Thanks to all those who have reached out about coaching recently.

In recent months/years I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to schedule all the coaching I could handle. I learned a lot from many of you, including many who started out as blog readers.

As a result, for the time being, I’m not able to take on new clients. I do wish it could be otherwise.

Some Tippos

Since this seems like an appropriate time to offer some quick tips for those of you who are out looking for a coach, here they are:

1. Time spent with a coach always beats time spent reading about them. Be sure to get appointments scheduled ASAP so you can understand what the coach is like, from your own perspective. This is one of those areas where subjectivity and subjective experience is a very important factor.
2. Please try to meet with more than one coach if you can. I think 3-5 is a good number to “try out” within the first months or years if you’re in it for long-term development, but I suppose if you get a really good one that you like, it’s OK to stick with them.
3. Personality differences apply. A lot of coaches are way too gentle for some of the INTJs I’ve met. INTJs are often really intense, and in many cases come off like they don’t really need a coach.
4. At the same time, some other coaches will seem too harsh, or too orderly, or too demanding. This usually has a lot to do with their own personality dynamics. (For example, in terms of personality, a Px-Perceiver coach at mid-life can seem like they are leaning really hard into Jx-type practices.)
5. A well-trained coach should have no problem walking you through some examples of the ethical guidelines they follow. They should be able to tell you how and when and why they underwent ethics training for their given coaching specialty.
6. Finally, please take the opportunity to consider becoming a coach yourself. Think about all the things you have learned by becoming that thing—it’s a great way to learn and grow.

Have a great day everybody! —Marc

Filed in: Coaching /27/ | Goals /52/