The coaching industry in Australia
The coaching industry is rated by many keen judges as the No.2 growth industry in Australia. I estimate that there are 2,000+ coaches operating in Australia today. As an industry it did not exist prior to 1998. Its early roots were in training and development when it was not known as coaching, but rather leadership development.
So, be wary of coaches purporting to claim they have been coaching for decades. It simply isn’t true.
Coaching is still a cottage industry. There are no barriers to entry and if you are wondering why everyone seems to call themselves a coach it is because there is no universally accepted governing body. The closest equivalent is the USA based International Coaching Federation (ICF). The ICF preside over lifestyle coaching and other iterations. Back in 2000 or thereabouts, Thomas Leonard, broke away from the ICF and formed Coachville. It was only recently, after his untimely passing last year, that the two groups sought reconciliation.
Today in Australia, there is a growing lobby of professional or executive coaching firms seeking to distance itself from the mainstream lifestyle coaching groups like the ICF and Coachville. Here in Australia the regional chapters of the ICF and Coachville lack teeth and the great white hope for the coaching cause is Sydney University’s Dr Tony Grant. Well respected in coaching circles, Dr Grant leads the charge to take coaching from cottage industry to professional status. He is a strong advocate of tertiary-based education as a pre-requisite for entry into the coaching profession. Not surprisingly he advocates his University of Sydney coaching psychology program as the benchmark level of education. And given the absence of alternatives I’d have to agree with him.
Right now if you are looking to check up on the bona fides of your practising coach then check out the ICF core coaching competencies
www. coachfederation.org. The ICF list a range of accredited coaching training providers. It is a good place to start. You will find the Coachville competencies are similar.
Is coaching a fad or here to stay?
The good news is that coaching is here to stay. Some pundits having speculated that lifestyle coaching may be no more than a passing fad. That remains to be seen. I think more likely a shakeout of the industry will necessarily and desirably occur. The numbers of ubiquitous lifestyle coaches will consolidate as many succumb to the pressure of attracting fee-paying clients. Any economic slowdown will exacerbate this trend.
The personal development movement will continue to steam ahead and personal coaching will follow in its wake. Just as with independent management consultants some will seek solace in larger coaching organisations, many will walk the talk of their espoused lifelong learning commitments and enrol in Dr Tony Grant’s program. Some will join the throng towards franchise coaching organisations.
The franchise community lay claim to having only a 1% disputation rate amongst franchisers/franchisees. I suspect that coaching franchises will come and go belying this figure. Coaching must adopt a core discipline or a core discipline adopt coaching. The psychology faculties have their claws out. Amidst the gnashing of teeth they may fight with business schools for business coaching rights. And may I say with total impartiality, “Go the business schools!”
Beware amateur hour
When I first starting trading as a lifestyle coach I found marketing to be a laborious process of firstly educating the market about the coaching category, then educating it about my brand, The Coaching Professionals, then educating it about the benefits I conferred on them.
This honeymoon period brought out a range of early adopters. Initially I found that potential buyers of coaching services were not what I’d call discerning consumers, ie they didn’t shop around, didn’t ask about coaching credentials, and largely got what they were given. My empirical evidence suggests that many freshman coaches walked the pavements and engaged fee-paying clients because many consumers weren’t the wiser that their coach was a rank amateur.
The more seasoned, and professional coaches, grew more and mortified as the reputation of this fledgling industry took a pounding. I can see Dr Grant crying in his port glass in his university den.
What is the future of coaching in Australia?
Coaching as an industry will continue to grow and prosper. More and entrants will seek to join, recruitment, consulting, training and development, psychology and other therapies including hypnotherapy, NLP, and a wide range of holistic polarities will join the bandwagon. Geez, maybe even accountants will change their branding from CPA to CPC – Certified Practising Coaches.
Coaching will progress towards professional status. Barriers to entry will be raised. There will be a shakeout of coaches. Some will make it and some won’t. C’est la vie. University students will enrol in coaching degrees and arrive on the street to guide their ever-ageing clients into balance and well being.
An ever increasing obese population will create a huge demand for weight loss coaches and MLM activities. Paul Zane Pilzer’s Wellness Revolution has commenced. Coaching will catch on.
Meet my friend, technology
Technology will befriend coaches and drive prices down. Coaches won’t complain about increased affordability because they will use the technology to deliver team/group coaching programs. Team coaching will emerge as the next big thing for small business owners who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford one-on-one coaching.
Micro business owners in the burgeoning home based business sector will take to team coaching like ducks to water. Mentoring/ team coaching programs will fill the void of business education in the micro business market. State and Federal Government will embrace these services and provide government incentives and grants to boost their delivery, especially to rural and remote regions. Teleclasses, video-conferencing, e-learning and multi media learning applications will grow in popularity.
We will witness the rise and rise of American pop culture icons on our computer terminals delivering their e-classes. Everyone in Sydney will claim to have been personally coached by Jim Rohn or one of Brian Tracy’s disciples. Hallelujah, Brian!
Networking is about the community
The solitude experienced by the growing number of home based business owners will drive the popularity of community and interest group based networking groups. Local Chambers of Commerce have not grasped how significant this opportunity could be. The void is being filled fast by locally run networking groups with enterprising zealots with zero marketing budgets. Potential small business sponsors also haven’t latched on yet. A bonanza awaits.
The compulsion for networking is not understood by those in the ivory towers. Small business operators are bored off their tits being at home and crave human interaction. Some do go to foster leads but the real reason is that they just want to meet like minded people and hang out. Remote teleclasses will never usurp the popularity of networking for this very reason.
The spread of coaching methodologies
Coaching will continue to permeate into the managerial ranks of corporations. Managers will embrace coaching methodologies as part of their kitbag. Teachers will incorporate coaching methodologies into the school curriculum. Directors of companies, CEO’s and, dare I say it, political leaders will too incorporate coaching methods.
What is coaching?
What should I look for when choosing a coach?
Here’s my Choose a Coach Checklist.
- Ask how much of their annual income they derive from coaching? According to an ICF survey in 2003 80% of coaches are part-timers, meaning they derive their primary income from another source. So, in Australia at a rough guess there are 1,600 part-time coaches.
Further, the ATO define a hobby as an activity where the income earned is less than $20,000. My guess is that 50% of all coaches are hobbyists. Now when you part with your hard earned cash for personal coaching are you engaging a hobby coach, a part-time coach or a professional coach? - What coaching training did you complete? When? And what ongoing training do you undergo?
Ideally your coach has completed coach training with an ICF accredited training provider or better. I stress better because some executive coaching firms are top notch but don’t bother the ICF accreditation.
Ask them to walk you through the core competencies of a coach. If necessary have the checklists in front of you when you trial their services. That will totally give them the shits.
A coach worth his salt is committed to life long learning. That may mean personal development seminars, reading lots of books or engaging in philosophical conversations. Many leading coaching organisations conduct peer reviews, mentoring programs, elective training modules. - What results have you achieved?
This has to rate as the most obvious question but one that is asked too rarely. Coaches will work with you on goal achievement but the cliché about it being a journey and a destination is true. Are you likely to get on with your coach? Not ‘get it on’ but ‘get on’. Does he have a sense of humour? What is his coaching style? Will you be able to openly communicate about what could be quite personal stuff? Does he actively listen? By the way, if he doesn’t know what active listening is, move on. - Do you regard yourself as a good coach? Why?
There is wise old saying, “There is no place for modesty in marketing.” If your coach cannot convince you that they have the goods and you’re gonna get them, then reconsider. - What is the hardest thing you have done as a coach?
When you engage a coach, you are hiring someone who will “ask you to do things you won’t like to do, tell you things you won’t like to hear, so that you will achieve results you may not have achieved.”
The No. 1 quality that clients want in a coach is toughness. You don’t want a nice coach. One that is pleasant and will tippee toe around difficult issues. You want one that will call you on self-defeating behaviour, read your body language and confront you on being out of integrity. He should also insist that you do likewise. We’re only human. - Where are your boundaries?
When will reject or sack a client. A coach must know where his level of competency starts and finishes. You may find clients who need other forms of therapy or have more than mild self-defeating behaviours or addictions. It takes a good coach to know his own limitations. - How much does it cost?
It always brings a giggle. Many people can’t price their services or under-value them. Clients are sometimes more awkward about this than coaches. You’ll gauge a person’s character by how well he handles this question. It isn’t as much about the price as the conviction within which he quotes his fee.
Is coaching suitable for me?
What should I look for when choosing a coach?
What training What should I look for when choosing a coach?
Everyone calls themselves a coach? What is coaching?
What should I look for in a coach?
Balance & Sustainability
I ask that my clients complete a Wheel of Life self-assessment when we start. If you focus on changing career, getting more clients, making money, reducing stress, losing weight, finding your ideal partner or building self-esteem then I encourage you to do so in the knowledge that everything in your life is inter-related and for you to be in harmony you must have balance in your life. It is this balance between work, rest and play that make for sustainable change.
“If you want your circumstances to change, YOU must BE the change.”
My coaching model is very simple. I’ve found that there are five areas where clients may be blocked from achieving their true potential. They are:
1. Knowing what you want – having clear goals and unrestricted thinking. I encourage clients to write goals as affirmations and distinguish between End Goals and Performance Goals. It helps speed up the process if you memorise your goals because then you activate your subconscious mind. That’s where the magic happens.
2. Nurturing the self-belief that you (a) can have, and (b) deserve what you want. Once you are clear on what you want then your inner voice may speak loud and clear. In this phase I read you body language, tone of voice, and closely monitor whether your feet walk the talk. In this phase I help you nurture positive self-esteem by giving you loads and loads of acknowledgements. I follow the creed. “Catch people doing things right.”
3. Forming creative strategies to realise your goals. We can do one of two things here. You can target your goals and go and get them, or you can get really, really clear and draw them to you. The latter is what is known in metaphysics as manifestation. I do love working with clients who are open to explore the latent powers of their subconscious mind and following their intuition. The subconscious mind, left and right brain, intuition and heart centre are areas where my coaching will take you into dimensions you’ve perhaps not experienced before. The biggest and fastest growth area is the dimension of yourself that you neglect. This can be heart and feelings, the right or creative side of the brain, intuition, subconscious or super conscious mind.
4 & 5. Action & Insight. The rubber meets the road when your thoughts become actions and your actions become thoughts. At this phase you not only know your goals, you have memorised them. You write them daily and when asked you can recite them. Your body language and tone of voice convey the conviction of your self belief. You have brainstormed options for how you will achieve your goals. You’ve selected your desired strategy and implemented it. You make a commitment. You honour it. And you take action. After taking action you reflect on your insights. From your insights you commit and take further action. You are now in what coaches call the self-learning loop. My role shifts at this stage to supporting you in sticking with it, and acknowledging you. And ultimately ensuring that we celebrate your successes. Don’t underestimate the power of celebration. These rites of passage are crucial motivational factors.