When it comes to finding a coach, I will say it is one of the most important decisions of your business profession. Here is my coaching story. I have tried a number of life coaches over the years, but I only embraced business coaches in the last 4 years. I had a few bad experiences with life coaches who wanted to coach me to be my better self, which translated to ‘be who I think you should be”.
Needless to say that those relationships went sour once I realized that they were just patient and masterful about making me into a cookie cutter person. Then I worked with Dr. Mike and then Akilah R., two amazing Life Coaches that changed my life in exceptional ways. But this was all life coaching, even 10 years into entrepreneurship, I had not hired a business coach.
You might find that little factor interesting since I’ve been coaching clients around branding for 16 years and helping them get major results. But the truth is that I was still scarred from that earlier “coach hurt” and I was more willing to risk my heart with life coaching than to risk my business through coaching.
Back in 2013, my life took a turn and I had to make some drastic changes in my business model. I had to accelerate my profits in half the time. I spoke to other successful treps in my circle and they all recommended coaching. So 12 years int0 my business, I hired my first coach and 3 Months later I hired a different one. I leveraged what I learned from both of them and quadrupled my revenue in 18 months. The following year I hired another coach and tripled my revenue again. So needless to say this coaching thing has worked out well for me!
I had to let go of my “coach hurt” and take a risk to gain a reward. But it is not lost on me that there are a lot of unqualified coaches out there. I call them the “ain’t sh*t” coaches. I have spent the last 10 years of my career defending the coaching industry and it’s validity while proving and re-proving my client results. It’s exhausting, the amount of healing that I have to do nurture to give clients hope again.
These people have spent thousands of dollars from their hard-earned income, savings, retirement accounts and personal loans to pay for coaching that does not garner results. Sometimes, we can choc it up to clients not “doing the work”. But there are times (more than I want to admit) when the coach is too lazy or too underqualified to help their clients achieve real results.
I have often been asked, “How do I know what to look for in a good coach?” Welp, here is my answer in 4 short points:
- CONSISTENT RESULTS – Follow your desired guru online for at least 3-6 months and watch the clients that work with them. If you see changes in the client’s brand and see them getting traction, reach out to them to find out what it’s like to work with the guru you are eye-balling. They will tell you if it’s worth the investment.
- QUALITY OF CONTENT – Really great coaches share “free” information that gives you results in your business. So imagine what you will get once you pay for the next level of access. While “surface fluff” grabs your attention, at some point you will realize fluff doesn’t replace results.
- HONESTY OVER INSPIRATION – Many coaches use “inspiration” as a way to insight emotional buying. I recommend you find a coach who is transparent about their failures and triumphs. If they are honest about who they are, then they will be honest about how you can get real results.
- SMALL PURCHASES FIRST – Another way to test the quality of a coach is to buy a low price product or service from them. If that floats your boat, then you can move on to a bigger purchase.
Don’t be afraid to take your time and find the “right” coach for you. It should be an organic and connection. Ok, that wraps up my thoughts on finding your next guru. If you want more information about working with me, reach out to Team Jai, and in the meantime, Happy Coaching!!
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