When the Coach is Ready, the Clients Appear
I coach, supervise and/or mentor many coaches. One of the recurring issues that comes up in sessions is bewilderment and frustration about erratic work. It’s a phenomenon I also experience, as I suspect most coaches do.
Some weeks we are so busy we can barely draw breath and other weeks we have plenty of time to stop and smell (and water and prune and feed and dead-head) the roses – and every other plant we come across.
Coaching work is often inconsistent and unpredictable. For those of us who make our living by selling time, it’s exasperating and confusing and can be more than a little anxiety-provoking.
The trick, I have come to learn, is to ask how the fallow periods are serving us, rather than seeing them as a punishment. Over the 15 years I’ve worked for myself (coaching for 11 of those), I have come to realise that we get what we and our clients need.
When we are energetic, enthusiastic and able to serve our clients excellently, the clients find us.
When we are stressed, stretched and not at the top of our coaching game, we are offered a pause; a period to rest, recover and regroup.
“Could you handle more clients right now?” I ask when coaches are stressing about not being busy enough. Almost always, the honest answer is no. While being anxious about less income and more free time, they are also relieved to have the space to rest, think, read, create new offerings and do whatever else they can’t do when every hour is accounted for by clients.
Sometimes the honest answer is that they do have the energy for more clients, but they don’t have the inclination. On closer examination they may find that they have endless energy for coaching some clients (possibly those who want to change careers, for example), but little to no energy for others (maybe clients who want to break into politics). Or they may reach the conclusion that they have energy for working with groups rather than individuals. They might realise that they want to teach, or write, or study.
If the number of clients to energy levels ratio is not the issue, it is time to examine the kind of clients.
As soon as we have recalibrated our thinking, regained our energy, and rearranged how we spend it, the metaphorical doors will reopen for business.
We need to trust that when the coach is ready, the clients will appear.
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Tags: coach | coach training | coaching | trust the process
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