Are you a coach or thinking of becoming a coach? Coaching is a great profession—you can help people achieve their goals and make a difference in their lives. But like any profession, coaching has its pros and cons.
We asked a simple but intriguing question to the Lovely Impact community and the responses were inspiring. The question was: What do you enjoy most about being a coach? What do you find the hardest?
In this blog post, we’ll share the responses we got from 4 impactful coaches. Their responses give us an inside look at the challenges and benefits of coaching.
So whether you’re just starting out or have been coaching for years, read on for some helpful advice from your fellow coaches!
4 Coaches Share The Benefits & Challenges of Coaching
1. Celebrating those that are ready for change and accepting those who are not.
“There are so many aspects of coaching that I love, but what I love the most is witnessing someone have a breakthrough moment. It’s almost as if I can see the connections firing in their brain through the glint in their eyes. It’s the best feeling.
The hardest part of coaching for me is seeing someone give up just before that moment of breakthrough. As a coach, I have to accept that sometimes a client is just not ready to go there yet and that’s okay. I believe everything comes to us when the time is right.”
– Joni O’Donnell,
2. Light bulb moments and the accessibility of coaching
“The biggest drive for me is when I see that lightbulb moment – which, typically, is followed by a visible relief. I love it so much! My biggest challenge is charging what I’m worth. I want so badly to make help accessible to everyone, and I struggle not to carry that burden alone.”
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– Noelle Daoire, ADHD Coach
3. Achieving authenticity while balancing vulnerability.
“Coaching provides me with great peace and the satisfaction of living in harmony with my values of being of service to others. As a coach, I get to just be myself while helping people to see new visions and levels of accomplishment for themselves which take their lives to a higher state of success. I don’t know of any more gratifying work than to be involved with people as they move from ordinariness to excellence.
I feel that coaching is a position of massive responsibility because you’re asking people to enter into a pledge of trust with you. I need to be vulnerable, but as a coach, I’m asking people to also show their vulnerability; to trust me with their feelings, their thoughts, and their weaknesses – something which doesn’t always come easily.”
– Mira Parmar, Career Confidence Coach
4. Sharing empowering techniques and stepping outside the comfort zone.
“As a coach, I most enjoy those breakthrough moments when my clients discover powerful insights that are holding them back. I help women navigate challenging transitions and one of the most impactful tools I use is embodiment. This simple technique enables my clients to tap into the body to see what it has to say about an issue they are struggling with or an answer they are seeking.
We don’t question these ah, ha moments—when information comes to us as a felt sense in the body—because we know them to be true. Growth and change are what coaching is all about; it is why I do this work.
The hardest part of coaching is getting out of my comfort zone and sharing my own story about navigating change. However, aligning my purpose of providing hope has helped me to push past my own obstacles.”
– Lee Bodkin, Somatic Coach
Final Thoughts
As you saw in the post, the high of a breakthrough moment can be just as defining as the lows that also come with the territory of coaching.
Now that you’ve heard from these coaches about their perspectives on the pros and cons of coaching, what are your thoughts about it? Did any of these shares resonate with your own thoughts or do you have more pros and cons you’d add to this list?
Share with us in the comments below, we love to hear from you!
About The Author
Hey! I’m Stina, the Content Manager here at Lovely Impact, a website template shop for coaches. Here on our blog, my content focuses on sharing the stories of coaches as well as inspiration to help you grow your coaching business.