"The Top 14 Myths About Coaching" by Terri Levine
1. A coach is a motivator equipped with a whistle and "you can do it" attitude that gets you going.
A coach can't motivate you - only YOU can motivate you. The coach gives you honest feedback, holds the mirror up so you can see YOU, and helps you motivate you. The coach keeps you accountable and moving forward. The inspiration comes from within YOU. Enthusiasm means "God from within." You can motivate and get excited from the inside out. As in the case of hiring a coach to work through a life or career transition. A client said to me, "Wow, I didn't know I had the answers in me; coaching allowed me to tap into my own answers."
2. People can live their lives just fine without a coach, thank you.
Certainly, they can, and they can live them BETTER, BIGGER, EASIER and more JOYFULLY with a coach - aren't you entitled to that? Before one of my clients hired me, she was very successful in her business - she just worked, 50 hours a week on her business, thought about it, felt stress and couldn't completely relax when at home and with her family. Coaching allowed her to find ways to work only 36 hours a week, make more money, feel little stress, and spend more time with her family. She thinks she lives her life much better after coaching.
3. Coaching is a fad and will go away.
The profession has been around for years - it's the number one home based business to start according to Entrepreneur Magazine, and Money Magazine ranks it as the second fastest growing business. It is booming and growing and has sustainable outcomes that stick. Coaching works and is here to stay. When I started coaching, I attracted 15 clients in 30 days... they couldn't wait to get started. I continue to attract individual clients and corporate clients with great ease because of the high demand for coaching.
4. Coaches give you an ego boost - full of phony praise and false inspiration.
Coaches speak the truth, without judgment, an agenda, or attachment to the outcome. Certified Comprehensive coaches adhere to a code of ethics that is all about honesty and integrity, period. As I said to one of my own coaches, "Hearing you tell me how I just sounded felt a bit harsh, and at the same time, I want to say thanks, I needed to hear that."
5. Coaches are a combination of therapist and personal trainer.
They don't engage in any fixing behaviors or looking at past behaviors and the whys of them... so, coaching is NOT therapy... they are like personal trainers for your personal and professional excellence. Clients who have come to me who have had therapy often say coaching is more beneficial than therapy, because it allows them the energy of moving forward and not looking back... it creates momentum, like a magnet, and pulls them to create what they are wanting vs. feeling bad about themselves or past experiences.
6. Friends and family make great coaches - that's what they are for.
Mostly they have their own agendas and want certain outcomes. They may feel they know what is best for you or right for you. They may have a vested interest in a certain outcome or behavior and they may not want to be truthful and hurt your feelings. They aren't trained to be objective. Why not have a best friend AND a coach?
When I was considering leaving my corporate J-O-B and trading a 6 figure income to start a coaching business... boy, did my family and friends have opinions! My husband, loving and supportive, was fearful we'd go broke and kept encouraging me to do it part-time, do it when I retire, etc. Many friends told me I "couldn't" leave my secure job and asked me if I had gone "crazy". They all had some judgments and agendas, yes?
7. Coaches are for those who don't want to pay for therapists.
Therapists are great to fix behaviors and look back at the past. Coaches are for people who are successful and want more success and an even better life.
One of my clients has a therapist and also me as his coach. He tells me the therapy helps him in getting clear on past issues that he wants to understand, and the coaching allows him to forge ahead and have more of what he desires in his life.
8. Coaching is all done by phone.
It can be. Some coaches also work in person. Pick what best supports you. The coach will co-create the relationship and the coaching with you.
Many coaches work with individuals by phone, in person, in groups; some work in businesses in person, by phone, etc.
What is important is getting coached by the coach you match chemistry with and through the way you like to be coached best. Even email coaching can be effective.
9. Coaching is very expensive.
It is an investment in YOU. It pays out so much more than the dollars you may put in. We all spend money on self-help books, tapes, and seminars ... but most of that doesn't stick. Why not invest in something that sticks, instead?
When I first hired a coach I compared it to a personal trainer, a spa visit, a massage, a workshop and realized it was any of all of those - a way to get personal training, treat my body, mind, and spirit, and to learn. I then saw that the check I was writing the coach brought me great value and took care of me in a more comprehensive, holistic way - I felt I was nurturing and caring for ME, and why not?
10. Anyone can call himself or herself a professional coach.
Professional coaches get certified and become Comprehensive Coaches. Check credentials before you hire a coach.
Certified Comprehensive Coaches go through a professional training program and bring their life and work experience to the coaching profession. They take classes in tuning in, powerful questions, powerful observations, powerful requests, building the client, growing the client, achieving client goals, change, and personal and business issues, to name a few topics. It involves years of training along with skills based labs with master instructors providing them honest feedback on their coaching. It is not an easy program. It is a well deserved credential that shows they are extraordinary coaches.
11. Coaches don't fulfill any special qualifications.
Certified Comprehensive Coaches sure do! And they are stringent! In addition to some of the classes above, they have to coach during lab classes - over 40 hours of practice during their training. That is like taking oral exams over and over. They get honest and tough feedback and they are expected to meet the challenge and keep advancing their skills. Not an easy process and according to the Certified Comprehensive Coaches - well worth it to hold the prestigious credential.
12. Anyone can get a certificate as a "coach".
Comprehensive Coach Training is rigorous and becoming certified requires a lot of coaching practice, feedback, oral and written exams and observations. Not many stand up to that.
In addition to the classes and all the practice coaching, there is a full curriculum of skills to study and learn on a cellular basis. Let me tell you, the oral and written exams are tough - they are made to be because only those who are extraordinary can hold this credential.
13. Coaching is a profession that will never take off.
It has - BIG time. It is one of the fastest growing professions in the US. There are over 10,000 coaches right now and more are needed. Coaching has become a household word. Four years ago, when I told people I was a coach, they’d ask "what sport" or "what team"... now they say "I have one" or "my friend has one". Even the comics and television shows have featured this profession. It isn't going away - just gaining in becoming an everyday word.
14. Coach training is not substantial.
Certified Comprehensive Coaching is meaty - class work, practice, feedback, oral and written exams... like graduate school - but even more practical. As one of the Certified Comprehensive Coaches said, "I thought graduate school was where it was at - this was a much better learning experience and has allowed me to work with clients for pay while going through school - that to me, is the best of both worlds".
Terri Levine is a successful business coach and was a speaker at Joe Vitale's Spiritual Marketing Super Summit.
Terri Levine, MCC, PCC, MS, CCC-SLP, made the transition from senior executive to become one of the top professional coaches in the industry, founded a leading coach training school, and has worked with clients from every walk of life.
Terri is the founder and CEO of Comprehensive Coaching U, Inc., and The Coaching Institute - The Professional’s Coach Training Program. The Coaching Institute is an internationally recognized program that provides training to individuals and organizations that want to learn coaching skills and/or become Certified Comprehensive Coaches.
Terri’s coaching clients call her the “wisdom wizard”. Her background as a corporate executive paired with her marketing expertise is extraordinary. She has compiled an impressive track record of growing million dollar businesses.
She specializes in using Comprehensive Coaching principles to create extraordinary growth for her clients’ lives and businesses, and has been coaching professionals and companies, and training others to use coaching skills every day to experience much greater business, financial and personal success, discovering better ways to grow profitable businesses, restore balance in life, and bring greater joy to each day. She synthesizes the knowledge and wisdom of every leading organizational development guru, philosophy and process to create a results-oriented approach.
Terri, a popular keynote and motivational speaker, is also a successful author. Her much acclaimed book, “Work Yourself Happy,” (which hit #3 on the Amazon best-seller list early in 2002) is an example of her own coaching work and her clients’ success stories.
Her second book, “Coaching for an Extraordinary Life,” published in 2001, brings the tools of the coaching industry to ordinary people, so that all may enjoy a better quality life.
In her third book, “Create Your Ideal Body”, Terri shares her strategies and techniques which enabled 250 people to lose weight without dieting, struggle, deprivation or the use of gizmos, gadgets, pills, potions or rigid exercise routines.
Her last book, “Stop Managing, Start Coaching!” reached #6 on Amazon and deals with morale in the workplace. She also puts out weekly e-mail newsletters to thousands of subscribers worldwide. Terri is a nationally recognized authority on creating greater business and personal success and she is featured regularly in the media and on Channel 10 NBC Philadelphia News as a coaching expert.
Terri lives in Pennsylvania, and when she isn’t coaching, training, speaking, or writing, she loves to race Formula Dodge cars!
Terri is a member of the International Coach Federation, the Philadelphia Area Coaches Alliance, The American Society of Training and Development, and the National Women Business Owners.
If you are interested in becoming a coach, hiring a coach, or having Terri address your organization, call toll-free 1-877-401-6165 or email info@ComprehensiveCoachingU.com.
Visit her on the website: http://www.TerriLevine.com