Can you recommend a good coach?
Any professional sportsman or woman worth their salt works with a coach. Not because they have a problem, but because they want to excel at their sport, to be the best they can be.
It’s the same in business. Senior Executives, leaders and managers are increasingly recognising the benefits of working 1-2-1 with a coach, focusing on topics such as resilience, motivation, strategic thinking or handling difficult situations. The benefits extend far beyond the individual being coached. The results of working with a coach also impacts on the team and ultimately the business success.
Finding a good quality Executive or Leadership coach isn’t as straight-forward as you would think, at least it wasn’t until the Trusted Coach Directory was launched in November 2016. We talked to Founder and Leadership Coach Helen Isacke to find out more.
Q1. Can’t I just find a coach on the internet?
Yes, you can, but frustratingly anybody can call themselves a professional coach. Coaching is still an unregulated industry.
To the outsider, there is a bewildering array of levels of coaching accreditations and qualifications, and getting to grips with what each of them represents can be confusing, as well as time-consuming.
In short, you don’t know what you are getting when you engage an individual coach listed on the internet. You may be attracted to a coach who has a slick website, but this doesn’t mean that they have a credible coaching background with a genuine track record of developing clients.
It is far too easy to make a wrong and costly choice, which will set you back rather than propel you forwards.
Q2. OK, how about if I’ve been recommended a coach?
Coaching isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ industry – what is right for one person won’t necessarily be right for another. Like a leader, every coach has a unique personality and has different areas of expertise and specialist topics.
To find the right coach for you, or for one of your team, you are more likely to have a successful outcome when you have spoken to two or three coaches to see who is the best fit.
The Trusted Coach Directory (TCD) verifies all its coaches and lists them to allow you to pinpoint exactly what type of coach you are looking for. You can search:
Click here to find a trusted coach or coach supervisor on our website.
Q3. How do you verify your coaches?
TCD operates a strict verification process for all its listed coaches. We insist upon:
We do this because our mission is to raise the standard, credibility and the profile of professional coaching, highlighting its tangible results.
Our website explains our values in more detail, as well as providing a repository of useful information, coaching links, and blogs.
Q4. What if I go straight to a professional coaching body, such as the ICF?
The International Coaching Federation (ICF), like most of the other professional coaching bodies, has a directory listing of their members. Sourcing a coach this way is certainly safer than simply searching random coach websites, and they can be helpful if you know the coach’s name. However professional coaching organisations are more focused on advancing the coaching profession by setting high standards and providing independent certification, rather than publicising their members, therefore the search facility isn’t as sophisticated as the TCD.
Also, each professional body only lists their own members, whereas the TCD lists coaches from all the professional coaching organisations listed below:
Q5. What should I do next?
Come and look at the website! Browse through our range of coaches and coach supervisors. You will also find a page full of events, workshops and exhibitions, and a section for useful resources. And of course you can dip into our guest blogs, written by our Trusted Coaches.