Do you need a coach?

Discover seven situations when working with a coach can help

What do elite athletes and successful business leaders have in common? They all regularly work with a coach. In fact, some work with more than one.

Once considered something only for 'high performers', coaching is now a vital resource for anyone navigating a demanding role. But what exactly is coaching, and when would it benefit you?

In this article you'll learn what coaching is, when it can help and some pointers on how to get started with a coach.

What is coaching?

Coaching is an outcome focused conversation designed to help you create change. I describe it like a journey we'll take together.

You're the driver. You choose our destination - the outcome you're seeking from our time together.

As your coach, I offer thinking frameworks, observations and questions to move you forward towards our objective.

Questions are key - they unlock issues, create clarity and surface the knowledge you already have about the topic.

7 signs coaching could benefit you

Coaching can be helpful in different ways, depending on whether someone needs support to work more sustainably, space to reflect or help to recover.

1.Feeling stuck

Finding it hard to get started? Tried lots of things and nothing seems to change? Feel like you're spinning your wheels. A coach will help you unpick what’s keeping you stuck, explore ways to create momentum and identify what might work best for you.

2.Struggling to focus and get work done

Do you feel chased by your to-do list? Do you know you could be more productive—but can’t seem to get there? When your day feels like it’s running you, a coach can help you optimise your schedule to match your energy and build systems needed to feel calm, capable, and in control.

3.Feeling anxious or stressed

If you're losing sleep, feeling irritable or overly emotional, it's a signal that load is exceeding capacity. Coaching helps you develop strategies to cope with stress and give you ways to reduce the stressors themselves.

4.Finding work a chore

Are you going through the motions and feeling uninspired? Has the dream job become a nightmare? If you're dragging yourself into work, a coach can help you understand what's lacking for you and what would help you feel more fulfilled.

5.Lacking direction or purpose

Do you have a sense that something is missing? When days blend into each other, a coach can help you discover what’s truly important to you, developing a set of principles or practices to live a life that feels authentic to you.

6.Feeling unsettled by change

Whether it's a new role, redundancy, or retirement, change is demanding. A coach helps you identify the obstacles and what you specifically need to put in place to succeed.

7.Feeling flat, exhausted or cynical

If you're tired at the start of a working day, struggling to do even simple tasks and have lost your sense of self, you might be experiencing burnout. A burnout recovery coach will help you restore balance and find the 'you' that got lost in all the doing.

How to find the right coach

As coaches tend to work with particular roles (leaders, entrepreneurs), sectors (education, environment) or subject matters (stress, business, work) they know about, start by finding someone who has a relevant background.

A way to do this is to ask friends and coworkers if they know anyone and/or look on coaching directories like the Association for Coaching members directory.

Next, decide if you could partner with them.

Most coaches offer a Discovery or Chemistry Call. Grab it! Use that time to see if you feel comfortable sharing your thoughts with them and ask about their coaching approach.

There should be no pressure for you to sign up to coaching during the call - just two people exploring if they can work work together.

Bottom line

If you're feeling stuck, stressed or struggling with something, working with a coach could help.

Nowhere else in our lives do we get the chance to think with someone whose agenda is only what we want for ourselves and whose role is to help you get it.

Take care of you.

As a member of the Association for Coaching and an accredited health coach with the EMCC, I can coach you on all the issues mentioned in this post.

Wondering what it would be like to work with me? Let's have a chat. Book a no-obligation exploratory call with me here

During the call we'll discuss what you need, how I might help and any questions you have. No pressure, no strings. Just two people having a chat.