IF you want to be a career coach, it seems logical that you need career coach training. But, does that career coach training automatically make you a good coach? Could that coach training actually be worthless and a waste of good money?
Career Coach Training is Worthless
Career coaching requires special skills, knowledge, and character traits, just like any coaching niche or segment of the industry. You learn the knowledge and skills in a coaching program…as long as the program is worth the money you paid (some aren’t!). But, once you’ve completed that training, does this make you an award-winning coach?
Not exactly.
The character traits are yours and are part of your personality, and only some of them can be learned in training. Do you possess a strong work ethic? Do you have a sincere desire to help others? Do you have far-reaching feelings of empathy and sympathy for people? These traits can’t be taught in a classroom setting, or learned from a book, DVD, or through some online video course. If you don’t have them, all the career coach training in the world just might be worthless.
Career Coach Training Might be Worth Something After All
Are you a good listener? Do you have the ability to also ask the right questions? Do you have a manner that makes people comfortable? Though these skills are often innate, they can be learned with the right training and mentor coaching.
With good coach training, you can learn to be an active listener, learn to process feedback, and acquire the skills needed to formulate powerful questions. Yes, the right training can enhance your pertinent personality traits, and also help you acquire and master the skills needed to be an effective coach.
If You Build it They Will Come
A coach can be built, but only if there is a foundation first. That foundation rests on your all-important character traits – strong work ethic, feelings of empathy, a strong desire to help people, etc. The foundation must be there or training will be worthless. You just can’t fake being a caring coach. You won’t get too far or make much money by faking it!
With that foundation, your career coaching training can help build the rest of it – from an individual with the desire and a few of the traits necessary to become a coach to an actual, working coach with clients coming to the door, money in hand.
Now – you can probably guess where this is going. Yes – the title of this piece was ironic. Yes, it was a rhetorical question – at least it was for coaches who have gone through training and become successful in the industry.
No – career coach training is not worthless. In fact, it is downright necessary to the building of a effective and successful career coach who helps clients reach their goals and finds outcomes for their issues. That’s why it is important to find an accredited and respected coaching program and get the right training.Though anyone can hang out a shingle and call themselves a coach, good coach training helps to build a good coach.
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Fred Philips
Business Coach
Writing Team, Coaches Training Blog Community
I am one with the author when he says that what is primarily important to becoming a coach is the foundation. This means your innate character traits like the desire to help people, a strong work ethic,etc. which cannot be learned through training should already be in you. Training can enhance and build on the foundation, but it cannot create.
Training is a necessary tool to become a successful coach. Thru training skills are developed but what you are as a person is more important. Point well emphasized.