Student coaches frequently ask me how I filled my coaching practice.
The answer is less a magic bullet and more a reflection of several things coming together to create critical mass. Or a threshold of some sort.
Coaching success – and by that I mean generating sufficient, sustainable – is based on several factors working together.
1) Your confidence as a coach.
Until you can wear your “coaching skin” lightly and naturally, you question your coaching and the value you bring. You can get caught in wondering if you are doing it right.
I suggest to new coaches: Log 100 hours of coaching and then let’s revisit the conversation. You will know yourself differently as a coach by that point, and it will be reflected in how you show up.
Bottom line: Practice to improve your coaching skills because you’ll build confidence and trust in your coaching.
2) Your degree of self connection.
The depth of your connection with yourself is the basis for your connection with everything else in your life. It is the foundation for the in-the-moment awareness that not only makes you a masterful coach, it gives you the confidence to speak up more fully, to recognize opportunities and to step into them.
A truly present-moment, highly attuned self connection will also show you the parts of yourself that may be invested in keeping you safe (translation: playing small, staying hidden from your market). The resulting awareness allows you to use resistance when it shows up rather than be held hostage by it.
3) Your willingness to extend the invitation.
Imagine your coaching business is a party, a really special party that you want to host. You’ve planned the party, set the scene and studied the latest in party-hosting techniques – and yet no one shows up. Or maybe guests only show up in onesie-twosies. Dribs and drabs.
So your business feels like a party that just can’t get off the ground.
If this is true for you, I have a question: Did you invite anyone?
Inviting is distinct from sharing. Telling. Educating. Informing. Or asking for a favor.
An invitation is an offer from your heart.
So yes, while you do need to have effective coaching skills, skills alone will not make you successful as a coach.
You need a depth of self connection that will carry you through the ups and downs, help you lean into growth, and give you the discernment to spot opportunities.
And you need to be a gracious and aware host/ess and be sure you issue a clear invitation.
This last piece is what I see most often missing for newer coaches. Watch this space: My next article will take a deeper look the notion of the invitation.
In support of your coaching success!
Hugs,
Lyn
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