Are you afraid of damaging your client?
Lots of coaches are worried about doing a client harm because they lack…
- Training / Coaching Skills
- Knowledge
- Experience
But don’t worry about any of that damaging your client.
What REALLY damages your client?
Missing out on your COACHING.
Without coaching, your client’s life and problems get WORSE, not better.
Without coaching, your client’s life and problems get WORSE, not better.“
THAT’S what you (and your client) should be afraid of.
A bad coaching session due to ‘new coach-itis’?
Not that scary.
Coaching provides:
- Progress
- A Space to be heard
- Transformation
- Support & Accountability
And you don’t have to be skilled, knowledgeable, or experienced to facilitate that.
You just have to care (and coach!).
FEAR is the enemy of your coaching.
FEAR is the enemy of your coaching.“
Fear causes you to wait to start coaching.
and wait.
and wait.
and wait.
And no matter how much you learn about coaching…
…fear makes it seem like you’re never quite ready to start.
Don’t have any coaching skills?
You can still help your client by providing knowledge.
Knowledge can’t harm your client.
It can only help.
In fact, the most successful coaching businesses specialize in education…
…not coaching.
Most of your client’s problems and goals fall into these three categories:
- Health / Fitness / Beauty
- Love / Relationships
- Business / Finances / Career
Learn a category.
Then offer the knowledge to your clients.
Don’t have any knowledge?
Learn.
You can learn the fundamentals in half a day.
You can learn from
- the Internet
- Courses
- Reading books
- listening to Podcasts.
“But, Kris, if it’s so easy to learn these things, won’t my client already ‘know it all’?”
Yes, the knowledge is out there, but most clients won’t seek it out…
…they’d rather ask you.
Learn the knowledge for them.
“But Kris, coaches aren’t supposed to teach or give advice!”
The fact is, most coaches give at least a little advice.
Advice isn’t the BEST form of coaching, but it’s better than NO COACHING.
Advice isn’t the BEST form of coaching, but it’s better than NO COACHING.”
Some coaching businesses do NOTHING but give advice.
I’ve seen coaches build entire businesses based on the teachings of a single book.
See our in depth discussion around “Giving Advice in a Coaching Session” HERE.
Then coach your client to apply the knowledge.
You don’t need lots of skills to do this.
Just ask them:
“How will you apply what you’ve learned?”
“What actions do you need to take based upon this new knowledge?”
…then just hold them accountable for whatever commitments come out of that conversation.
Easy enough?
Three steps:
- Learn something.
- Teach it to clients.
- Coach them to apply it.
And you can do ALL THAT starting with no knowledge.
Don’t have any experience?
Yes you do.
ANY experience in ANY area… IS EXPERIENCE.
ANY experience in ANY area… IS EXPERIENCE.”
Your experiences could be great sources of wisdom for your clients.
But experience also has a downside…
Experience limits a coach through the unconscious bias those experiences provoke.
How can having no experience be beneficial to your coaching?
No experience = no limiting beliefs.
No experience = no limiting beliefs.“
Without experience, you can help clients achieve things that everyone else thought was “impossible.”
BOTTOM LINE: Even if you don’t have any experience…
…you can still effectively coach your client.
Asking powerful questions, listening, providing accountability, and acting as a sounding board…
…these aspects of coaching require no experience.
Questions:
You can help your client by asking them questions instead of giving advice.
Maybe your client had success in the past but stopped doing what worked.
One question could bring back their mojo.
Asking your client questions can propel a client forward quickly, especially if they already know what to do next.
Listening:
A client can work through their own problem if you create a space for them to talk through it… just listening to them.
BOTTOM LINE: Even if you don’t have any experience…you can still effectively coach your client.”
Fear of damaging your client causes ‘over-coaching’…
…and OVERCOACHING can damage your client!
Fear can push a coach to force coaching on a client.
But you can’t force coaching.
Coaching is like helping a chick hatch out of its shell.
Would you break the shell for them?
Probably not.
You would let them break through the shell themselves so they can build their own strength.
You might encourage the chick to continue.
Once the chick hatches through its shell, you would celebrate.
Even though you didn’t physically help the chick break out of their shell…
…you STILL helped.
Fearful coaches are so worried about their ‘chicks’…
…that they are smashing the shell with a hammer!
“Smashing” your client seldom serves them.
BOTTOM LINE: Fear of damaging your client… damages your client. How’s that for irony?
Coaching isn’t where your client’s “damage” comes from.
You can’t mess up something that’s already messed up.
Client’s damage themselves…
Yes, your client’s life could get MORE messed up.
Some clients will take your coaching and use it as justification for continuing their downward spiral.
That doesn’t change the fact that THEY made their own mess.
Their mess was already made BEFORE you showed up.So either way, THEY made the mess… Not you.
You’re not going to make a client’s problem worse by helping them.
Nobody is getting a divorce because you suggested they communicate with their spouse.
If the divorce happens on your watch…
…their relationship was already in trouble.
Nobody is going to Las Vegas to gamble away their life savings because you suggested they take risks.
That client already lacked common sense.
What IS possible with coaching?
Your client’s life could actually GET BETTER.
Your client IS more likely to get healthy because you suggested drinking more water, and getting enough sleep.
Your client IS more likely to improve their relationship because you coached them to spend more time with family.
Your client IS more likely to improve their financial situation when you coach them to reduce their debt.
Beth (the first client I ever coached) earned $15K due to my coaching.
And THAT was the first month I coached her!
Even though I felt some fear…
… I made a huge difference for Beth.
I’m a much better coach today because I coached Beth.
I didn’t let inexperience, lack of knowledge, or low coaching skills stop me from coaching her.
True, some clients will require a lot more from you than others…
…but coach all the clients you can.
The more you coach…
- the more experience you’ll get.
- the more skilled you’ll get.
- the more knowledge you’ll acquire.
…and the more impact you’ll make in the world.
Coaches coach.
Coaches coach.”
Don’t let the possibility that you can’t help EVERY client…
…stop you from helping ONE client.
Change lives… one client at a time.
Who are you going to coach today?
Kristoffer “Coaches Coach” Thompson
