A Trap for New Coaches

by Annabel Sutton
(Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK)

I started coaching over ten years ago and one of the biggest mistakes I made was rushing to take on everybody who contacted me for coaching.

When you're starting out it's really tempting to want to work with everyone because you want to build your practice.

However, I quickly discovered that this was a disaster all round! Many of the people who contacted me then (and still do now) either needed therapy or I wasn't the right coach for them. The chemistry wasn't right - they weren't coachable and so on.

As a result the coaching didn't work for them and I spent many sleepless nights worrying about what I was doing wrong. In fact I wasn't necessarily doing anything wrong - other than agreeing to coach them in the first place!

I learned such a lot from this and over the years I've come to recognize very quickly which clients are a great 'fit' for me and those that aren't. Now all my consultations are totally client-centered and revolve 100% around what would be best for them.

I now have a group of associate coaches and therapists who work with me and so I can be sure that each prospective client gets to work with just the right professional for them.

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Really great insights Annabel.

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