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Coaching Is A Complex Process

Coaching is a complex process. It involves lots of agile thinking on the part of the coach, to enable clear thinking on the client’s part. If a non-coach were to ask you what was going on in your head during a coaching conversation, it would be hard to put it all into words. If you could articulate it, it would be a wordy response. However, if you were to break it down into sections, you’d probably come up with something like the ICF Core Competencies, or those of any of our professional bodies.

(I realise that the following list isn’t comprehensive but remember we’re articulating this for a non-coach.)

• Ethics would be front and centre.
• Listening as carefully as possible, to what’s not said as well as the words being used.
• Asking questions to allow the client to examine their current thinking in order to see if it’s serving them well.
• Working with the client, framing new directions for their actions, moving them closer to the goal they want to reach.

It’s fair to say that non-coaches have no idea at all about the massive amount of skill that a coach is using throughout what might look, from the outside, like a normal conversation.

Marketing Is Also A Complex Process

Here’s the thing. Marketing is also a complex process.

In addition, there are a couple of very specific problems with marketing in the context of the coaching profession. One is that marketing is viewed as a bad thing (or even a scam) by many in positions of influence within our profession. The other is that no one understands what a coach does, or they think they do and they’re wrong. These are two big reasons why so many coaches fail to build thriving businesses.