"Coaching hasn't happened unless there's been a shift in thinking and therefore behaviour".

Martin Goodyer

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A message to business, corporate and executive coaches:

If you want to meet the expectations of at least half your potential customers then make sure you have a coach yourself.


In a recent survey more than 50 working coaches and a further 50 business owners or senior executives familiar with coaching were asked two simple questions: Firstly, should a client expect their own coach to have a coach? and secondly, do you have a coach yourself?


Although only a relatively small sample the results are interesting and, at the very least, suggest that it is an area ripe for further research. Of the coaches, 46% said yes that their clients should expect them to have their own coach. 42% said that in their opinion there would be no such expectation. 12% sat on the fence and said maybe! The reality is that 64% of them actually do have their own coach, meaning of course that more than a third do not.


The consumers of coaching, or at least this sample, were split almost half and half with regard to their expectation. The majority, 54% said that they did expect a coach to have a coach.


This was not a random sample from the world of business but was targeted at people who would already be familiar with coaching, indeed 88% of the potential client respondents have a coach or had been coached in the past.


A coach wanting to get hired has at least three hurdles to clear: Firstly, to find a potential client warm to the idea of coaching. secondly; to attract the interest of that client in being coached by them. Thirdly; to seal the deal and get the business. This survey seems to suggest that a coach crossing the first hurdle, and finding a possible warm client, has at least a 50/50 chance of being credible based on whether or not they have their own coach. Or put the other way; a coach without their own coach could 'turn off' up to half the potential clients already warm to coaching.


I don't claim to have a library of all the coaching books now available but I do have more than a dozen of the most popular and widely read. I cannot find this issue addressed in any of them; there's plenty of advice on how to's , do's and dont's, but nothing on the congruency of a coach by using coaching to develop their own performance.


There also appears to be some confusion around the role of a supervisor and that of a coach. Perhaps I've got this wrong but I understand supervision to be about my performance with my clients; in other words, am I delivering the best service I can to them? My coach however has a completely different role. I rely on her to help me drive my own performance with me to a higher level; in other words, am I doing everything I want and need to do to get where I want to go?


This need not be something you pay for. It's perfectly possible to find a group of fellow coaches that also will benefit from having their own coach and then coach each other. There really isn't any reason why a coach shouldn't have on-going coaching, unless of course they don't believe it's necessary or will add value, in which case they might want to re-evaluate if coaching is something they really believe in.

Should coaches have their own coach


Survey conducted by Martin Goodyer

February 2013


Abstract

A survey was carried out with professional coaches and potential coach clients to test a hypothesis concerning the desirability of coaches to have their own coach. Two similar questions were posed to each group and answered as either for or against having a coach and the desirability of a coach having their own coach. The results were inconclusive but suggested that more potential clients expect a coach to have their own coach than coaches anticipate.


Introduction

This survey was interested in the opinions of business, corporate, executive and other specialist coaches with regard to the expectation of their potential clients. Specifically if those possible clients held an expectation about a coach having their own coach. Additionally the survey was interested in the opinions of a random group of potential coaching clients with regard to their expectations; specifically if they hold an expectation of a coach to have their own coach.


It was anticipated that a more meaningful set of data would be collected from a 'potential client' group that were already familiar with coaching, hence a random group was selected from those already 'connected' with a business coach on a business oriented social media platform. The coaches were self selected by response from an internet forum for professional coaches following a general request to participate in the survey.


The hypothesis tested was that  most professional coaches would hav etheir own coach; recognising the need for congruency; but that potential clients would not necessarily expect them to have one. According to current reports on coaching supervision the subject is receiving increasing attention within the coaching literature (Farmer, 2012); this, and the assertion that coaching is journeying toward professionalism (Grey, 2011) might make it reasonable to conclude that coaches will take a view on their own behaviour with regard to coaching and adopt a desire for congruency by demonstrating a belief in coaching by having their own coach.


Methodology

Design

This was a presentation of two questions and a request for a yes or no response.

This simplified data collection method was adopted to remove any interpretation of bias from the analysis of results.

Participants

The participant coaches were drawn from the Euro-Coaching list for coaches. This is an internet based forum populated by professional coaches.

The participant potential clients were selected at random and invited to participate in the survey; drawn from those already connected to Martin Goodyer (carrying out the survey) on Linked-In.

Materials

The survey text was as follows:

Message to Coaches:


Hi all

May I ask you ping back a quick reply within the next 24 hours just saying yes or no to the questions

A. Should a client expect their own coach to have a coach?

B. Do you have a coach?

Message to potential clients:

Hi

I hope you don't mind me asking because I'm doing some research into opinions about business coaching. Very simply; all I would like to know from you is a yes/no answer to the following 2 questions. This is genuine research and not an attempt to start a dialogue with you about coaching. I will not respond to your reply unless you specifically ask me to, nor will there be any follow up to this except for a general advisory of where to reach the published results after it is complete.

Question 1:
Do you believe for a coach to be credible and congruent that they themselves should have a coach?

Question 2:
Do you have, or have you ever had, a coach?

Please reply with either yes or no to each

Procedure

The coaches responded to a general request posted on the Euro-Coach list for coaches forum. The potential clients were privately messaged within the Linked-In site.

As the responses came in they were collected over a three day period, at which time the survey was closed.


Results

Summary of findings

52 coaches responded

Q1: Should a client expect their own coach to have a coach?

 46% replied yes.  42% replied no. 12% were unsure.

 Q2: Do you have a coach?

 64% do have their own coach and 36% do not. Please note that those who replied that they do not have a coach but do have a supervisor have been counted as NOT having a coach.

12% mentioned supervision as an alternative or supplement to having a coach. It is however noted that this responses was unprompted and is therefore cannot be taken as an indication of the percentage of coaches inclined to supervision.

57 Potential Clients responded

Question 1:
Do you believe for a coach to be credible and congruent that they themselves should have a coach?

54% replied yes. 46% replied no.


Question 2:
Do you have, or have you ever had, a coach?

88% replied yes.


Interpretations

Although only a relatively small sample the results are interesting and, at the very least, suggest that this is a topic that will benefit  from further research.


Only 46% said yes that their clients should expect them to have their own coach. This indicates that the hypothesis that coaches will interpret being coached by themselves as incongruent to be inaccurate.


42% said that in their opinion there would be no such expectation. 12% were unsure.


The reality is that 64% of them actually do have their own coach, meaning of course that more than a third do not.


The consumers of coaching, or at least this sample, were split almost half and half with regard to their expectation. The majority, 54% said that they did expect a coach to have a coach. This was not a random sample from the world of business but was targeted at people who would already be familiar with coaching, indeed 88% of the potential client respondents have a coach or had been coached in the past, therefore it may not be reflective of the wider potential client pool. It does however suggest a potentially higher degree of expectation than was anticipated.


It is recommended that further research be carried out in this area regarding the matching of providers expectations to those of users of coaching if it is to be perceived as a professional service.



References:


Farmer, Sam; How does a coach know they have found the right supervisor, Coaching: An international Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, Vol 5 N0 1, March 2012, 37-42


Gray, David; Journeys towards the professionalisation of coaching: dilemmas. dialogues and decisions along the global pathway. Coaching: An international Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, Vol 4 N0 1, March 2011, 4-19




Martin Goodyer survey: 'Should Coaches have their own Coach'

January 2013

Coaching