*UPDATED* 7 Great Reasons To Get Your Own Coach! | by Kerryn Griffiths PhD

Arguably one of the best coaching tools of all is simply to have your own coach. Kerryn Griffiths, champion of peer and mentor coaching and Founder, Director & Global Coordinator of ReciproCoach explains why she believes having your own coach is so essential for coaches. Read on!

When I'm looking for a coach, it's essential to me that my coach has a coach of their own.

Coaching is not about 'fixing' something that's broken - it's about being the best you can be. And if I'm taking on a coach to help me be at my best, I want to be sure that they are too.

People are now talking about their coaches freely, seeing coaching as a reward and a highly valued inclusion in the best employment packages. The general public is finally recognizing that having a coach leads to even greater success, fulfillment and self-actualization.

So if this is really the case, why doesn't every coach have their own coach?

Good question.

Here are 7 Great Reasons Why You Might Want to Get Your Own Coach

1. Hone your coaching skills

The best way to improve or learn how to coach, is to be coached yourself.

This is experiential learning at its finest. You learn what works well by experiencing it and importantly, you also learn what not to do by experiencing that!

2. Walk your talk

Unless you have your own coach, you're expecting other people to engage in something that you don't engage in yourself.

Also, if we're going to change outdated and inaccurate perceptions about coaching, we need to walk our talk - having your own coach shows the world how valuable YOU think coaching is.

3. Build better coaching relationships

Being in coaching yourself reminds you how it feels to move out of your comfort zone and be vulnerable.

What does it feel like to be challenged? How does it feel to share the innermost workings of your mind? Whether you know it or not, your clients sense your comfort with your own vulnerability, and this heightens the trust and honesty in your coaching relationships.

4. Be coachable

Coaches like working with clients who are 'coachable', yet the way you coach also reflects YOUR 'coachability'.

If you think you 'know' or if you think you don't 'need' coaching, you are not coachable. And a coach who is not coachable themselves, is missing an essential coaching ingredient.

By going into coaching yourself on a regular basis (once a year at a minimum), you are invited to move into a space of 'not knowing' – a key to being coachable.

5. Get new tools, ideas and inspiration

When we're coached by someone else, we experience someone else's coaching style. We get new coaching tools and see different ways of doing things - like another coach's intake or wrap-up process.

So, having your own coach is a great way to freshen up and inspire your own coaching style, process and toolbox.

6. Experience all the benefits of coaching yourself

You too can experience and enjoy the proven outcomes of coaching including heightened self-awareness, enhanced wellbeing and improved goal attainment. And if you want to sell coaching, you need to be aware of all the benefits.

Because reading about it is one thing - but talking about it from experience is quite another. And your clients and prospects will notice the difference.

7. Stay in the zone

When you have your own coach, you get to EXPERIENCE coaching, and be reminded of why you became a coach in the first place. This keeps your excitement and enthusiasm for coaching fresh and real.

Wrap-up

Being a coach is more than just applying a set skills, tools and frameworks with our clients

Being a coach is really about BEING a coach - inside and out. You work on the outer coach behaviors through building your coaching toolkit, courses and professional development events, but if you're not being coached yourself, you're missing out on perhaps the most powerful means of developing your inner coach behaviors.

It is your inner coach behaviors that clients feel and are attracted to. It's also your inner coach behaviors that give your coaching depth.

I've given you 7 reasons why you might want to have your own coach, but I bet once you take on your own coach, you'll have at least 7 more!

And if you're inspired to get your own coach, check out Reciprocoach here >> to learn more about reciprocal peer & mentor coaching for you!

Do YOU have your own coach? If yes, we'd love to hear what you're getting out of it by commenting below!

If you liked this article about having your own coach, you may also like:

• Why Would Anyone Pay For A Life Coach? David Frank Gomes Gives An Inspiring Answer!
• How Much to Charge For Coaching & Find Your Pricing Sweet Spot By Ellen Ercolini
• What Are The Benefits of Group Coaching? By Jennifer Britton

Contributing Author:

Kerryn Griffiths, PhD (coaching and learning), is the founder and global coordinator of ReciproCoach, an international community of professional coaches for quality, affordable reciprocal peer coaching, mentoring and supervision. Join thousands of like-minded coaches at ReciproCoach.com with the coupon code: CoachingToolsCo and not only will you be on your way to having your own coach, but you'll also receive a year's subscription to your choice of one of the ReciproCoach Business resources ($27.50 value).

Learn more about Kerryn & see all their articles here >>