Do you ever wonder if career coaching could be just what you need?
There are three situations that keep coming back in the feedback I get from my clients of when they're finding it particularly useful.
1. To get off the fence about your career change.
Have you been thinking about a career change for a while, talking to your friends and family about it, but never taken any concrete steps to make it a reality?
I often work with clients who think a career change is what they need, but in the course of coaching decide that it's not the right thing for them. Sometimes this happens when they realise that there may be other, less radical ways to get them the result they're after.
That's actually a great outcome. Indecision can keep you stuck and having this realisation frees your mental energy up to focus on making the most out of here and now.
Others come out of coaching with a conviction that change is the right way forward, with renewed energy, and a plan of action.
Sometimes it's hard to know which way is the right one without an honest, deep look at your life and and some external challenge.
A few sessions with a career coach could give you just that.
2. If you plan to get off the beaten track.
Coaching is not the best tool for every situation. If you want to follow a traditional career trajectory others have been through before, your best bet might be mentoring. Your mentor is typically someone ahead of you in their career who has insights you might be interested in. They work from a position of an expert and share their views.
I've had amazing mentors in the past and I immensely value the power of mentoring.
However, there are situations that need a very different approach.
Maybe you're stuck in a job that looks great on the outside but you've fallen out of love with it.
Or maybe you want to make a sideways career move, or go against the way in which things are done in your industry (more about challenging the status quo in this article).
A coach will work with you from the position of your equal and help you explore possibilities for yourself, as well as tackle any obstacles on the way. Like any beliefs you have (and might not even be aware of) that work against you.
Not emotionally invested in the outcome, a coach creates a safe space for you to make your own decisions, regardless of what an accepted career path in your industry, network or family looks like.
Yes, even if most of them might think you've lost your marbles.
3. If you struggle to make time to work on your career.
My client, a busy director, has recently told me:
"Marta, if our sessions were not on the calendar, life wouldn't stop to make space for me to work on my career goals. Instead, I'd drift where the waves take me."
Coaching is uninterrupted time that you put aside to work on your career. You disturb the autopilot, cut through life's clutter and work on what matters to you.
Together with the accountability that a series of coaching sessions brings, it all means that you're able to get where you want to be faster.
But there is another benefit. In a coaching session, all of your brain’s resources focus on you and your goals.
This promotes neuroplasticity. The ability of our brain to change and develop needs deep, uninterrupted focus to build new pathways.
So hard to achieve otherwise given the era of distractions we live in.
If you would like to give coaching a try without any risk, please contact me to arrange an introductory session.