How to know if you’re ready for coaching

Written By Renée Lilley

Being a coaching client is challenging. At least, it should be.

Coaching is about optimizing potential and minimizing interference. Optimizing and minimizing require both nurture and suppression. We must nurture potential while suppressing interference.

I do a lot of gardening, so the practice of nurturing seeds or young plants while suppressing pests and weeds is a resonant metaphor. My job is to help coaching clients learn to simultaneously nurture their own potential while suppressing the saboteurs that threaten it.

Before undertaking such a challenging endeavor, it’s important to ask yourself some probing questions.

Questions to ask yourself and ponder before entering into a coaching agreement . . .

  • Am I willing to challenge current narratives about myself?

  • Am I willing to discover new things about myself including my own saboteurs?

  • What are my competing commitments and how might they affect my progress?

  • Am I willing to have my ideas and beliefs respectfully challenged when appropriate?

  • On a scale of 1–10, how committed am I to taking action(s) to create change?

  • What would make this investment (of time, energy, or money) feel 100% worth it for me?

  • If nothing changes in 6 months, what’s at stake for me?

Renée Lilley

I’m a former English teacher & team leader turned organizational psychologist turned professional development coach. So, I tend to see things in terms of story. I’m on a quest to help others see how the stories they tell themselves might be holding them back.

Let’s explore ways to change the narrative together!

https://www.storylinecoachingstudio.com
Next

What you can expect from coaching