How to get the most from your coaching dollar AKA squeezing the value out of the coaching orange
It’s that time of year when one season is changing into the next, and the idea of buckling down to read the latest self-help book or getting on the phone with your coach seems a little less exciting that heading outside, spending time with friends, and actually smelling some flowers!
But what if I said that:
Contrary to popular belief, coaching doesn’t have to look any one way, which means you can be a rebel and ask for a shift of any kind to adapt to your need or mood?
For example, you might:
- Speed up or slow down the time between sessions.
Sure, weekly 1-on-1 calls is typical, but if slower is better because each session is intense, speak out! If you’re in some exciting whitewater, there’s also no reason to delay. Book in twice a week so you can really surf that chaos!
- Find out if there’s support to be had in addition to calls.
You’re not a cookie-cutter human, and not everything is ready to talk about. Could you ‘wonder out loud,’ ask for an introduction to someone important, get permission to be emotional, work out an ongoing negotiation or even toss rough drafts of things back and forth – all with your coach? Why yes, this is a perfect example of high-ROI coaching that’s possible depending on how your coach makes themself available. (Hint: can’t hurt to ask.)
Sometimes just a little tweak the the process and format of your coaching can make a big difference to how you experience value. Get that right and a lot of hidden ROI can surface. But what about the actual content of your coaching sessions?
Here’s where the real adventure can begin. Sure, coaching can be about goals, and reaching them is fun.
But is there more that can be had out of a great coaching relationship? In a word: abso-toot-ly. Perhaps one of these tickles your fancy, particularly if you feel like things are already going quite well:
1. Options
What part of your life have you been doing the same for a long time? Even though it might not seem like a rut exactly, if you knew you could do things differently, would that be refreshing, like a new colour paint in a favourite room is a boost of energy?
Next coaching session, use some time to imagine. Together with your coach, break one of the boxes you’re living in and look for some fresh possibilities.
2. Emotional care
A lot of coaching can be very driven, suited especially for ambitious types and go-for-the-gold seasons in your life. But look, even the most high-achieving person can access more heart if they/we can tap into feeling deeply cared for. Controversial opinion: too many coaches, and too many clients think coaching can’t sound tender, or warm! Not true, mon chou.
Next coaching session, allow yourself to confess you could use some emotional care. “You know, I’ve been feeling vulnerable and could use some validation and love in this safe container.”
3. Language
Without knowing it, clients of coaching often come to session with calcified language. Hint: calcified language is calcified thinking, plain and simple. These clients are telling a story with certain words, and those words have become like bars in their own jail! Someone might come to me saying:
”I’m not reaching my revenue goals. I want help creating new offers – can you help me figure out my calendar and my price points?” When really the language that would be most helpful is “I’m not reaching my revenue goals. I have a marketing problem. I have an expectation problem. I’m hiding behind a pricing question.”
Or, a client might say: ”My spouse constantly creates ABC problems and they aren’t listening to me.” When the much more useful language really wants to be: “I don’t feel listened to in my life. I have not felt listened to for a long time.”
Next coaching session, ask your coach to listen for the language that is imprisoning you and commit to getting to the nuances, to better language, together.
There are many more ways to get more juice out of the coaching orange
If you feel up for a refresh in the way you approach how you use your coaching investment, at basic, give something new a try (almost anything can be an entry point):
- Are your coaching sessions often serious or intense? Try to lighten them up. How loudly might you laugh in your next session because life is sublimely strange sometimes?
- Do you rush through things trying to cover a whole bunch of topics at once? Take a few minutes to sort, and prioritise at the beginning of the call. (Yes, your coach should be able to help you with this!) Together, decide if just one of these topics would get at the source of your angst.
- Ask yourself ‘if I were to cancel my coaching session, what would I immediately miss being able to ask?’ or ‘if I were to not have a coach right now, where would I become uncertain?’
Finally, create a process for after your sessions. In my view, this is where the majority of coaching mojo gets lost, like water in a bucket with no bottom.
How do you feel after the session? What do those feelings point to that’s worth taking note of? What feelings do you want more of, less of, the same of?
What’s the most confronting thing that came up in session? Capture it physically, by which I mean go for a walk or drive right after, do some doodling, confess it to a friend, or at the very least write it in capital letters where-ever you’re keeping coaching notes.
If you have physical sensations after session, these are part of what your coach and you have created together too. Nap, so your dreamscape can integrate this new territory. Do something pleasurable to create a beautiful new sensory association. Move your body like an etch-a-sketch, shed what wants to be shed, thoroughly.
Above all else, leave some room after each session and refrain from having another call or commitment immediately after when possible.
My hope is that with a new framework about your coaching investments, you can experience a palpable upshift in your experience of coaching
Each call can be a sacred moment, even if it’s addressing practical things.
The sessions you have in your package can be like gems you string on a necklace you make just for you.
Jointly with your coach, you are sculpting a masterpiece and that masterpiece is you.
Are you unsure if you have the budget to get coaching support for what you care about in your unconventional and quietly rebellious life? I’m listening.
I’m going to be candid (as I try to be consistently, so #JustSaying.) I’m often told “I don’t think I can afford to coach with you, Andrea” and while I acknowledge that as a reasonable concern, I’m here to say people are often surprised by what’s possible within their budget. So if this has been you, please write to inquire and we can kindly and with respect, sort things out. When coaching is on point, it doesn’t have to mean a long engagement, for starters.
And as author of the above, you would be 100% correct if you assume I am ALL about delivering high-ROI coaching that wows you on each and every call.
Plus, the opportunity to learn how to coach yourself — a class I teach based on all the 1-on-1 coaching juice I could squeeze into 5 vivacious classes — is now right around the corner, starting May 13.
As of this writing, there are still some spots available at the early registration rate, which I’m told is remarkably reasonable, particularly with the 1-on-1 spot coaching you receive. I’ve also been able to create two times to pick from so you can sort out which is best for learning purposes.
But perhaps the thing that lights my heart up most is the fact that students from the past 3 cycles have called this class a massive boon to their self-care. In a wild and wooly time in human history, this makes me very glad, because we’ve all been going through a lot.
Imagine, a class that teaches you to be a great high-ROI coach for yourself, helps you be a better support to those around you so you can earn more, even, AND is like a 5-week self-care retreat?! I’m deeply touched and I hope you will >>>Read more info here and register soon if it’s for you. I look forward to getting our hearts aligned.
Andrea made it so relevant to each of us with drop in practice sessions and helping us customize questions specifically for ourselves. Plus her humor made class so much fun! Best self care investment I’ve made in a long time.”
– Jude Eastman
“The value I’ve received from being in Andrea’s world far exceeds what I could have ever imagined.
The business conversations she stimulates are light years beyond what anyone else is talking about. Cutting edge advice. Logical, innovative and intuitive ways to address business challenges are presented in a thoughtful manner that feels right. What Andrea talks about is beyond the basics. Yet, if someone needs basics, she presents the information in a way that everyone benefits.
Andrea knows what to say during difficult business conversations because she’s experience them. The most stressful part of being in business – potential conflict with another person – is elegantly addressed. What I also love is the non-hypey approach. Every piece of communication is presented in a way that adds value.”
– Bonita Richter, MBA
Photo credit from top to bottom: Louis Hansel and Photo by S O C I A L . C U T on Unsplash