132: Why Coaches Need to Be Coachable

This episode is serious. Find the show notes at prosperouscoach.com/132.I totally get the attraction to become a coach. Many who get the training and launch a coaching business had been coaching for years without even knowing it.That’s why I encourage my clients to not think of themselves as new coaches.In my last job before launching my coaching business, my colleagues used to seek me out. They wanted to be heard, reassured and sometimes brainstorm. They knew I’d be a sounding board for them.It got to be that sometimes I couldn’t get my work done and I joked about putting up a sign on my door that said The Doctor Is NOT in. But in my heart I knew those types of conversations were thrilling to me.Well before that at University, my work-study job was Peer Counseling. I loved it!And I know I pick my closest friends partially on their own ability to listen and challenge me if I’m screwing up or thinking small. I’m pretty coachable – at least most of the time.So, coaching was always a way for me. I just didn't know it was called that or that I could make a business around it.What about you? Has coaching always been in your blood?And, what about getting on the other side of the table … can you also be coached?Can you:·      Share your truth?·      Take in a message given in good faith?·      Run it through your integrity?·      Make a shift in mindset?·      Take action on behalf of the shift?·      Be held accountable?That’s a large part of what coaching is about. Our goal with clients is for them to become more self-aware and develop a growth mindset so they can take leaps towards what they want.If that kind of progress doesn’t happen over time with a client, coaching isn’t really happening.I was once taught and still believe it … if you aren’t coachable you won’t be a good coach yourself. It’s one reason why coach training organizations pair up two coaching students to coach each other.Being coachable requires a kind of humility. You have to be able to tell the truth and receive feedback as well as look inside yourself for your own wisdom guided by powerful questions from your coach.You must believe that other people can help you on your own evolutionary path. And you have to allow transformation to happen.Being coachable also requires you to stop being at the effect of your life and set intention to be at the cause of your life.Occasionally I meet someone wanting to coach others who does not seem to be coachable themselves. What I notice is consistent:·      Resistance·      Know it all responses·      Lack of vulnerability·      Lack of self awareness, and·      Lack of accountabilityDon’t get me wrong. I resemble these things at times myself. It’s the way someone consistently shows up that can reveal an inability to be coachable.So if you want to become a better coach, try becoming more coachable.Read the 8 Ways to Become More Coachable here.