AMOCO Corporation, now part of British Petroleum, did an evaluation of coaching over a ten-year period. The investigators reported that “compared to other AMOCO managers, coaching participants consistently demonstrated improved performance, increased ratings of potential for advancement and 50% higher average salary increases. Moreover, the participants themselves attributed these results directly to the coaching they had received.”
The research on the value of coaching is clear – Fortune Magazine cites an average 600% return on investment. How is coaching so much more powerful than other options? Because instead of telling you, a coach helps you find your own answers.
What exactly can a career coach do to help?
· Partner with you so you clearly define your goals.
· Provide assessments and debrief them.
· Help you explore your opportunities.
· Support you upgrading your resume.
· Support you in defining challenges and strategies to move past them.
· Assist you with identifying resources.
· Facilitate you evaluating your skills gaps.
· Assist your planning of how to upgrade skills.
· Practice soft skills with you in conversations.
· Co-create inventories, self-assessments, priority lists, and more.
· Explore options for finding opportunities, advancing your current career, or planning a transition.
· Practice interviewing.
· Practice negotiating.
· Plan your onboarding.
· Support your efficacy as you start in a new role.
How do you find a career coach?
· Start by defining what is important:
o A coach who is certified and/or credentialed to ensure they know what they are doing.
o A coach who is a member of the International Coaching Federation and therefore accountable to the Code of Ethics.
o A coach who understands you, your career, and your ideal.
· Check with coach training organizations.
· Consider coaching firms.
· Ask your network.
· Interview three or more prospective coaches.
· Choose a coach that you connect with – rapport is the number one indicator of success.
Investing in yourself by engaging a coach is smart. As defined by the International Coaching Federation, “Coaching is partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”
