When is the Best Time to Engage with a Professional Coach?
Posted on September 14, 2021 by Brian Kail, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.
A short article that calls out common signs that you could benefit from working with a professional coach, and how they could help.
In comedy and business, timing is everything. Well, almost everything. It is well documented that the professional coaching industry is growing at a breath taking pace. In 2006 the number of members in the International Coaching Federation (the world’s largest professional coaching organization) was around 11,000. By 2011 that number had grown to 19,000. So people are starting to realize the value of a professional, hopefully experienced, and certified coach. But when is the best time to engage with a professional coach? What are the signs that you need a coach? Here is a list that will help you decide if it is time to speak with a professional coach.
1) Consistent Sunday night Blues: Your mood consistently drops on Sundays. In the back of your mind you know the weekend is coming to a close, and tomorrow you will return to a job you dislike, or even dread. This is one sign you will benefit from a conversation with a Career, or Transition Coach, or other occupation professional.
2) You have no Life or Career Vision: You maybe in a situation that is comfortable. You are not great, but feel “OK”. But you have no idea what you want your life to look like in twenty, or five, or even a year down the road. A good professional coach can work with you to identify those things in life you love, and those things that make you feel of value. From this a coach can work with you to create your personal vision.
3) You have no Goals: Tied to Vision, these are specific milestones, or markers that are hopefully tied to your personal vision. If the only goals you have are ones that you have to come up with for your job performance review, you will benefit from engaging with a professional coach.
4) You have Goals but have hit a Wall: If you have goals that you have written down, and a driving to, good for you. You are ahead of most people in having a plan for your life. But sometimes we feel like we have hit a wall to achieving a Goal. A professional Coach with not only help set goals, but they will work with their client on removing or minimizing obstacles. A great coach will have some creative methods available to arrive at solutions that the client alone may not realize.
4) You feel your life is Disorganized: Somehow you make it through the day, and the week, but your life, work, and relationships seem to have no boundaries. You are able to hang on to your job, your family, your hobbies, but feel let down that you know you can do better, or you are letting the people around you down. Most coaches are also good organizers. They can work with their client on putting guardrails in their life. They may even be able to come up with ways to measure the success of the client’s life in multiple areas – such as career goals, and relationship goals. If you need help organizing your life you can benefit from a good career, or life coach.
5) Lack of Joy: If you have symptoms of depression, by all means see a therapist or another licensed medical professional. But you may feel OK, and are able to function in a normal way, but are just not experiencing much joy in your job, or life. A professional coach can work with their client on assessing their level of happiness, and identifying areas that will enrich the client, and deliver greater joy in their lives.
6) You Need Someone to Listen to you: In my opinion this is a huge benefit of working with a coach. A coach is a sounding board. By providing a safe environment, and actively listening, the coach helps the client arrive at a vision, and goals. By Listening coaches also help clients work their way through their problems, and blocks. A great coach will ask the right questions at the right time. They will ask questions that guide the client to arrive at the core issues in their lives, and to create options to minimize, or remove these blocks, and constraints.
These bullet points will probably help the reader to assess when it is time to engage with a professional coach. The list is not inclusive – but I hope it will trigger some reflection. In general, I can say that signs that may show need of a coach are around lack of Vision, Goals, or blocks related to achieving goals. Another flag is feeling that your life is disorganized, and you feel general lack of boundaries, and calm in your life. The other signs are more interior to the client. These signs include feeling lack of joy, or accomplishment in the client’s career, and life. If you are not sure, sitting on that fence, I encourage you to have a conversation with a professional coach – hopefully one that is experienced, and certified. And after an initial meeting, consider best time for you to engage. When considering timing of engagement, Client frame of mind, and desire to proceed should always come first.
Author: Brian Kail, MBA, CPC, is a professional Career, and Business Coach. For more information see AscendProCoach on the web.
