everyone’s a “coach” these days?

(Make sure you look into the one you will use to ensure they have been professionally trained!)

I attended a beautiful women’s event last evening and there were 6 women of various ages, ethnicities, educational backgrounds, and professional areas of service to our community. Each of them had so much value to give to those of us in attendance; I was on the edge of my seat most of the time in rapt attention to their every word.

It was interesting to hear from an Emotional Intelligence Coach something that I have been thinking for quite some time – the word “coach” has become misused in our society today. Everyone seems to think they’re a “coach” – a sales manager is “coaching” his team on how to speak on the phone, a father is “coaching” his child as to how to prepare to join a club or athletic program; a mentor is “coaching” their mentee on how to approach a business situation. These people mean well, of course. But they are not professionally trained coaches.

The woman I heard last night is a professionally trained Emotional Intelligence Coach with the background information to prove it. She has lived experience in her subject and has spent many hours in education, learning, and practicing under the leadership of a professional trainer in the subject matter to become the Professional Emotional Intelligence Coach she is today. However, she has begun calling herself a Practitioner in order to separate herself from the mainstream societal overuse of the word “coach”.

So make sure if you are looking to work with a coach, that you check out their experience and training before hiring them. Thankfully, a truly professionally trained coach will set up a Discovery call with you to get to know each other and see how you would fit together based on YOUR needs and YOUR agenda, and their ability to facilitate a beautiful conversation with yourself in growth and exploration of your greatest desires to change – and assist you in creating a plan of action, specific to YOU that will help you get there.

I am thankful to be a professionally trained coach through Professional Christian Coaching Institute, where I have had to pass evaluations on my coaching and have had many hours of training. I’m honest enough to admit that I am STILL in training – I hope I am ALWAYS in training. There is so much to learn and we never stop growing if our minds and hearts are open.