How To Find The Right Coach For YOU

This is me—and beside me is one of the most influential people in my life, Kim Leischner. She was my very first coach, and now she's a trusted advisor, and my ICF mentor coach who has shaped not just my career, but my life.

Thirteen years ago, my life was quietly coming undone. On the outside, I was holding it together, but inside I was exhausted, uncertain, and feeling really lost.

One day, during an ordinary work meeting I barely had the energy to attend, a woman I had never met sat down beside me, smiled, and said, “Hi, I’m Kim. I’m new here.”

We struck up a conversation. I asked her what she did, expecting a typical answer—consulting, HR, something corporate. Instead, she said, “I’m a life coach—and I teach coaching.”

At the time, I didn’t even know what a life coach was. I had never heard the term before, and yet something in me responded instantly. A voice inside said, You need this woman in your life!

That moment turned out to be a threshold in my life. I didn’t know it then, but it was the beginning of a profound chapter of healing, growth, and rebuilding. Hiring Kim as my coach became one of the most pivotal decisions of my life, and her guidance helped lay the foundation for the work I do today.

Not everyone will be as fortunate as I was in that situation - my coach literally sat down next to me and introduced herself.

So how do you find a great coach to work with who feels aligned and right for you? 

These days the market is littered with people who are calling themselves coaches and it’s hard how to know how to pick a professional coach who you can trust with the most important thing - creating the life you want. Let's start with a checklist:

• Your coach should be able to prove to you that they have done at least a 65 hour coach training course - not a weekend retreat course, or an online couple of hours, but months of training, reflecting, learning and practice.

  
  

• Your coach should have at least 50 hours of coaching in their logbook. The craft of coaching is in understanding the science, the theory and the technique and being able to put it into practice in a way that flows with you, the client. Coaching is a complex set of skills, woven together in a unique way for every session and every client. It takes a lifetime to master and you want someone who has put hours into practice before they see you as a paid client.

  
  

• Ask if your coach has an International Coach Federation certification, the level one certification is Associate Certified Coach (100 hours of coaching logged), the level two is Professional Coach (500 hours of coaching logged) and level three is Master Certified Coach (2500+ hours of coaching logged). The International Coach Federation (ICF) is the world’s largest professional organization for coaches. It sets the global standards, ethics, and credentials for professional coaching.

  
  

• Your coach should not be offering you advice, or telling you what to do. Mentors and consultants are paid to tell you what to do - coaches listen to you, ask good questions and make objective observations so you can explore your own aligned and authentic answers.

  
  

• Make sure to interview a few coaches. Discovery calls are usually 30 minutes, and free, and it's a time to see if you and your potential coach are a good fit. Go to the discovery call with a list of questions that are important to you and let them tell you about their training, experience, how my they charge and how often you'll meet. Listen to your gut - does this person feel competent and sure in their skill? Are they aligned to what you want out of the relationship?

  
  

• Go to their website and LinkedIn and see what they post about, what others are saying about them and if their experience matches with your expectations. What are their testimonials on their website saying about them?

  
  

• Ask your friends and colleagues for referrals, what coaches have had a big impact on them?

  
  

• Make sure the coach you pick has training, experience and expertise in coaching. They don't need industry specific skills training to match yours - if you're in engineering and you're looking for a good coach, your coach doesn't have to have an engineering background - they just need to be well trained in the fundamental coaching skills: listening, curiousity, acknowledgement, observations and not giving advice.

Hiring a coach is life changing. Transformative. Coaches create space for you to create the life you truly want to live, the leadership style you really want, the team that communicates well and has a positive culture. It's not to be taken lightly. Ask the important questions you have to find the best match for you.