Coaching FAQs

For those who are unfamiliar with what coaching actually is, here's a primer on the topic in a question-and-answer style.

What does a coach do?

A coach helps an individual or team gain clarity, build purpose, refine skills, commit to action, overcome obstacles, and shift mindsets to achieve their goals in business and in life. 

How long is a coaching session?

Sessions are usually somewhere between 30 to 90 minutes long, most often 50 minutes. It's conducted in person, via video conference, or over the phone. 

How often do you meet?

The most common frequencies are once a week, twice a month, or once a month. Coaches sometimes require clients to meet more frequently at the beginning of the relationship to establish rapport and trust. This could be as frequently as once a week or as infrequently as once a month. 

Is there a minimum time comment? 

Many coaches have packages or minimum amounts of time they work with clients, such as meeting with clients twice a month for at least six months. This allows coaches to work through a framework or program, and it allows clients to process their learning along the way. Minimum durations of time also support the coaching process, because not every session is about explosive growth or positive emotions. The path to self-realization has twists and turns, surprises, difficult spots, and radical discoveries. For these and many other reasons, coaches ask clients to commit to a certain duration of time to yield the strongest results.

Can coaching be done as one-offs?

Yes, of course. Coaching can be done sporadically and on a one-off basis. However, this doesn’t yield the same benefits and results as consistent coaching. It takes time to build trust and rapport, for a coach to become familiar with the client’s world, for the client’s deepest goals and challenges to become clear. In summary, it can work, but it usually has limited results.

How do I choose a coach?

Because industry standards around coaching are unregulated, many practitioners call themselves coaches but have no training or certification. We recommend working with coaches who have:

• At least 60+ formal training hours through recognized institutions

• They themselves have been coached for at least a year

• Been coaching for at least a year

• Other clients who can attest to the coach’s effectiveness

• Formal certifications or are on the path to certification

• (for certified coaches) committed to maintaining their certification (continuing education)

For more information about coaching industry standards, please refer to the International Coaching Federation (ICF), EMCC (European Mentoring and Coaching Council), or the Association for Coaching (AC), among others. 

What are the benefits of coaching?

Coaching usually produces stronger leadership and communication skills, self-confidence, clarity of thought and action, operational effectiveness, change management capabilities, self-management skills, mental and emotional resilience, and a host of other benefits. 

However, the benefits of coaching can only occur when:

• There is a strong personal/professional fit between coach and client that generates rapport and trust

• The client takes full ownership of their progress and does the work, especially outside of coaching sessions

• Both client and coach are open-minded, present, and focused on the client’s goals

Who benefits from coaching?

We believe all people benefit from coaching throughout their lives and careers. Leaders and employees benefit from coaching no matter what stage the business is in. It’s not so much about the people or the specific company, it’s about where people and teams want to get. If individuals or organizations have goals and want to accelerate achieving those goals, coaching can be a very powerful tool.

No, really. Who should do coaching?

A lot of our answers sound like we’re saying, “Well, it depends on you.” But it really does depend on you! Only people who are willing to put in the time and effort should do coaching. Only people who are brave enough to take the risk of working through potentially uncomfortable emotions or radical new ideas should do coaching.

Give me an example of what your clients are working on.

Here are the questions we see clients asking and working through with the help of coaching:

• How do I know what I really want?

• Something seems to be holding me back. How do I figure out what it is and get past it?

• I don’t know where to start when it comes to reaching my goals. Where do I start?

• I’ve lost my sense of purpose or direction. How do I get that back?

• I’m so burned out. How do I recover from this and never get burned out again?

What happens in a coaching session?

Most coaching sessions are mainly comprised of talking, listening, and reflecting. Sometimes there's breath work or body movement. Coaches use a variety of methods with clients to help evoke the change that the Client is looking for. These methods can include:

• Mindfulness and mind-body connection practices

• Goal-setting techniques

• Visioning exercises

• Personality tests

• Values, strengths, and other types of assessments 

• Worksheets, templates, and other written resources

Can't I learn this stuff from a book or go to a seminar?

I think reading and attending events for self-improvement is essential. I do it myself. However, working with another live human being yields completely different results.

A book or a keynote speaker on stage:

• Can't read your body language, which is a big part of communication

• Is usually talking at you; a coach is listening (or talking) to you

• Is often speaking to a generalized, hypothetical audience; a coach will be focused on you, specifically

• Is usually a one-off experience; coaching is best done over time so insights have time to unfold and mature

How much should I expect to pay for a coach?

I know it's an edgy question, but I'll ask it all the same: How much is reaching your goals worth to you?

Coaching rates vary considerably. In general, the more experienced and specialized a coach is, the more they cost. Geography has some effect on price, but not often, because coaches tend to provide virtual services; in theory, they could coach anyone, no matter where they lived.

Some coaches charge purely by the hour or session, while others offer packages or programs that span months. You can expect to pay a minimum of $200 per session for a trained coach. I personally know coaches who charge into the thousands per month due to their specialization and what's at stake for the client. Some coaches discount or offer pro bono services to people in need, but this is not the norm for established coaches.

What about coaching platforms, like BetterUp and EZRA?

Coaching platforms are great options, too. These platforms offer a wide range of coaches to clients at an often affordable price. Platforms can also vet coaches for credentials and certifications for you.

Some platforms have subscription billing and convenient online user interfaces. However, they may be limited in how many coaching sessions you can attend in a certain amount of time, have limited session durations (e.g., only 30 minutes vs. 60 minutes), and be more rigid about no-show and late fees. On the flip side, if you want to change your coach, it's easy to do so without skipping a beat; simply log in, and with a few clicks, you can be meeting with a new coach in a few days. It works a lot like telehealth-based therapy platforms.

Many coaches still choose to be independent because income from coaching platforms tends to be much less lucrative than charging clients directly. Platforms also restrict how flexible a coach can be with their clients (e.g., if a session runs over) or how they run their coaching business. I also personally notice that more experienced, veteran coaches in specialized areas tend not to be on those platforms.

Does coaching actually work?

Yes.

Here’s how we know it works:

1. While some coaching exercises and methods (listed above) may seem odd at first, there is a growing body of scientific research that validates the positive effects of even just some of these practices, such as mindfulness.

2. Data collected from businesses point to how high quality coaching has real-world impact to key organizational performance indicators (KPIs), such as employee retention, productivity, employee engagement, client satisfaction, shortened sales cycles, and revenue growth.

3. Coaching practitioners also advance every year in the ability to incorporate new insights from the social sciences (psychology, management, economics) and biological sciences (neuroscience). 

4. And finally, there is the evidence realized in individual lives. We believe that the effectiveness of coaching is best understood when you talk to people who have been coached. They can explain the direct, positive impact it has made for them.

How is coaching different from therapy, mentoring, or consulting?

Yes. That’s a whole other discussion. Stay tuned for more on this specific topic.

How long does it take for coaching to yield results?

Again, that depends. But I want to be clear: coaching cannot guarantee outcomes or results. A coach simply can't achieve growth or reach goals for their client; growth and change are 100% up to the client.

Some breakthroughs can come about almost instantly in a single session. Other growth takes much, much longer. For this reason, most coaches ask their clients to commit for at least six months.

When do coaches NOT work with clients?

There are lots of reasons coaches decline to work with certain clients. Those reasons include:

• The coach senses the client doesn't need coaching but perhaps some other professional help

• The client is a close relative or friend of the coach, which makes the work more challenging

• The client refuses to pay the coach or behaves rudely or inappropriately

• The client refuses to be accountable for their own growth

• The coach realizes they are not a good fit for the client

• The client has progressed to a point where regular coaching is not necessary

If you have more questions about coaching, please let us know.