It’s hard to say no to free stuff, particularly when we need help. If you’re struggling in business, or have lost your way and not quite sure where to go next, and you know that there are government-funded and other mentoring programs out there that are free of charge, I can understand the temptation to reach out to them first. And I don’t doubt that there are some highly talented and experienced mentors out there offering their services for free.
In fact, the quality of the mentor or coach is far down my list of considerations. At the risk of over-simplifying, coaching success really boils down to just two things: the quality of the coach, and the commitment of the coachee. The level of investment, if any, doesn’t really play into it.
Except… and this is a big except… What really is the commitment on the part of the coachee if they’re not paying for coaching? The great business mentor Darren Hardy said it best: “I don’t need your money, but you need to pay it.” Why? Because in order to achieve greater success in our business, we will need to step out of our comfort zone. We will need to work hard. We will need to read books and attend training courses. We will need to show up for our coaching sessions, on time every time, ready to work. And I know, if I’m paying for my coach’s services, that I will want to get the very most out of my investment, so I’m going to do whatever it takes to make that happen. Starting with… turning up on time, doing the work, and doing the learning.
Too often I’ve seen coaches, particularly in the early days of their coaching careers, offering free services to clients, with a view to getting paid once the client is seeing results. “You can start paying me once you’re making more money as a result of working with me.” I even did that myself in my first year. Now I’m sure there will be plenty of exceptions where this has turned out well, but in my experience that has been very rare.
There seems to be a similar pattern that appears in the “pay on results” coaching method. It starts off with both parties very enthusiastic, and the coaching client grateful for the coach’s trust and willingness to invest their time in their new client. But very quickly – especially if the coach knows their stuff – the client will be expected to do some work. This will be work that they’re not accustomed to; work that is outside their comfort zone; work that they have never had time for in the past; and work that they don’t yet know is going to get them the results they after. That’s the whole point after all – to change our results we have to change our actions – and the coach’s job is to get us to change our actions. And what happens? Well, the same thing that always happens – stuff happens. A problem, a crisis, an emergency, a distraction. Most commonly, the client’s “addictions” kick back in, where they allow themselves to get drawn back in to doing the things that have been holding them back in the first place, dealing with problems that don’t get them anywhere. Not changing. And so they cancel the coaching session, or even worse, just don’t show up. They don’t get their work done that they promised their coach, claiming “It was one of those weeks; I’ll do it next week.” There may be nothing to gain by the client not staying committed to the coaching process, but there is nothing to lose either. It’s easy. Not changing is easy. Changing is hard. And so we have to be invested if we are to be committed.
It’s bad for the coach as well. I’ve coached many new coaches who were guilty of offering free coaching, and they find themselves almost instantly on the “back foot” with their clients, which destroys their own credibility and confidence – the exact opposite of what they were hoping to achieve in the first place. See, the number one job of the coach is to get the client to take action. And once the client doesn’t take action, the coach needs to hold them accountable, which is very difficult to do if the client has nothing at stake. And so the coaching sessions become “nagging” sessions. Nobody likes to be nagged, and eventually the client quits, claiming that “all my did coach was nag me every week.” This isn’t good for the coach, the client, or the coaching industry at large.
Sure, there can still be some good that comes out of free coaching. The client can learn some things, get a different perspective on their business, and maybe even take some small, easy steps to improvement. But if we want to see real results, we have to take real action. ActionCOACH’s formula that we live by is “Massive Action = Massive Results.” Taking massive action is a big commitment, and I know when I personally am vetting potential coaching clients, the most important quality I am looking for is commitment. And that starts with their willingness to invest in their growth, their learning, and their future.
Find out more about what ActionCOACH can do for your business. Or if you simply have a question about something you’ve read here, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Email me at andrewgoldberg@actioncoach.com.
