Why might coaching not be for you?

How do you know if coaching would advance you in your career or if, on the contrary, it would be a waste of time?

“Coaching is certainly great, but I clearly don't have time.”
“Coaching? My teams would really need it! ”
“It's okay, I've been living with myself for 55 years, I know myself quite well.”

Do you recognize yourself in these words?
With the rise of professional coaching in business, many people find themselves asking themselves the question: “is coaching for me?”.
Others are convinced that coaching is not for her.
So how do you know if coaching would advance you in your career or if, on the contrary, it would be a waste of time?
Here are a few questions to ask yourself to answer them.

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Why do professional coaching?

The benefits of professional coaching

The practice of coaching has increased significantly in organizations over the past ten years and numerous studies attest to its effectiveness.

A study conducted by PWC has even shown that this development approach has a positive impact on organizations in terms of:

— the performance of the company (48% of the organizations questioned)
— individual performance (70%)
— the manager's relationship with his employees (70%)
— the quality of teamwork (70%)

And that's normal!

Coaching is often used to answer questions like:

  • How to identify a next, more fulfilling professional project?
  • How do I develop my leadership?
  • How to gain in the ability to convince?
  • How do you gain confidence in courageous conversations?
  • How can I better manage my private/professional balance?
  • How can I better engage my teams?
  • How can I establish my leadership as a woman in a mainly male executive committee?

Once resolved, all these questions improve performance for the coached individual and for the company.
You can of course try to answer them alone, but being accompanied by a coach can be valuable in your journey.

And yet, despite this observation, a “Club of Uncoachables” continues to resist.
But what differentiates someone for whom coaching will transform their professional career and someone who will just feel like they are wasting their time?
It's coachability.

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What is coachability?

As the saying goes Jean de la Rochebrochard In his episode of podcast with us, coachability “is the ability to put some measure into risk-taking”.

Coachability is an essential concept in the field of personal and professional coaching.
It refers to a person's ability to receive and integrate advice, feedback, and lessons in a constructive manner.
Being coachable means being open to continuous learning and self-improvement.
So it involves having an open mind, mental flexibility, and a willingness to question your own beliefs and behaviors.


Being coachable also means knowing how to have patience and perseverance, because the coaching process can sometimes be challenging and require effort to change established habits.
Coachable people are therefore ready to leave their comfort zone to achieve their goals and are aware that coaching is a partnership where the coach guides them, but where they must also play an active role in their own development.

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Are you coachable?

How do you know if you are coachable?

Coaching is an approach that allows the individual to ask himself and take a step back, on his situation, on his skills, on his strengths and areas of development.
It is therefore an approach that will require your ability to question yourself.

Hogan Assessments, a global reference in assessing potential and leadership has developed a model around coachability.
To find out if you are coachable, you can therefore ask yourself how you react to negative criticism, unexpected and complex situations:

  • Defensively? Do you take criticism personally and tend to get angry? Or in a weighted manner? Do you keep your cool in the face of feedback and remain constructive?
  • Are you in denial? Do you tend to ignore feedback or forget it quickly? To “outsource” what you are being criticized for saying that it is the fault of your environment/your boss/your teams...? Or are you more into acceptance? Do you analyze the facts meticulously, identify habits and actions that need to be changed in the future, do you take responsibility for your mistakes?
  • Do you show a superficial or genuine desire to change? Do you regularly tend to say “Yes I really need to work on this” without actually implementing specific actions to achieve it? Or do you actually do it?

Once you have answered these questions, you will know more about your coachability and your real interest in coaching.

Are you still in doubt?

So see if you find yourself in the profiles of the uncoachables.

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The types of uncoachables

What do we call an “uncoachable”?
She is a person who says she is convinced by the added value of coaching and open to questioning, but is reluctant to start a process and has a great ability to find all sorts of excuses to avoid it.

There are several types of people who are not coachable according to a item by Matt Brubaker and Chris Mitchell in Harvard Business Review:

  • The leader who didn't want to question himself : one of the answers by an uncoachable person to coaching may be that he does not need it, that his problems come from external causes, independent of him, his qualities or his faults.
  • The leader who doesn't have time : another type of leader can be very open to the process and even agree to participate. However, he will be unreachable, will often postpone his sessions and will not make coaching his priority.
  • The leader who wants a magic formula: During coaching, another type of leader will try to understand what magic formula the others have Successful Leaders will have used in order to be able to apply it. In this case, his objective is not a real development of himself but simply a desire to succeed, without real questioning.
  • The leader who can't find the perfect coach : finally, the leader who can't find the perfect coach. There must be chemistry between the coachee and the coach. However, we can question the motivation of the leader who will systematically reject the coaches offered to him.

So what is your conclusion? Are you one of the uncoachables or could you benefit from coaching?

Why not talk to our teams to find out?

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