How do we determine if we are the “right” agile coach for a—
Client, Individual, Group;
Team, System;
or Leader?
Is there a singular answer? I don’t think so, but here is a shortlist of considerations—
1. Solid introduction—Have an introductory coaching session and see what unfolds. It makes sense during this session to explain the role/notion of coaching. What you do and how you do it as a coach. And what you don’t do. Then, both you and the client determine if it makes sense to continue.
2. Coaching plan—quite often the very act of your establishing your role as a coach and co-creating a plan with your client will emerge better understanding for both of you.
3. Invitation vs. assignment—I’ve found that it makes a huge difference how you came to be coaching. If you’ve been assigned to coach the client by someone, then you’ll want to carefully consider those dynamics and the impact. Versus the client asking or inviting you to coach them.
4. Don’t chase the $$$—it’s rarely the right thing to decide to coach someone solely based on the revenue opportunity. Sure, it matters. But I suggest not making it a part of the “are you right for each other” decision.
5. Your goals—I’ve found it always makes sense to check my own goals for coaching prior to engaging a new client. This aligns with Don’t chase the $$$, but expands it to your own drivers for coaching. I always check to ensure that I’m in the right servant-oriented mindset for each client.
6. Do I have the skills—another aspect to consider is whether you have the right experience and skills that this client needs. For example, if you’re an agile coach who’s coaching up to leaders, are you comfortable providing advice or the experience to mentor them?
7. Please sir, may I have some more—sometimes your coaching cup might be full. For a variety of reasons including capacity, time, other work commitments, and simply reaching your limits. Many of us have a tendency to bite off more than we can chew, try not to do that.
8. Hubris—to be totally honest, I’ve rarely seen a coaching opportunity that I couldn’t take on as a challenge. The greater the challenge, the better. But I’m putting my ego in front of serving my client. After much personal reflection and growth, I’ve learned not to do that.
9. Trust your Spider-Sense—sometimes it’s called gut feeling as well. I’ve found that my gut will tell me when it’s not a match. The problem usually is that I don’t listen to it. Please consider listening to yours.
Wrapping Up
A final factor is simply being uncomfortable saying no. It’s not easy to say no to a potential client because we might not be skilled at or comfortable with providing radical candor or the “real reason(s)” for our declining to coach.
So, a pre-exercise might be to work on that. Perhaps practicing saying “No” to a client in the mirror. Or “Yes, and…” as a precursor to saying the dreaded, “No”.
Anyway, I hope these ideas have sparked your decision-making awareness around who you’ll be coaching.
Stay agile my friends,
Bob.