3 Signs You Need Outside Help

When I wrote a post last week called 3 Reason You Should Not Hire a Coach I promised to revisit the topic this week with the reasons you should hire a coach.

Upon further reflection, I thought it would be more useful to share three signs that you’re ready for a coach. Much like last week’s post, my point of view is informed by more than a dozen years of working with scores of great coaching clients and, frankly, a few that I shouldn’t have taken on.

So, based on that experience, here are three signs that you’re ready for a coach.

1. You’re Not Satisfied: The best clients I’ve had over the years are really good leaders who want to be even better. They’re not satisfied to stand pat on their development because they recognize that to keep achieving new results, they’ll have to do some things differently as a leader. If that sounds like you, it’s a sign that you’re ready for a coach.

2. You Care What People Think: The best clients I’ve worked with actually care about what other people think. They understand that whatever their colleagues perceive about them is the reality that they have to deal with as a leader. They value the opportunity to get unbiased feedback and the opportunity to follow through on it by making changes that will help them be even better. If that sounds like you, it’s another sign that you’re ready for a coach.

3. You’re Ready to Do the Work: Occasionally, a colleague of a client will pull me aside and say something like, “I don’t know what you did with him, but he’s really changed.” My standard and sincere response is “He (or she as the case may be) is the one that did the work. All I did was help identify some opportunities.” That is a true statement. Whenever a coaching engagement is successful, it’s always because the client chose to take on and follow through on the work of personal change. If that sounds like the kind of thing that you’d do, then it’s yet another sign that you’re ready for a coach.

So, if you’re ready for a coach, you may want to check out this post from last year, How to Use a Leadership Coach.

In the meantime, what’s your experience? What other signs are there that a leader is ready for a coach?

Image via Tom Wang/Shutterstock.com