Risky Business

Everything we do carries an element of risk, but are you a risk-taker?

Day one of the WBECS (world business and executive coaching summit) and some profound hit me today straight out of the bag. It was the first of 3 seminars I attended and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. It comes down to risk and how much risk are we willing to take.

As a coach, I know my own value and the value I bring to other people and on a constant basis, I ask clients to put their faith in me. I preceded this by bringing value in daily content, through conversations and by showing up as my authentic self. But there is the element of risk that I have never really given much thought to until today.

Everything we do in life carries some risk. It has to as we can never fully control the outcome when external factors are involved. As a coach, I am an external factor in someone's life.

So how do we minimise the risk of hiring a coach?

First of all, we need to do due diligence. When someone shows up each day they leave a trail behind them. You can go through their social media and find their thoughts and if they align with yours and where you want to be headed.

Secondly, we can have conversations. If a coach is not willing to have 'free' conversations and bring you value through these then they are not worth employing. If all they are doing is wanting to sign on the dotted line as fast as possible then chances are they haven't done the work behind the scenes. they are just looking for a fast buck and then figure out everything else as they go. this might work for certain industries but not coaching.

Thirdly is to see if they offer a 'cheaper' short time package. this can be used as a trial by you to see if they can bring you value in a short space of time. If they can you can only imagine what they can do in the long term. I and many other coaches offer a free discovery call. This should seek to provide value to you too but it is also critical to understand if you are a good fit for each other.

There are other things you can do to safeguard your investment but these 3 steps are a good place to start.

But there is still a risk involved and that is down to you, the client, to take that risk or not.

Coaching is an investment not a gamble and should be treated as such. Think about all the other investments you made in your life including your career. You have done your homework on there, well at least I hope you would.

So if you are looking for a coach then ask you sell who much risk are you willing to take? Risk involves being out of your comfort zone and that is where the growth is.