How to Fast-Track Your Practice (the 'Mentor Coach') Body of
Article When I was starting out as a coach I looked around for
the leading coach in Australia (and chose Christine McDougall).
For my next coach I called the President of the ICF in the US
(Marcia Reynolds). I believe this track is appropriate for high
flyers - those going for big achievements. If you truly believe
coaching is valuable, it's just common sense to have your own
coach. Choose the right coach for you, and it will definitely
fast track your practice. In this article I'll share a few tips
to help you choose the right coach for you. After all, it can be
a sizeable investment....let's make it pay off! You're after a
coach who has something you want. Are they a well paid
professional speaker? Do they have forty clients? Are they in
the corporate market? Do they LOVE their life? Are they working
in your dream niche? Do they own a seaside home? Ar they hugely
visible in the media? Are they a wiz at the internet and
technology (cough, cough)? Dream the kind of practice you
want, and find someone who has it. Ideally, you're also looking
for someone with experience in getting new coaches started. They
may have what you want, but there's no guarantee they can
impart/teach what they know. Anything from US$300 to $500 p.m.
is reasonable providing they can demonstrate results and have
testimonials. Searching You can do a search for "mentor coach"
at any internet search engine e.g. www.google.com You might try
the coach referral service at www.coachfederation.org - which
allows you to limit your search to the coaches who offer mentor
coaching (note - this does not mean they have experience in
this). You can search for a CoachU certified mentor coach at
www.findacoach.com. Questions to Ask Most coaches are willing to
answer some of your questions, and even do a fr'ee trial session
before you sign on. Some good questions to ask are: 1.How long
have you been coaching? 2.What training have you had? 3.How many
coaches have you/are you currently mentoring? 4.What kind of
results have your mentorees had? 5.Can you provide email
addresses of a couple of coaches you've worked with? 6.Could you
please provide details of your practice? (Fees, # clients,
different revenue streams) 7.What do you love about your
practice? 8.What's great about your life? Check Them Out Lastly,
you want to feel comfortable with this person. Interviewing or
trialing one to three coaches should be sufficient. They no
longer have to be in your country - just make sure if they're
overseas that they are willing to cover the cost of phone calls,
or factor this into your monthly fee. Be aware they may not be
willing to do a fr'ee session with you if you are doing this
with a number of coaches. (I know I don't like to - I prefer
people do their research on the net first, even talk to other
coaches first, and ask me for a chat only once they're pretty
sure they want to work with me). Investment If you're concerned
about the investment, consider what your return on that monthly
investment might be. In most cases, you only need 2-4 paying
clients to cover the cost of your mentor coach. And if your
coach can't increase help you increase your client list by MORE
than 2-4, something's missing! It can be very empowering to hire
a mentor coach, and set a goal of bringing in enough coaching
income to cover the cost of your own coach by a particular date.
Remember, you don't need a mentor coach. No-one NEEDS a coach.
It's just a faster, more fun, and often cost-effective road with
one.
By David Wood and Geoff Grist I encourage you to share,
replicate or forward this article as long as the author's links
and copyright information are kept intact. David's Bio
David Wood is a Certified Life Coach. He helps coaches,
consultants, speakers and trainers to build their businesses via
his popular eBook http://10SuperCoaches.com and his audio eBook
at http://www.FirstFiftyClients.com. Get his new Free Download
'50 Power Questions' and popular monthly eZine for clients at
coaches (now over 15,000 subscribers) at:
http://www.solutionbox.com/freedownload.htm
Link to website Web site: www.life-coaching-resource.com
Copyright information Copyright 2004 SolutionBox' and Life
Coaching Resource.com
About the author:
David Wood is a Certified Life Coach. He helps coaches,
consultants, speakers and trainers to build their businesses via
his popular ebook at http://10SuperCoaches.com and his audio
ebook at http://www.FirstFiftyClients.com. Get his new Free
Download '50 Power Questions' and popular monthly ezine for
clients and coaches (now over 15,000 subscribers) at:
http://www.solutionbox.com/freedownload.htm
Author: David Wood