The 10 Best Questions To Choose The Right Coach

Hey welcome to she coaches, coaches, I'm your host, Candy Motsek. And I'm going to help you find the clarity, confidence and courage to become the coach that you are meant to be. If you're a new coach, or if you've always wanted to be a life coach, then this is the place for you. We're going to talk all about mindset and strategies and how to, because step by step only works when you have the clarity, courage and confidence to take action. Let's get started.

Hey there, and welcome to the show. I'm back in the studio, and I am excited to record a whole bunch of solo episodes for you. Did you know that I spent a month in Mexico and we just got back. It was a wonderful trip. We rented a house and enjoyed the people, the beaches, the sun and all the nature. Plus, I think I ate tacos every single day. All right, I might have missed one day. But then I probably had an enchilada instead. And you know, those tacos and the food down there are so good. Now, before we dive in, I wanted to take a moment and share this wonderful podcast review. Here it is Kandi is the coach's coach, she is a fabulous coach. She brings her world of experience to both her coaching sessions. And to this podcast, each episode zeroes in on a topic or thought that has run through my head at some point, she lays the groundwork and then gives great insight. Candy is authentic, encouraging, and honest. I gotta say I love it. Thank you so much for the kind review. I know that it's not easy to leave a review, I know there's a whole bunch of steps and things you have to click. And so I appreciate the effort that you put in to leave it. And I'd like to ask you, you the listener a favor. If you enjoy this episode, I would so appreciate it if you shared it with a friend. So let's talk a little bit about this topic today. As a coach, the quality of your life and the quality of your coaching as a direct result of the quality of the questions that you live by. And that got me thinking about the 10 questions that you should ask both yourself and a potential coach? How like, what 10 questions could you ask to help you make the right decision to choose the right business coach or the right mentor. So let's talk about it a little bit more. We all need support, guidance, encouragement, all those things to become a coach. And I always recommend that every coach work with their own coach, and also with mentors to speed that learning curve, to minimize the overwhelm, and to have way more fun signing clients and growing your business. After all this business is your dream, right? So let's have fun with it. Let's make it as easy and effortless as we possibly can. Now, there's a ton of faces on all the social media platforms these days, each in their own way telling you that they're probably the best coach or mentor for you. But how do you know what's true, and what's not. And while they may be the best coach for someone, that person might not be you. Their style may be drastically different. They may have different values and a completely different approach to coaching and mentoring their clients. Do you want a big name? One where you are a small piece in one of their big machines? Or do you want to work more closely in a personalized setting? Or perhaps somewhere in between? I've worked with coaches who I blindly followed and they had great advertising and marketing and their social media was on point. They looked so wonderful on video and all their content. But then when I showed up in their space, we were not a good match. Often it was because what they taught their methods, their delivery. It just didn't align with who I was. It didn't align with my values. And sometimes the advertising and the content looks great. And then I discovered that behind the curtain wasn't an organized, unhelpful mess. Now granted, I learned something valuable from every single coach that I've ever worked with. But I do know that there were times when I would have benefited from being better informed from doing my homework and asking the questions so that I could evaluate for myself before I signed up. So that's what this episode is about. I've made a lot of mistakes over the years, and I have created this episode to hopefully save you from repeating any of my mistakes. So to help you, I created a list of 10 questions. Now some of the questions I want you to ask the potential coach and write down their answers. And there are other questions that you should be answering for yourself, then use your responses combined with their responses to guide you in making the best decision. Choosing to work with a coach is an investment. And it's an investment not just in money, but also in your time and energy. You want to make the best choice available for you, so that you can make progress towards living that life that you dream of. Why wait to become a paid coach, you want a solid business, one that helps you attract dream clients get paid, and do the work that you know you're meant to be doing. To make it even easier, I created a free printable workbook to help you out. Yeah, on this episode, I've got this free printable workbook, and it's a bonus just for you listening. It's got these questions. And it's also got space for you to write your reflections and answers. As you decide which coach or program is the best match for you. The workbook is going to save you time. Plus, when you download it, you won't have to take so many notes during this episode to capture all that information that I'm sharing. So often people tell me what they do is they come and listen to an episode on a certain day. They bring their notebook and then they hit pause and take notes. And then listen a little bit more hit pause and take those notes. This workbook is going to help you not have to do that, hoping to save you some time. And I just thought that would be a great little bonus. So there is a link in the Episode Notes, click the link, enter your details and download the workbook. It's as easy as that. So now let's dive into those questions. Question number one is a question for you. What do I want to achieve? That's what you're going to ask yourself? What do I want to achieve? Dream big? Start with your clarifying vision. How do you want your business to look in the future? Once you know, what's your current goal? What would you like to work on over the next three to 12 months that is going to move you towards that big dream? Do you know what you want to achieve? This is going to drive your choice of mentor and coach, you may be looking for a different coach if you're currently focused on launching your business. Or you want help learning how to attract and sign clients consistently. That might be a different coach than the one who's going to help you create your first 100,000 Or your first million through coaching. Each of these goals and visions are common for coaches. But they happen at different times. The coach that you consider will have a range of ways to help you. But you need to know that you want help with sorry, you need to know what you want help with before you can decide if the two of you are a match. Question number two, do they offer a free call to see if you're a match? Does that coach offer a free consult or discovery session? Before you invest? You want to meet with them? Get some questions answered and understand their recommendations. You'll want to arrive at that call with a shortlist of questions. So make sure to download the workbook and be ready for a good conversation. You will learn a lot when you speak with that coach before you sign up. And for sure, you'll have a much better feel for whether you think they're a match for you and your business. What stage of business are you at? Are you a newbie just starting out? Have you already got a good start? Are you scaling? What kind of markers or income and number of clients are you at? Those are all going to be questions that you're going to be talking about on that free call. Question number three, has this coach been successful helping people like you? What stage of business? Are you in? Are you brand new? Are you ready to launch? Have you had a few clients? Are you feeling kind of hit and miss about creating consistent income? Now have you worked with a whole bunch of clients and you're ready to scale to the next level? These are some of the common areas for a coaching business. Each coach has a sweet spot the therapy program and their work is designed for you want to work with someone who works with people at your level. I would recommend that you ask them this question in your consultation A coach with a track record of helping people like you usually has a list of satisfied clients reviews and recommendations, or even a page of testimonials from people that they've worked with. The coaching industry is noisy right now, a methodology is only as good as your partnership. So be clear, what's your measurement of success, and choose a coach based on results, references and connection that is connection with them as an individual. That's how we lead into question number four. So this question four is, is this coach genuine? Are they a solid professional, who's committed to their clients growth and success? So how do you know if this person is genuine or a good match? How do you know if what you're seeing is just a polished marketing campaign, or if they are an entrepreneur who is committed to helping their clients succeed? Well, there's a few ways to do this. Essentially, you're looking for a way to watch them in action. For example, you could listen to their podcast if they have one. Or listen to podcasts where they've been a guest, of course, do a Google search on them and see what comes up. And another great way to see them in action is to they offer a workshop where they actually teach or a free community building session, sort of like an open house where people can show up and ask questions. An example of this would be my Monday coaching and conversation sessions. Most Mondays, people on my email list are invited to a free group session, I often teach a small topic, and then open the floor to questions and do some laser coaching. So that is a perfect example of a way you can see a coach in action, and assess whether you feel that they're genuine. Now question number five. Does this coach challenge you? Do they inspire you? coaching, mentoring training, we do this because we want to grow, you want to reach that next level, and every level of growth is a stretch. So it's best to work with someone who inspires you and challenges you to evolve. Otherwise, why bother?