5 Myths About Coaching

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To excel at the highest level—or any level, really—you need to believe in yourself, and hands down, one of the biggest contributors to my self-confidence has been private coaching.

STEPHEN CURRY
Professional Basketball Point Guard for the Golden State Warriors

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As International Coaching Week comes to a close, I wanted to put a focus on coaching.  There are many myths and misperceptions about coaching.  In this week's blog, I will walk you through five of them.  But first, what is coaching?

The International Coaching Federation or ICF is the world's leading organization for coaches and coaching.  The ICF is dedicated to advancing the coaching profession by setting high standards, providing independent certification, and building a worldwide network of trained coaching professionals.  I hold my Associate Certified Coaches (ACC) credential with the ICF.  The following is how the ICF defines coaching:

Coaching is partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.

The process of coaching often unlocks previously untapped sources of imagination, productivity and leadership.  We all have goals we want to reach, challenges we’re striving to overcome, and times when we feel stuck. Partnering with a coach can change your life, setting you on a path to greater personal and professional fulfillment and success.

So walk with me for just a couple of minutes and explore five myths about coaching. 

MYTH #1:  Coaching is only for people with a problem(s).
Journalist and communications expert, Abigail Pickus, had this to say about coaching, "Who, exactly, seeks out a coach?  If you ask a coach the answer is usually the same:  Winners who want even more out of life."  That echoes what Stephen Curry said in our opening quote.

Most of my clients are either relatively successful compared to other leaders or very successful leaders who are either focusing on a specific Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) or a project and/or are seeking to develop or even transform their leadership and their life.  In one organization where I used to internally coach leaders, our HR department had an unofficial policy that our coaching services were not to be used for remedial purposes and/or for any leader on a PIP or whose last performance review was less than a 'meets expectations.'  They simply didn't want to waste the valuable resource of an experienced coach on someone with a high risk of departing the organization.

But that doesn't mean that those types of individuals or even those with problems won't benefit from coaching.  They absolutely will.  Some people partner with me for a shorter time to specifically focus on a distinct problem or challenge.  As the ICF states in the definition above, the goal of coaching is to "maximize their personal and professional potential."

MYTH #2:  Coaching is really expensive.
Compare the cost of a training course or leadership development program.  One or two-day workshops can run as low as around $300 to some well over $3000.  Full-blown leadership development programs can run from $1500 to some running over $15K or even more. 

There may be travel, hotel, and meal expenses.  If you're enrolling in something internally, when you factor in the costs of the facilitator's salary and benefits and the time it took to develop and deliver the content, the costs can be even higher. 

A coach only bills for actual coaching hours and there's almost never any travel expenses since most coaching is done virtually, these days.

Both training and coaching are valuable when matched to meet the needs of people.  You can even engage with both at the same time adding a catalyst effect for both.

Coaching is an excellent investment.  But what's the ROI?

According to the 2009 ICF Global Coaching Client Study :

• 86% of companies that could calculate their return on investment (ROI) said that they at least made back their initial investment
  
• 28% saw an ROI of 10-49 times the investment
• 19% indicated an ROI of 50 times the investment
• The median ROI is 7 times the investment

The iPEC report mentioned above states that figures of between 500% and 700% commonly reported as being a reliable ROI for executive coaching.

And who you hire matters.  It's like anything else you buy or anything else you invest in:  You get what you pay for. 

Certified coaches with experience and higher education, especially for leadership and executive coaching, are simply going to require a slightly larger investment.  It's hard to put a value on years of coaching experience, years of study and continuing education, and other professional and life experience.

Coaching is an investment in your leadership and yourself.  One of the key differences about coaching and some other offerings you get as a leader, is that what you learn and take-away from coaching will last you a lifetime.

MYTH #3:  Coaching is the same as consulting, training, therapy, or mentoring.
On my webpage, More About Coaching With Alan, I share two short videos that are also on my YouTube channel:

• What is Coaching? (02:29)
• The Coaching Process (06:28)

In the first video, I not only answer what coaching is, I distinguish it from what coaching is not using the above graphic.  Coaching is distinctly different from either consulting, training, therapy, and mentoring.  The second video then walks through the process of coaching and after watching them both, you will see how different coaching is from any other professional service.

Finally, if you're interested in learning what coaching would be like with me, feel free to watch my introduction video as a coach: A Message from Alan

MYTH #4:  Coaches will just give me advice and have all the answers and/or will set the agenda or present a coaching program to me.
This might actually be true for coaches not certified through the ICF.  However, a coach certified through the ICF takes a pledge to the ICF Code of Ethics and Standards of Behavior. 

One of the key elements of ICF coaching that sets it apart from other professional services and other types of "coaching," is that the coach does not give advice or set the agenda.  A strong ICF certified coach partners with you in a way that let's you establish your overall coaching plan, goals, and how you want to measure success.  In other words, you are in the driver's seat.  The focus is 100% on empowering you!

MYTH #5:  Coaching is only for senior leaders or executives.
Coaching is for anyone and everyone.  Period.  While my primary clients are leaders, I have coached many clients who are not. 

Some of my clients have been what are termed accidental managers.  But I have coached people from all walks of life and from all levels of management and leadership, including those on the frontline and those in the C-suite.

In a blog just a few weeks ago,  Values & Purpose (Still) Matter, I wrote about a surprising finding from a 2019 study:  It is middle managers and professionals who drive meaning and purpose at work and the greater financial gains that high purpose-clarity organizations have over other companies.  It makes sense that these middle managers and professionals could add significantly more to the equation with coaching and targeted development.

Concluding Thoughts
Coaching is a powerful tool for anyone seeking to enhance performance and development and amplify their personal and/or professional effectiveness.  You can use it to discover strengths, build resiliency, develop skills and discover strategies to leverage them.  Coaching builds awareness, empowers you to be in the driver's seat, and leads to positive change.  And yes, it can empower you to overcome problems and tackle challenges through revelations, strategies, and actions yet to be discovered and leveraged.

Maximize your potential with coaching.  Discover new ways to flourish and become your best self!

To learn more about coaching with me, visit my Coaching With Alan webpage.

Finally, I want to share a short reflection video I created for those who may be considering coaching.  It's also on my Coaching With Alan webpage and YouTube channel.

The Road Sign

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Have an amazing journey today!

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Alan Mikolaj is a seasoned coach and leadership development consultant with nearly 20 years of experience.  He is passionate about helping leaders transform their leadership, their teams, and their organizations.  He has an impactful, professional approach driven by a passion for meaning and purpose, a growth mindset, and a commitment to excellence and service in order to drive change and results.

Alan holds his Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology and Associate Certified Coach credential with the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and maintains their ethics and standards of behavior, including the standards regarding confidentiality.  You can learn more about them on the ICF website.

Transformational change starts with a conversation!
Alan is on a mission to partner with like-minded leaders who want to make a positive difference in the world.  Schedule your free, one-hour session by clicking here: Discovery Conversation with Alan
Or call or email: Contact Page

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