WHAT IS A COACH?
My friend Michael told me he had been ruminating about his possible need for a coach. He told me he wanted someone well connected who could provide introductions and who could help him define what he wanted to do. I think it his is a common desire.
Unfortuately, it is not a realistic one. No professional coach would offer connections and introductions to a client. The coaching relationship is changed significantly if the coach takes such an active role in the coachee’s career. Plus, the likelihood is low that a person actively engaged as a coach would also be actively engaged in your niche employment market. Instead, a good coach teaches how to make those connections.
The second part of his coaching proposition is equally flawed. If you are an executive and you don’t know what you want to do, you need to talk to someone qualified to administer personality tests and such; typically a psychologist. A coach helps you get you where you want to go and while a good coach helps you refine that goal, they do not engage in selecting the destination.
Clarification:
Life Coach: This is a very recent addition to the coaching scene and appears to be a catch all for miscellaneous aspects of ones life. The Internet features many pay for click options to be come a Life Coach which seems to attract a lot of people who have burned their bridges and are casting about for a new profession. Many focus on spirituality and aspects of life not directly related to landing a job.
Executive Coach: Ongoing coaching to perfect your executive talents. Many people like to have someone watching their back, others have challenges they are trying to overcome. A confidential relationship with an Executive Coach can make the difference between just slogging away at a job and enjoying your career. It is not unusual for a company to hire an Executive Coach on behalf of an employee to up their game or correct a problem.
Job Search Coach: Works with you to master all the resources needed to get a promotion or new job. Highly targeted and mutually agreed on goals are clear at the outset and a road map to succeed includes life skills. Look for a coach who has been an executive, does more than rewrite your resume and who understands your market niche.
Psychologist: Runs test to help you determine with where you might succeed. Psychometric/Vocational Tests are often administered by non-accredited practitioners. No matter what the battery of tests, it is the interpretation that makes the difference. Be caution of charlatans who push their favorite tests at great expense to the client, it is often the case the testing company pays them a commission.
Career coach: Help you build or repair your career. This title is often used to include job search coach but does not guarantee special expertise in that task. Be warned, anyone can call themselves a career coach. It is incumbent on you to vet career coaches very carefully. If they are graduates of an on-line career coaching program, run away.
Now for reality, the lines of all four are often blurred because, other than the psychologist, there are no governing boards, licensing agents or industry standards. Anyone can call themselves a coach.
It is up to the prospective coachee to determine their needs, vet the prospective coach and have clearly defined objectives and metrics for success. Even then, Caveat Emptor.
Themocracy