I want to be a coach too!
Are we all coaches? I perform my job as a Career Coach with so much professionalism and passion that clients – especially women – often say they’d like to do the same job.
I have to remind them that I studied for 2 years and have worked for 15 years on more than 600 cases… This isn’t a profession you can pick up after a week-long course and simply blag your way through it… Just as with skiing, simply putting on new skis won’t make you into talented professionals like Federica Brignone or Sofia Goggia in a week. Agility and expertise come with hard work, training and commitment. Years!
But if you take a look around and start to explore the subject of coaching or even begin working as a coach, you’ll soon see that the whole world seems to be made of coaches: from football coaches to coaches for your hair (beliece it or not there was an ad last year that surprised a number of professional coaches by claiming that a shampoo was the best “hair coach”).
A few months ago I worked with a person, Lucia, who continually told me about her disillusionment with the corporate world – particularly the American version thereof – which is highly competitive, and her desire to do something good for individuals and focus on all facets of a person, just like a coach does - and I do myself, even if my focus is on careers, businesses, jobs…
What did we do with Lucia? How to explore a new market.
Since Lucia was starting from scratch, I suggested some books on coaching and gave her some contacts for schools and professionals so she could get a better idea and maybe arrange an interview.
I focused on Milan, where we both live, and where she would like to work. Also, as far as Italy is concerned, Milan is the hub for “new” professions.
I collected a series of articles from other countries, mainly the US, looking at the coaching sector to explore where the market is heading. In particular I found a very “crude” article which I suggest everyone should read “The Business Coaching Industry is Going to Implode. Here’s how to Survive” by Amanda Abella.
Considering that Lucia is still young and wants to earn a lot of money, I suggested she look for a job based on her past experiences whilst carving out some time to progressively create a new path in coaching. For example, by starting to view current clients as future potential clients.
Don’t forget about studying! Coaching is a subject matter you learn by studying and practising, so before you can operate professionally on the market, you’ll need to do a serious course. There is now a vast offer, which is in part positive, but it means you’ll need to carefully choose your course, instructors, programme and your expectations. After meeting the people I suggested, Lucia did her own research and chose a course which she is now completing and is also busy practising.
In a couple of years, if she is still not enjoying her job, Lucia will have a very good option B that will allow her to operate with the right level of expertise fairly quickly.
GoodGoing!
The professionals at GoodGoing! can support you in identifying your own path based on your specific requirements and position, both professionally and personally. A one-size-fits-all solution is quick - sometimes even expensive – but, unfortunately, often disappointing.
