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"You Don't Have To Be A Jock To Need A Coach" by Jennifer Torres
(appeared in "The Orange County Register" February 23, 2001)
What's the gap?
What lies between the dusty keyboard and the best seller
you always said you'd write? Between stacks of diet books
and 5 lost pounds?
"You've got to
ask, 'What have I accomplished? What have I learned?
Where do I want to be, and what's keeping me from getting
there?' That's the gap," said Rachael Lewis, who, as a
professional coach, helps people figure out what their
gaps are and how to bridge them.
In 1992,
businessman Thomas Leonard founded Coach University, a
Web-based training program in which future coaches learn
to be sounding boards and cheerleaders for clients who
typically pay $300-$500 a month for their services.
Almost 10 years
later, at least 10,000 coaches are practicing worldwide,
according to International Coach Federation estimates.
Many of them expect the field to grow as people continue
to want more -- money, time, happiness -- and want it
faster.
"I think people
today are tired of waiting 20, 30 years, trying to figure
out what they want and how they're going to get it," said
Sandy Vilas, who took over Coach U. in 1996. "Sometimes
it's easier to see another person's path than for them to
see it."
Lewis has
coached Richard Buck for three of the past six years.
The Cambridge,
Mass., businessman said Lewis' careful listening and
blunt honesty have helped him fix troublesome issues he
describes as onions with layers of pretense she helps
peel away until he can see their roots.
"You know the
games you play, and you can snow a lot of people with
those games if you're any good, but not her," Buck said.
Talks with
Lewis have helped Buck identify himself as an aggressive
leader who sometimes needs to deal with his employees
more sensitively, he said. With this in mind, he
hesitates before harshly scolding his staff.
Most coaches
work by phone, chatting with clients for 30 minutes a
week, three times a month. During the call, clients talk
about problems they've encountered, decisions they aren't
sure how to handle or tasks they want to accomplish.
But coaching is
not counseling - there's no mandated certification
process for it. Coaches are not hired to resolve
emotional or psychological disorders, and most are not
trained to. Instead, they say, they work with people who
are all right on their own, but feel they can do better
with someone urging them on.
"I stand back
and give you options," said Dan Lamont, who coaches from
his Capistrano Beach home. "You're not left on your own.
Someone's got you engaged. We can all use honest
feedback. We have a tendency to dream and talk and a
tendency not to follow through and produce."
Lamont, who
charges his 30 clients $350-$700 a month, talks to his
own coach every week and said he would not be so
successful without one.
His coach helps
him structure his ideas, his business and his goals, he
said.
"It's
profitable for me," he said. "It's improved every area of
my life. I get off the phone, and I just shake my head
and appreciate."
Pleased with
the fruits of his coaching sessions, Buck has also made
sure managers working under him, usually three or four,
can talk to Lewis, who charges about $500 per person.
He said the
confidentiality and honesty she offers are worth the
money because they are hard to find in anyone else.
"It's funny; I
have a wife and a girlfriend and lots of friends, and
I've never talked to any of them about this stuff," Buck
said. "There are risky things that could scare a partner.
They may think your job is in jeopardy or something. It's
very safe with a coach."
Lamont agreed,
"I think my wife would be fantastic at coaching. I've
told her so. But she's not my coach, she's my wife."
Neutrality is
part of what makes coaching effective, said Lewis, whose
practice is based in Laguna Beach.
Because coaches
are not personally involved with clients -- many never
meet face to face -- they can afford to be more candid
than other people in the client's life.
"I'm not
attached to what happens in the end," said Lewis,
president of the Orange County chapter of the
International Coach Federation. "I don't have to worry
about losing friendship, love, respect from a client.
Nothing's at stake."
The other
ingredient to successful coaching is keen listening,
which is easier on the phone than in person, Lamont said.
He said coaches
try to pick out dissonance and congruence in their
clients' voices. When they say they're excited about
something, do they really sound excited?
"I had one
client who kept talking about how he wanted to do
something corporate, but there was no passion. I wasn't
convinced," he said. "Then he would just light up like a
light bulb when I asked him about the arts and travel."
Coach U.
students learn, via conference-call classes, to listen
for that sort of detail, Vilas said. In the field, they
share their observations with clients, who use them to
solve problems and make better decisions.
Melissa
Blackman, an individual and organizational psychology
professor at California State University, Fullerton, said
she expects a growing number of people to seek life
assistance from coaches.
"I see this as
a booming business, and a lot of people are going to jump
on the band wagon," Blackman said. "Society is more
accepting of people who go to psychologists or see a
counselor or a life strategist. It's kind of like having
a personal trainer. You've got someone sitting right
beside you, making sure you do what you need to do. Some
people know they lack the motivation on their own, and
they're willing to pay big bucks for it."
But she said
lack of formal industry regulation could be a problem.
Coach U. and
the International Coach Federation offer certification
programs, but anyone, even without training or
experience, can work as a coach.
With most
coaches advertising on the Internet, it can be difficult
to verify their qualifications, Blackman said. Before
hiring one, people should look for referrals and
credentials.
Vilas said an
experienced coach, Thomas Leonard, helped bridge his gap
more than a decade ago.
"My life wasn't
exactly where I wanted it to be, I mean from the whole
peace, joy and satisfaction standpoint," he said.
Leonard
wondered, after a few conversations, whether Vilas might
enjoy coaching better than his work in real estate and
sales, Vilas remembered.
"And I love
this profession," he said. "I get a lot of satisfaction
out of it."
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