12: What Coach Archetype Fits You?

This episode is a creative exploration of how personality can affect your choice of coaching niche. It's part of Season 2 - Smart and Profitable Coaching Niches.When I work with coaches to help them determine their niche, I ask a lot of questions to uncover clues that, when strung together, point us to natural possibilities for them.I've been playing with this idea for years — that coaches often have a natural inclination that influences how they will build and grow their business. And that can influence what type of audience and niche will fit them best.This is not usually a conscious choice, but rather a subconscious leaning. I've decided to call these archetypes.I'll explain those 5 major archetypes and how they emerge to influence the direction of a coaching business. They are:TeacherHealerPure CoachIconCEOOne of them might be a clue for you. A few caveats here ... Not every coach will have one clear archetype. You might not relate to any of these archetypes. After all, they come out of my experience only.And for some people this archetype isn't yet awakened until they launch their business and something blooms within them.I'll use myself as an example.I had no idea when I decided to become a coach that 3 years later I'd be developing my own curriculum and teaching others how to coach. I didn't know that I'd launch a new and specific business 12 years ago to help coaches choose a smart niche and launch with confidence. I didn't intend any of that.Meet the TEACHER ARCHETYPEIf you fit the Teacher Archetype then you have a strong leaning towards teaching. And it's born out of your own ideas, not someone else's.That's a key distinction.It might happen like this ...You struggle mightily with something — in my case it was trying to figure out what my own coaching niche is — and your sense of determination kicks in full force. You decide that you're going to study this problem from all sides.It becomes a bit of an obsession.  You fall on your face a few times but it doesn't matter because you're like a dog after a bone. You're going to figure this out.And this DRIVE TO SOLVE is a big part of the teacher archetype.At first, you're not thinking about helping others with this problem. You simply want to solve it for yourself.But at some point, when your ideas start to have a positive affect on you ... you realize that you're not the only one with this very difficult challenge.And you begin to look at things from a meta-level. While transforming yourself you're also continuing to study the problem and develop a system or a model.And maybe, unbeknownst to you, you have a gift for breaking complex things down into steps. And so you write them down.It's often the way you respond to challenges.Over time you perfect the system. And then you realize this could help others. So you create a program, you write the workbook, you put it online or gather together people who have the same problem as you. You walk them through the actions that will solve their problem.That's the teacher archetype.1. It starts with a personal journey of transformation around a key problem.2. From sheer grit and your own experiential study, YOU create the solution.3. Then you offer it to others.Often, but not always, the services you offer will be ... Read more about the Archetypes here.