The Power of Coaching

THE POWER OF COACHING

It’s no wonder we get asked for book recommendations so often.

Knowledge is power, but it’s hard to know where to start.

Coaching can be an intimidating craft. There is so much to learn. To do it well you have to understand mechanics, physiology and human psychology at a minimum.

By Mihir Thaker

I often get questions from aspiring coaches who want to turn their passion for helping people and getting results into a career. The one that I get most often is “what’s your secret?” Well, the secret is that there’s no secret. There are however, a few common threads. Success leaves clues.

My Top 10 Tips for Aspiring Coaches

1

Know who you DON'T serve via your coaching (serving everyone is serving no one properly). The clearer you are in your sorting process the easier it is for you to get started and grow quickly.

If your skills are not specialized yet, take time to work with a wide variety of people before you know who you are uniquely positioned to serve.

Often people niche too quickly into a low volume market and never find their real market just because they haven’t tried reaching a wider audience.

2

Look at the value of your service from your potential clients' point of view.

Your skills and your time means nothing to the other person.

Too often coaches tend to sell on time etc., which is meaningless.

Focus on where they are heading and show what your services can do for them.

Let them talk 80% of the time in the sales process to elicit real need and see if you can genuinely provide value.

3

Create a ritual of integration of learning for yourself after every coaching session.

This is a deep meditative process wherein every time you work with a client you are growing as well. This will deepen your next session with your next client immensely.

Connect with your higher consciousness to absorb all the learnings that came about for you as a result of your session.

4

Use your proper 'weight' in your session (weight = culmination of life's experiences, learnings and growth that has been internalized).

Often coaches tend to throw too much weight beyond their skills/age/learning (which is creepy and cringy to watch) or too little weight (which is of disservice to the client).

When you feel OK about whatever happens in your session, that's when you know you're asserting your proper weight in the client-coach relationship.

5

Watch out for resets/end points in your contracts. Usually at right about the end point of your contract, things will fire up in a normally stable relationship (unconsciously), causing your client to eject you from their system.

So, plan a progression or termination conversation about 2-3 months in advance so as to have a smooth transition.

6

How you setup the sales process is how you’ll end up coaching (or not)

One the key indicators of success or failures in coaching stems back to the coaching process. Often times in the sales process, your credibility, competence and trust factor gets established and unconsciously it calibrates your client to the level of success they can expect from you.

This may be different from what they are asking at a conscious level. Pay attention to how you are creating these aspects of credibility, trust and competency in your sales process and you have a much better chance of helping your clients reach their goals smoothly.

7

Speak, speak and speak. Nothing beats being in front of your target audiences and conveying your message and building personal credibility.

Every time you speak, make sure you record your talks and start building your media kit. It becomes super useful as you progress in your journey. Every time I speak in front of my target audience, I make sure that I’m speaking to that ONE person who I want to deeply connect with. Usually, that ends with me signing them up as a long-term client.

8

Be flexible in your approach to helping your clients. At the end of the day, your clients are hiring you to help them achieve their results and often they need help with reaching your networks and contacts. Open the doors for them.

Often they might need help in terms of payments or additional support. Do what you can while maintaining integrity of your coaching process and that it’s a ‘win-win’ for both.

9

Always ask for a video testimonial after your first ‘win’ with them.

As they work with you and experience your awesome coaching, after their first or second ‘win’, your clients will automatically calibrate their new life as the new ‘normal’.

Make sure that before that phase sets in you are getting a testimonial for the work you’ve done so far. It will help them remember where they were before they started working with you and how you’ve helped them.

10

Learn to use metaphors in your coaching a lot. One of most effective tools for coaching that I personally use often is storytelling and sharing experiences of clients ‘just like them’ to create deeper rapport with the clients ecosystem to help influence the outcomes.

Use movies, sitcoms, books, inspirational characters etc. What is incomplete in their system can be completed unconsciously through effective use of metaphors.

An intelligent and insightful well-sought after Business Coach, specializing in the executive and leadership field. His work involves working with CEOs, Executives, Consultants, Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners who have become stuck in a rut and who need guidance and support to get back on track.

Mihir, who has a Masters Degree in Telecomms, and a proven track record of helping businesses to get back onto the running track. This gives the mechanism for those to become more profitable, increase sales and growth, and effectively aligning the inner and outer aspects.

“Our success as a species is tied together and I want to help facilitate success of everyone on this planet towards greater achievement and fulfilment.”