bad life coach

Life coaching is a booming business but not all coaches are not created equal. Sadly, the coaching business is an industry that is not regulated so virtually anyone can hang out their shingle and proclaim to be a coach. If you are ever in the market for a life coach or any coach for that matter it is important to inquire what training, education, certification, and experience that coach brings to the table.

Unfortunately there are good coaches and there bad coaches and it is important to be able to differentiate between the two kinds.

Good Coach Vs Bad Coach

A good coach listens more than they talk. A bad coach will ramble and manipulate 90% of a session.

A good coach will ask questions leading you to your own conclusions. A bad coach will give advice, or worse, directives on “what to do.”

A good coach will ask what you want. A bad coach will ignore your desires and impose their will on you.

A good coach will not judge you, where you are, or your progress. A bad coach will continually criticize.

A good coach supports you. A bad coach will bully you.

A good coach will bring their personal insights and experiences to the coaching process. A bad coach will waste an entire session regurgitating ideas and quotes from other teachers, coaches, and thought leaders.

A good coach will end the session with you feeling inspired, motivated, and with a plan. A bad coach will end the session with you feeling beat up, discouraged, and frustrated.

A good coach will allow the session to evolve on its own. A bad coach will control the direction of a session even if you are not engaged and they will be ambivalent to your level of participation.

A good coach will get to know you and understand you on a personal level. A bad coach will barely remember your name, your story, or your goals from session to session.

A good coach will challenge and confront in a constructional manner. A bad coach will challenge you by constantly second guessing your inner wisdom and criticize anything that you do that goes against “their” cookie cutter methods.

A good coach will work hard to inspire you. A bad coach will strive to propel you by force, intimidation, lack of approval, or negative reinforcement.

A good coach will make the time to prepare for session. A bad coach will wedge your session between overlapping scheduled sessions.

A good coach is present with you 100% during a session. A bad coach is distracted and will seem to be “somewhere else.”

A good coach will lead you to good results. A bad coach may lead you in the opposite direction.

What If You Have A Bad Coach?

If you have been working with a coach for more than three months and you are not happy with the results, or nothing had changed, it might be time to terminate that relationship. You might do better moving on by yourself, or you might be able to find a coach who is a better fit for you. Working with a coach is not easy as growth and learning new things can be uncomfortable for us all. However, if you find yourself dreading your sessions with your coach and are constantly feeling demotivated after each session, it is time to move on.

Working with a life coach is team effort. A good coach will care about you, understand your challenges, and your vision for yourself. A good coach will always work with you. A bad coach will always work against you.

Do you have any good coaching or bad coaching experiences to share?