Whether or not you feel you’re ready to go out and get clients for your new coaching practice, you first need to ask yourself a very important question. This question will determine whether you’re truly ready to coach; it really is a make-or-break question. 
Interestingly, this is also a question you’ll be asking of your clients and you’ll be very curious about the answer, because you’ll know that a positive answer will help you to be successful with that client. And a negative answer could actually put you in a vulnerable position to achieve success with that client.
So, here’s the question you need to ask yourself: Are you coachable?
How will you know? Well, for one thing, consider times when you received feedback from a trusted coach, advisor, or mentor that was counter to the way you saw yourself or the situation in question. How did you respond to this feedback? Did you respond positively because you were open to making changes and trying new ideas?
I’d like to share a story with you from my own experience a few years back. This was fairly early on in my coaching practice and I had recently completed a successful virtual training project with a partner. I was gratified that he was impressed with my work and liked having me as a partner on this extensive project.
Later on, he shared some feedback with me which was a bit painful, but necessary for me to hear.
He said: “Mike, you’re really good. You provided great material for our training program. You were very reliable, really professional. You were all-in-all a great partner. But there’s something that I’m feeling I need to share with you. And that is the presence you have on the Internet. It’s not that strong. You actually come across as less than you are. It’s like you’re a secret. I think you need to polish up your professional presence online.”
This was coming from a man who had great knowledge and extensive experience about what it takes to be successful online. And he was sharing the feedback with me because he wanted to see me be more successful. He knew that I had the talent, but I didn’t come across online the way I should to get more business.
I took that feedback to heart. I was coachable and open to changing the way I was doing things. And since then, I invested heavily, worked with outside resources, and greatly improved my presence online. A few years afterwards I spoke with this partner again and he said: “Mike, you’re doing a good job. I see that you really elevated your presence online. You put more effort into it and you really come across better. I’m glad that you invested and took my feedback to heart.”
Such revelations aren’t necessarily the result of a long-term engagement. It can be a single moment of inspiration that causes you to do a 180 and really go in a different direction. And that particular moment made a big difference in my professional life. So, you’ll know the answer right away to this question.
When you received feedback that stung but had a ring of truth, how did you handle it? Did you run with it or run away from it? Your response will indicate your answer to the question I posed at the start of this post: Are you coachable? That’s the answer.
So, please answer this question before you go out and get your own clients. And once you know the answer is “yes, I’m coachable,” go for it and work with clients who are coachable too. You’ll find you’re able to bring that same coachability to your engagements, which will make those engagements stronger and longer lasting. And don’t be shy about asking your own clients: “Are you coachable?”
If you’d like to watch a video on becoming an executive coach, click here.
Don’t miss out, read part 1 and part 2 of this series!
If you’d like to talk with me 1on1 about your aspirations to be an executive and leadership coach, schedule time with me here or fill out the contact form.
Here are more articles and videos related to this article:
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- Roles Coaches Play, Part One, Part Two, and Part Three
YouTube Videos
- Becoming an Executive Coach – Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3
- What is Your Approach to Feedback? | Handling Feedback as a Leader Pt. 1
- Do You Seek Out CRITICAL Feedback? | Handling Feedback as a Leader Pt. 2
- Intro to Becoming an Executive Coach – Training Series by Michael Neuendorff
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