How Do I Know Coaching Is Working for Me?
I’ve been asked different versions of the question “How do I know if coaching is effective?” This is a very good question because it means you’re being very intentional and conscientious about the coaching process.
I can’t answer your question but you can! Here are some good indicators that the time, money, and effort you’re putting into coaching is worth it.
You feel less anxious, depressed, hopeless, or stuck. The negative feelings you couldn’t shake before you started coaching are no longer hanging over you and dragging you down. Even if they haven’t completely disappeared, you feel noticeably relieved of them.
You feel more hopeful, motivated, calm, or inspired. You’re seeing the light at the end of your career tunnel. You actually feel lighter, more energetic. You’re smiling more. You’re starting to look forward to the future again.
You are accomplishing new and hard things you weren’t able to do on your own. Those things you knew you were supposed to be doing but just couldn’t get yourself to do (ahem, reaching out to old colleagues, updating your LinkedIn…) don’t seem as overwhelming. You actually have a clear plan to move ahead and are tackling things you couldn’t get yourself to do before!
You are learning new things about yourself and/or the workplace. You’re discovering your deeper motivations, talents you took for granted, emotional barriers hindering you, or other insights unveiled by your coach’s thoughtful questions and expert listening skills.
You look forward to your coaching sessions. You’ve built good rapport with your coach and are enjoying the conversations because of the reasons listed above.
You feel like each session is a good use of your time and money (you don’t feel like it’s wasteful). You don’t regret your sessions!
I’m not saying coaching will solve all your problems. Nor should you expect to experience all these indicators after the first session. But it should definitely help you get much closer to a solution than you can on your own.
