Posted on September 3, 2014 by Stephan Wiedner
Do you ever wonder why so many life coaches struggle to earn the equivalent of a minimum wage salary? Are you in that category?
Maybe it’s because as a whole, we (members of the coaching industry) have too many INFPs (and other P personality types).
I recently came across a graph on careerassessmentsite.com that displays the 16 MBTI personality types and their average household income (below). I’ve added commentary in yellow text.
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This begs this question: are there too many Perceivers in the coaching industry?
To learn more about the difference between Perceivers and Judgers (Ps and Js), visit this post on JobMob, an entry in the 8th Annual JobMob Blogging Contest. A big thanks goes to the contest sponsors, such as WebHostingBuzz that offers shared hosting, reseller hosting, VPS & dedicated servers. Plus, WebHostingBuzz offers a 45 day money-back guarantee.ÂÂ
Share your thoughts and opinions on the link between life coach salaries and personality types in the comments below!
I don’t think it is a question of having “too many” Perceivers. I think a more empowering question is: “How do Ps better own and leverage their strengths in a overly analytical culture that praises extroversion and speed?” Also, being able to identifying skill gaps in order to bring about a balance and succeed as a professional is helpful.
Maybe our culture praises extroversion but the chart doesn’t support the idea that extroverts make more money than introverts. Speed, on the other hand, might be linked to Js and Ps.
And yes, I agree, that all of this points to the value in identifying skills gaps.
This article would have been more helpful if it had focused on strategies for resolving or explaining the gap instead of just pointing it out. I don’t think people are limited by their personality type. I think they are limited by themselves. I am, and the things I am or am unwilling to do or pay for are the only things standing in my way. Each type has strengths, and properly leveraged, each should be able to do great things. You just have to figure out what leveraging your talents looks like for you.
I think the only skill a coach needs to worry about is being a good coach. I don’t think there is as much value in shoring up your weaknesses as there is in building on your strengths. (Not that you can’t learn and be good at new skills, but if you know you’re not good at something, your energy is best spent elsewhere.)
If you’re not happy about the amount of money you’re making, it’s important to identify the cause. Are you valuing your time enough? Is your rate a good reflection of the value you bring? I don’t know about you, but I really have trouble valuing myself enough. Maybe you’re not charging enough. Coaching is a life-changing vocation if it’s probably applied. That’s worth a lot. And people value you more when you value yourself. Think about it. If you’re looking at two professions, and all you know is one charges $40 and the other charges $100, which one do you assume is better at her job?
Or is it the fact you don’t have enough clients? If this is the case, you need to look at how you’re acquiring clients. There are loads of ideas out there. Find the ones that speak to you. Alternatively, you can hire someone or a company like Noomii to help you with that. A lot of times, this has to do with how you’re portraying your unique value. Or the ways in which you’re reaching out is not where your target market is looking for you. One important avenue is word-of-mouth. You need to make sure your service is high quality, so people will want to spread it, but also you need to ask for those referrals in a way that yields results.
Interesting discussion, Stephan! If it is an INFP issue…My guess is that many INFP coaches don’t place a value on monetary things in the same way as others, so they don’t strive for it as much. They often value authenticity, people & causes way more… & can see through the facades that can be related to capitalism & materialism. In many ways, because they are often sensitive to the needs of others, “making money off of other people” FEELS like selling your soul to the devil. Working the “business angles” to get more clients can FEEL manipulative, which again is not consistent with the feeling heart of the INFP. I want to know how coaches can get more clients without sacrificing their principals? Referrals are ideal, because they’re authentic but it can be slow going just waiting on referrals… How do you help these coaches believe that the business skills are wise/good/necessary & NOT just manipulative so they can build their businesses? Hmm…??? Coaching INFP’s… LOVE THEM!!!
@Meghan – FYI: I do offer some solutions for “resolving the gap” in the article I referenced toward the bottom of this one – https://jobmob.co.il/blog/personality-trait-making-money/
I do agree with your statement: “Each type has strengths, and properly leveraged, each should be able to do great things.” However, if you look at famous MBTI personality types, for INFPS you find C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Virginia Woolf. For ENTJs you find Napolean, Bill Gates, and Jack Welch. The quest for power and money are not comparable. I’m not judging, saying one is worse than the other. I’m just pointing it out.
As for the discussion on the rate professionals charge. If you’re going to charge more than the competition, you need to back it up with signs of credibility (years of experience, testimonials, education, training, a “system” for delivering consistent results, a money back guarantee, etc….)
@Penny I think what you are pointing to are the values of different personality types and to many coaches, selling can feel icky. How can that be re-framed? I’m sure there’s a more positive and profitable perspective on that.
What do you think?
Stephan
Absolutely, Stephan! I firmly believe in the high value of coaching… that it’s worth a LOT of money!!! Again, if it is an INFP issue, it may be about helping those personality types deal with their money blocks.
On another note, I wonder if their ideal clients (maybe other INFP’s) typically have less money as a result of this factor, as well. How can a coach charge one of these potential clients $300-$1000/month when they’re struggling to get by? Perhaps they can afford the $150-$300/month, though… Part of their coaching may be about money making, but if they can’t afford a coach to help them get there, whatever shall they do??? 😉
Those examples are not really within the context of coaching. All of those people were successful, yes, in different arenas. And if you think about it, you could apply some of those approaches to your practice. For example, the ones you mentioned that were more successful INFPs were writers. So maybe as a coach, an alternate source of revenue could be writing books to help their clients.
Your assumption is that I said they should charge more than their competitors. Which isn’t what I said. If you are more sensitive to people and their situations and/or are not confident in your worth, you may charge less. Let’s say you want to help a single mother. She can’t really afford your services, but you really care about her and therefore take her on either for free or at a reduced rate. Alternatively, maybe you never even get that far. You aren’t convinced that you’re worth the $100 you’re charging, so before your client can even agree to it, you’re already offering him a lower rater. Or, perhaps most people in your area of expertise charge $100 an hour. But you’re charging $30 because you believe that $100 is outrageous, that your services should be more affordable. You assume that people can’t afford it, or perhaps simply that they shouldn’t /have/ to afford it.
Thanks for the link to your other article. I did look for it in your original article, but I guess it must have gotten lost from my perspective in the rest of that paragraph. I’ll have to take a look.
@Penny – if your ideal client makes less money, then you either need to convince them it’s a great investment and trust they’ll come up with the money, or figure out how to make the services more affordable. I think a lot of coaches are married to the solution. What I mean about that is they want to do one-on-one coaching but instead, the focus should be on how to help people achieve their goals. One on one coaching may be part of that but it might not be the only way.
@Meghan – I agree with everything you’re saying. Sorry if I misunderstood what you were originally saying.
Excellent, Stephan! That helps ME think bigger, too! Thanks!
While there may be correlations between earned income and the Myers-Briggs indicators, I have a parallel question. In the vast majority of my past relationship building with other coaches, there has only been one other coach who understood the distinction between wanting to be a ‘Coach” versus being an entrepreneur/business owner of a coaching practice.
If you ask most coaches what they want, they will say that they want to be a coach. If you want to earn money and be successful, it is better to want to be a person who is owner of a business…it just happens to be a coaching business. If we presuppose that were true…the real successful business owners have perfected a prospecting, marketing and sales process to be able to attract people to coaching. That is not a coaching skill, it is a business skill that must come first before you can do the fun part of what we all want…coach.
I think that is real core issue. There may be a direct correlation between the Myers-Briggs and success as a business owner? Maybe it is parallel too?
Love to hear everyone’s thoughts.
To your continued success,
James
PS-It took me 5 years to finally grow a 6-figure coaching practice…it was not my coaching skills that needed work…it was my business skills. Specifically, prospecting, marketing and sales.
Hi James,
I think you may be right. Maybe there is a correlation between Myers-Briggs and not just “success as a business owner” (as you say) but chosen profession.
I like what you say here: “the real successful business owners have perfected a prospecting, marketing and sales process to be able to attract people to coaching.”
Stephan
Hi Stephan,
I am an INFP and am thinking about becoming a coach. This is a bit discouraging to say the least. Perhaps having a business partner would be helpful.
Know your strengths and weaknesses.
Hire your weaknesses.
I am an INFJ life coach. I thought that the “finance & money” issues were more related to the T&F dimensions and not the J&P. that sounds interesting !
First know yourself. Then take action – as yourself. Being yourself is the most powerful place to be. I find myself in the ENFP bracket when I answered the questions for myself. When I answered for the expectations of the organisation I found myself in the ENTJ bracket. I am not with that organisation any more. Now to follow Stephan’s blogpost https://jobmob.co.il/blog/personality-trait-making-money/ and make more money!
I am a long-term practitioner of the MBTI and several other assessment tools. I am also an INFJ who used to self-describe as “pathologically nice.” This has had an impact on my earnings, no doubt.
My point here is that I think that there is some correlation between type and career choice, which also has an impact on compensation. The literature describes the ENTJ and ESTJs as the “CEO Types.”
It would be good to look at correlations such as these as further investigation.
regards,
Jess Dods
I did the test and found myself to be ESFJ ( https://good.co/esfj-personality-type/ ). Knowing myself is really important!