Coaching Information

Whats Up With All These Coaches?


If you are anything like me, you may have noticed a tremendous increase in the number of coaches that have appeared recently. Traditionally, coaches existed primarily in the world of sports, but you could also find voice, acting and singing coaches.

Today however, this has all changed. Lifestyle, relationship, personal development, business, soul, life, leadership, executive, career and countless other types of coaching are now widely available. So what can these coaches do for us?

The dictionary defines the term "coach" as "someone who instructs or trains others". From this definition, at least we can draw a potential connection between the coaching profession and ourselves.

So how do you know if you need a coach? Basically, if there are areas of your life which you would like to improve or enhance, the opportunity exists to employ a coach.

The Dream Team

In everyday life, we all employ "specialists" to perform various functions because we have neither the skills nor knowledge to do the job. You wouldn't consider attempting to fill a tooth if you had a toothache - you would go to your dentist. Would you complete your own tax return if your objective was to minimize tax exposure - no, you would visit an accountant. If you were feeling ill, you wouldn't (or at least shouldn't) self-medicate - you would contact your doctor. It all comes down to the fact that these professionals have skills and knowledge that provide faster, better, safer and more satisfying results than you could possibly achieve on your own.

I refer to this group of people as a "Dream Team" - a group of professionals to help you achieve that which you want - in the above-mentioned cases, a nice smile, more disposable income and good health.

So why stop there? If there are other areas that you want to change, the same principle applies. If you have a desire to improve your levels of health & fitness, you could join a gym. The problem is that the novelty quickly wears off and, unless you are incredibly disciplined, it is difficult to keep going on your own. There is also the dilemma of not knowing which equipment to use or which exercises to do. In fact, a real issue is not having specific goals at all which will leave you lost. The result? You stop going to the gym and your membership fee is wasted. Even worse, you will feel like a failure which in turn will lower your levels of self-esteem, negatively impacting many areas of your life.

The solution? Get yourself a personal trainer! Make this person part of your Dream Team. Your trainer (or coach) will help you define your goals, provide a specific program to follow and will also give you moral support. This approach offers a much higher likelihood of accomplishing your goals in this area at a much faster rate.

Other areas that most of us want to improve include key relationships, levels of success or financial freedom. Time management and career counseling are other potential areas for improvement.

The problem is most of us don't know how to improve or make things better in these areas. We have our own ways of handling things, along with the inherent issues - which of course, has us where we are now! We all know that the definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting different results!

The solution of course, is to change your approach, and that could mean finding someone that can help you in the specific area you want to improve - in other words, a coach, to become part of your Dream Team.

But Whom Do I Choose?

As in all professions, it is a fact that not all coaches are created equal! In order to select a coach, I would recommend spending some time to identify your objectives, create some "interview" questions for potential coaches, define your budget and do some research to compile a list of potential candidates. There are a number of coaching organizations and associations on the web, that have lists of their coaches names, complete with biographies, qualifications and areas of expertise.

When interviewing your prospective coach, ask yourself how comfortable you would feel working with the person. Are they someone to whom you would be comfortable sharing personal information? Do you like them? Do they seem to have an action plan and strategy process that will help you achieve your goals? What is their fee and what can you expect for that level of investment? Can you work with them? Is their interest and commitment mainly around helping you or collecting their fees? Interview 3 - 5 candidates. Once you are comfortable, make a selection and get started! You will quickly be on the road to achieving your goals.

Please note one thing; hiring a coach, to help you improve the various areas of your life, requires commitment! The process is likely to take several months and you must be prepared to "do the work" that goes along with affecting change in your life. If you are not fully committed to the process, the result will be frustration (for both of you) and failure, not to mention a bunch of money spent on nothing! Affecting meaningful change will take time. Old habits will need to be broken and new, supportive habits created. It took you years to get where you are today, so it is unreasonable to expect that accomplishment of your goals will occur in just a few weeks!

Coaches are not miracle workers; they cannot do the work for you or wave a magic wand to make things easy. What your coach can do is help you to define what it is specifically that you want, work with you to develop strategic and tactical plans of action, provide guidance and moral support in your quest and keep you accountable for following the plan.

With commitment, dedication and a good coach, you will be amazed at what you can accomplish!

About the Author:

Tony Davies is a Business Consultant as well as a Business & Personal Coach. He is an expert in the areas of Leadership and Personal Development and in integrating these two, seemingly different, disciplines. Tony is successful at this as the result of personal experience - a solid business background combined with a passion, and gift, for personal development and helping others.

To find out how Tony can help you to live your best life, check out his website at http://www.momentumbusiness.ca, and contact him directly.


MORE RESOURCES:

Hartford Courant

Boston College fires Coach Jeff Jagodzinski
Los Angeles Times, CA - Jan 7, 2009
He is fired days after he was warned of dismissal if he interviewed for the coaching job with the New York Jets. Associated Press Boston College fired Jeff ...
Mark Herzlich stays for next Boston College coach Boston Herald
COLLEGE FOOTBALL Boston College fires coach San Francisco Chronicle
BC coach fired for interviewing with Jets Newsday
Houston Chronicle - The Virginian-Pilot
all 1,193 news articles


Houston Chronicle

Ex-Lions coach meets with Texans about job
Houston Chronicle, United States - 1 hour ago
Former Detroit Lions head coach Ron Marinelli is the first coach to interview for one of the vacant defensive positions on the Texans’ staff. ...
Rod Marinelli interviews with Houston Texans Los Angeles Times
Marinelli talking with Houston; Frazier visiting Lions; How about ... Detroit Free Press
Marinelli, Texans talk DetNews.com
MyFox Houston - Examiner.com
all 149 news articles


Boston Globe

Browns name Mangini coach
Boston Globe, United States - 23 hours ago
As coach of the Browns, Eric Mangini will probably have a say in the hiring of team's next GM. (Bill kostroun/Associated Press) By Christopher L. Gasper If ...
Mangini returns to roots of coaching career Washington Times
NFL | Eric Mangini to coach Browns Seattle Times
NFL REPORT: Report: Mangini gets coaching job with Cleveland Atlanta Journal Constitution
MSNBC - Bleacher Report
all 1,532 news articles


Los Angeles Times

USC coaching carousel moves at a gentle pace
Los Angeles Times, CA - 10 hours ago
"There shall be a limit of one head coach, nine assistant coaches and two graduate assistant coaches." I'm pretty sure Pete Carroll has the head coaching ...
Seto promoted to USC's defensive coordinator The Associated Press
USC makes offensive coaching adjustments CNN
Seto Named Defensive Coordinator TheBootleg.com
San Gabriel Valley Tribune - Press-Enterprise
all 171 news articles


Former Broncos star has ideal candidate for coach
The Associated Press - 3 hours ago
DENVER (AP) — Bill Romanowski has the perfect coaching candidate in mind for the Denver Broncos, a dark horse, somebody out of the blue who's on nobody's ...


Washington Post

Seventh candidate interviews for Broncos vacancy
The Associated Press - 8 hours ago
(AP) — Team owner Pat Bowlen wrapped up his first round of interviews for the Denver Broncos' head coaching vacancy Thursday when he met with Miami Dolphins ...
NFL coaching chase DetNews.com
Bowles 7th candidate for Broncos head coach position 9NEWS.com
NFL notes: Favre will wait on decision to play Houston Chronicle
Rocky Mountain News - Kansas City Star
all 485 news articles


Turner Won't Take the Last Laugh
Washington Post, United States - 2 hours ago
"Game day, in the playoffs, when it's turned up a notch big-time, there are critical, critical [coaching] decisions that must be made," Smith said before ...
Line of Scrimmage: Divisional Round - Bolts' Turner Deserves Praise Sports Network
Schottenheimer and Smith Preferred Non-Verbal Communication - NFL ... FanHouse
all 59 news articles


Bleacher Report

Thursday's coaching update
San Francisco Chronicle,  USA - 11 hours ago
Raiders interim coach Tom Cable is 44 years old. Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride is 57 and former Giants head coach Jim Fassel is 59. ...
Cable makes case for Raiders coaching job SportingNews.com
More coaching rumors... Sacramento Bee
The dismantling of the coaching staff begins Silver and Black report
San Jose Mercury News - Silver and Black Pride
all 33 news articles


Houston Chronicle

High School Notebook: Magnolia coach to be honored
Houston Chronicle, United States - 1 hour ago
The banquet is part of the THSBCA’s 38th coaching convention, which concludes Saturday. Baseball Hall of Famer Joe Morgan is tonight’s speaker. ...
Magnolia baseball coach awaits statewide honor Houston Chronicle
all 4 news articles


National Post

Rathman rejoins 49ers as RBs coach
The Associated Press - Jan 7, 2009
(AP) — Tom Rathman agreed to return to the San Francisco 49ers' coaching staff Wednesday night as their running backs coach. ...
49ers name Rathman running backs coach National Post
Rathman returns to 49ers as RBs coach SF Illustrated
Candid Cam: Rathman leaves Raiders for 49ers, deserves bigger role Berryessa Sun
Santa Rosa Press Democrat - News10.net
all 147 news articles

Coaching - Google News

home | site map
© 2006