsen
CEO, Future Force, Inc
8355 Station Village Ln.
San Diego, California 92108 USA
http://www.CoachesWithClients.com
619-320-8185
http://coacheswithclients.com/twitter
http://coacheswithclients.com/facebook
I do like this post a lot, I think one point you missed Christian, is if you have “been there done that” you may take a mentoring role as opposed to a coaching role, and work on teaching your client how you did it – rather than helping them discover a way for THEM to sucessfully achieve using their own brilliant qualities.
teaching is good – but coaching is GREAT – always put the client first!
I’d agree that a mentor should be someone who’s “been there and done that.” But these days the lines tend to get blurred between mentors and coaches. I’d also say that someone who did what you want to do 1, 2 5 or 10 years ago probably won’t be able to help you today, depending on your industry and the changing economy.
Bravo Christian and Cathy!
I love this …
‘ … people earning 6-figures and 7-figures who couldn’t coach a client out of a paper bag. And I’ve met struggling coaches who know how to make others shine even while their own light is buried under a bushel.”
I’ve been a childbirth educator for three decades and I know other exemplary instructors who have never had a baby. Go figure, eh? Just because they’ve never given birth doesn’t mean they should be discounted as teachers who are qualified to help expectant couples navigate the terrain of laboring and birthing their babies.
Here’s something I think you’ll find interesting …
I especially enjoy helping “newbies” online — whether it’s answering their blogging questions, sharing marketing tips, directing them to cost-saving tools and resources — whatever happens to be on their plates at the moment.
Oftentimes, they come back to me with a remark like, “You’re such a good coach. Thank you!” Thing is … coaching is not my expertise and I’ve never billed myself out as a coach. Maybe I’ve missed my calling. 🙂
Magnificent post and guest post!
Absolutely … you don’t have to have a heart attack to be a cardiologist!
Amen!
And here’s another thing: Just because someone has done something once, it says NOTHING about their ability to teach someone else to do it. There are too many other variables at play. Different time in history, different context, different motivation/skills/personality, etc.
I don’t want to know what a coach achieved personally. I want to know how knowledgeable they are about that particular goal in general. I would rather know that they studied many successful people’s strategies and can help an individual tailor those to unique situations. Plus some humility to understand that just because something is true in one situation doesn’t make it true across the board.
Same with therapists, by the way. You don’t have to have personally overcome depression or anxiety or whatever diagnosis in order to successfully treat it.