Do what it takes to get unstuck
If you like coaching but haven’t enough clients to stay in practice… start doing what you do best: asking and listening and asking some more.
Start with folks who share your values and interests. Let them know that you’re a coach and the kind of coach you are; why you do what you do and why you care as much as you do.
Then ask who could value from working with you, and why that might be so. Listen. Then ask why those who could benefit aren’t getting the help they need. And listen some more. Share your contact information and encourage those who know potential clients to call you, so you can listen, and guide, and listen some more.
Feeling Stuck?
If you feel as stuck as a reluctant client might be, stop giving yourself permission to stay stuck. Instead, focus on how you help others get unstuck, see daylight, and move forward.
Then take actions that move you forward. Recognize your strengths. Turn your strengths into practice. Turn practice into performance. Find a variety of ways to make a difference to those who deserve to be seen, valued, and acknowledged.
How do you start?
If you need to think because you’re stuck, it’s your thinking that might be stuck.
If you need to talk because you’re stuck, find the right people to talk to.
If they do all the talking, they aren’t listening and nothing of value will happen for you. If they do all the listening and you do all the talking, nothing will change for you. Request an open dialogue that demonstrates your willingness to exchange ideas and your openness to perspectives that differ from yours.
If you find that coaching isn’t your thing, find what is. If you need help and you haven’t asked for it, ask for it.
If you don’t know what kind of help you need, that’s where you start. If you know what you want and have a positive track record of doing it, call a job search specialist.
If you don’t know what you want but are committed to doing something that connects with who you are, call a career coach.
If you know what you want and how to connect to who you are and need help navigating social media, call anyone under the age of 12.
If you think you can’t afford the time it takes to find a match for who you are, you can’t afford not to. A bad match won’t last and neither will you.
Those that say otherwise are more focused on their needs, their experience, their beliefs, their view of the world, than yours. And that’s fine. Let them follow their own advice. You need to do what works for you.
So do it. Take responsibility for yourself and take action. No one can do this for you, no one will ever care as much as you, or be as invested as you are, in the outcome.
Joyce Richman, a founding member of TCC, is a career counselor, author, consultant and executive coach. A popular lecturer, Richman has conducted seminars and workshops throughout the United States and has consulted in Belgium, Canada and England. She also serves as an Adjunct to the Center for Creative Leadership, an international management and leadership development organization.
