ILLUSTRIOUS
Picture

THE BLOG

  • Home of Illustrious Consulting
  • About
  • The Work
    • OKRs
    • Amplified
  • Blog
  • Resources
    • Library
    • MURAL Templates
    • Video
    • Courses
  • Contact

7/8/2021

5 Signs You Hired the Wrong Coach

0 Comments

Read Now
 
Picture
Guest post by Ashley Preston

You did it. You finally took a chance and hired a coach to help you. They are promising to help you turn your life and your business around, but as you work with them, you can’t help feeling like something is a bit off.

Are you having buyer’s remorse? Or is it something else? Are you comfortable talking to them? Are they making it easy for you to open up and share what you need to with them? Or do you find yourself hesitating to use the services you paid for?

If you’re having doubts, you might want to ask yourself if you’ve hired the right coach. Here are five signs it might be time to look for the exit.

1. They Bully You or Harshly Judge You

You hired a coach because they could help you in areas where you admitted you’re struggling. They are there to encourage you; not make you feel guilty or dumb for not knowing something in the first place. No one should make you feel inferior for owning up to your own shortcomings and getting help to improve those personal limitations. That’s how we learn and grow as people.

If your coach is making you feel like you’re inferior, if they are talking down to you, or dismissing your concerns without valid reason, you’re not dealing with the kind of person who should be working as a coach. You can’t solve your real problems when you can’t talk about them without fear, and you can’t be truly vulnerable with someone who doesn’t show you the respect you deserve.

2. They Minimize Your Experience, Education, or Training

Coaching takes a great deal of compassion, empathy, and patience. It requires the coach to step into your shoes and understand where you’re coming from. A good coach will point out your strengths and remind you how far you’ve already come. That coach would embolden you to use whatever tools are at your disposal in order to move forward with confidence while helping you sharpen up other areas in your life so you can be even more effective.

However, if you have a coach who is telling you that because your training or experience didn’t come from the “right” place, or it’s not valid, then you have a crappy coach. It doesn’t matter how you learned what you know. As long as you have your facts straight and are confident in your experience, your perspective is valid and your knowledge is valuable. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, especially the coach who was hired to highlight what you bring to the table. No one gets to dim your shine!

3. They Tell You What Kind of CEO You Should Be

Did you build a business? Did you make decisions and sacrifices to get where you are? Did you create something and see its success bloom? With all that experience, you have developed your own style of work and management.

While coaches can help you reflect on parts that might not be working, or help you see some fresh perspectives that you haven’t considered, it is not your coach’s job to change everything. Why fix something that isn’t really broken? Don’t trust a coach who can’t see your leadership potential and success.

A good coach will work with you to create a better mindset so you can be the best version of yourself, not tear you down and rebuild you from the ground up. Walk away from the coach who makes you feel like a terrible CEO when it’s clear that most of what you’re doing worked long before they walked into the picture.

4. They Tell You They Know Exactly How to Fix Your Business

One size doesn’t fit all. Some coaches want to believe that a one-size-fits-all approach will work, but it is simply a lazy approach that doesn’t take into account the complexities of your operation or the free market. While a good coach can provide feedback, structure, and advice, these things should act as guidelines. You should have the room to ultimately make decisions that fit your own business without feeling guilty or stupid for doing so.

If your coach is saying things like “just trust the program, it works for everyone” there’s a good chance that their system isn’t battle-tested, and they don’t understand the importance of giving you the power to make the choices that will ultimately serve your company best. Only you will know what that is, and a good coach will know when to encourage you to do so.

5. They Bombard You With Too Much Information

You need to walk before you can run. A coach is there to develop your potential. A good coach wants to facilitate the learning process by challenging your thoughts and creating an environment that enables you to take it all in. They know that you should master the fundamentals before moving on to more advanced routines.

Good coaches care about how much you get out of the program. A bad coach, however, will likely throw a massive amount of information at you, sometimes in no particular order. They do so because oftentimes it makes them feel smart, and if you can’t take it all in, then it’s not their fault that you don’t succeed. It is a lazy approach that leaves you wanting.

If your coach isn’t taking the time to explain things, and if they aren’t giving you information that is digestible, you’re not going to benefit from the program like you should.

There Are Too Many Coaches Out There. Don’t Settle for Bad Coaching.

You should get what you paid for. You should feel supported and seen by a coach. You should feel like they are there to help you. You should feel like they are learning from you as much as you’re learning from them. You should be able to trust them and their vision for you. 

If you don’t feel that way about your current coach, then it’s time to make a change. Don’t settle for less than what you deserve. Contact the team at Illustrious, ask about our Amplified Executive Coaching program, and let’s get you back on track with someone in your corner who believes in you.

​
Picture
Ashley Preston has a decade of experience working in news, public relations, community relations, marketing, and communications coaching – conducting training sessions in both group settings and on an individual basis for Fortune 500 companies, supervisors, presidents, executive directors, and start-up companies.

Share

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

Details

    ABOUT THE Author

    Joran Slane Oppelt is an international speaker, author and consultant with certifications in coaching, storytelling, design thinking and virtual facilitation.

    Archives

    July 2022
    June 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020

    Categories

    All
    Business
    Business Model
    CEO
    Change
    Churn
    Coaching
    Collaboration
    Communication
    Consent
    Consulting
    Content Creation
    Copywriting
    Creativity
    C Suite
    C-Suite
    Culture
    D&D
    Design
    Design Thinking
    Disruption
    Dungeons & Dragons
    Empathy
    Employees
    Executive
    Experimentation
    Facilitation
    Future
    Games
    Goals
    Graphic Recording
    Growth
    Hybrid
    Innovation
    Interdependency
    Leadership
    Lead Generation
    Listening
    Management
    Marketing
    Mastery
    Meetings
    Messaging
    Mindset
    Mission
    MURAL
    Music
    OKRs
    Operations
    Organizations
    Participation
    Products
    Remote
    Results
    Sales
    Selling
    Social Media
    Storytelling
    Strategy
    Success
    Teams
    Teamwork
    Technology
    Time
    Turnover
    Uncertainty
    Vision
    Visual Thinking
    Whiteboard
    Work

    RSS Feed

Services

Visual Facilitation
​
Change Management
Graphic Recording
Business Consulting
​Executive Coaching
MURAL Design

Shortcuts

About Us
The Blog
​Our Reading List
​
Courses

Support

To schedule a Discovery Call:
​Call Joran at (727) 771-5656
​Or e-mail joran@illustri.us
© COPYRIGHT 2020, ILLUSTRIOUS CONSULTING.
​ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home of Illustrious Consulting
  • About
  • The Work
    • OKRs
    • Amplified
  • Blog
  • Resources
    • Library
    • MURAL Templates
    • Video
    • Courses
  • Contact