I sometimes see a revulsion in people’s eyes when I tell them I’m a professional coach. Doesn’t matter whether I say executive coach, book coach, business coach, life coach… any word that isn’t a sport before the word “coach” generates that pained facial expression of suppressed indigestion.

They’re like, “Oh, god, not another one?!? Please make it stop!”

I get it. I really do. The absolute worst part about being a professional coach is the bad rep it gets from the thousands of overconfident, ineffective, and self-hyped people who go into it thinking they’ll be good at it but simply aren’t. They basically coach by meme.

What frustrates me about the coaching profession

A lot of what is sold as coaching is little more than vapid privilege delivered by people who have a “book smarts” understanding of life.

Have a problem? Breathe through it. Do a yoga. Journal about it. The future starts with this inhale; peace begins the moment you exhale. You can’t control the waves, but you can surf. When in doubt, listen deeper. Your worth is not measured in productivity. Simplicity is wealth.

None of those things is entirely wrong per se, but they’re the existential equivalent of aspirin. Effective only in the simplest of situations. With problems like these, you don’t need a coach; ChatGPT will do just fine.

Then there’s the flip side: the angry cheerleader.

Not getting the success you want? Bravery first, confidence second! Louder, prouder, stronger! You belong anywhere you choose to be! Confidence is a muscle, so flex it! Be unstoppable, starting now! Strut like success is guaranteed! OWN YOUR POWER!

If that kind of coaching solves your problem, then you don’t need a coach. You just need more coffee.

The online landscape is littered with people who toss about such fridge magnet wisdom as if it’s all anyone ever needs. Wise-seeming soundbites that either don’t stand up to much scrutiny, or get misinterpreted and misused to justify bad behaviors.

If what you’re facing is big enough to talk to a professional about, you need a lot more than existential aspirin and fridge magnet wisdom. That’s just not enough.

What I love about coaching

Good coaching can transform lives, especially when the stakes are high.

Keeping a family from falling apart as they care for a loved one through end of life. Onboarding a CEO with a management team in distress. Helping a senior executive manage heavy work, family, and caregiving responsibilities without losing their own identity. Helping a person regain their confidence and sense of self through a contentious divorce and a workplace descending into toxicity. Leading a lifelong W-2 worker through the complexities of starting their own business. Helping someone stuck in a swirl of indecision find direction, purpose, and confidence.

Those are all things I have done as a professional coach.

I’ve also experienced profound transformation myself with the help of great coaching. Over the past six months, I’ve been part of a cohort of world-class coaches studying and masterminding powerful coaching models and frameworks that aren’t part of the usual base curriculum most coaches are taught.

Not only did I learn a ton that has improved my own coaching by at least an order of magnitude (and will keep me growing as I integrate it more and more), I also got to be coached by some of the best in the profession. And it has been transformative.

Although I’m still largely the same person I was in kindergarten, I’m also different from the person I was just six months ago in subtle but profound ways.

What’s important to me

Today’s post was inspired by a colleague who shared his “coaching integrity manifesto” with a private discussion group last week. As manifestos go, it was short and to the point. In it, he talks about what he stands for and what he takes a stand against as a coach.

I am not quoting or copying his approach or his manifesto. As with my poetry in twist and together, this post is simply inspired by another piece of art, not derivative of it.

I invite you to explore how your life, career, or business might be transformed by working with me. Some things that are important to me, in no particular order:

• Truth
  Success comes from better decisions, and better decisions come from living as close to objective truth as possible. We are surprisingly good at deceiving ourselves when truth does not fit our beliefs.
• Agency
  You always have a choice. Even when you think you don’t, you do. Acknowledging the choices you make and the reasons you make them is the path to integrity, peace, and as few regrets as possible.
• Positivity
  Not everything is wonderful, but when you choose to look for the positive, you’re more likely to find it. The more positivity you embody, the more possibility you will see, and the more the world will feel joyful.
• Creativity
  Create your art, in whatever form that takes. The world needs more art. Even if no one else will ever consume it, create your art. Always be creating.
• Integrity
  Be who you are. Own your mistakes. Take care of your unfinished business. Or, if you choose not to do those things, take ownership of that choice.
• Lifelong learning
  Be open to expansion. Seek new experiences and ideas. Be curious. You can learn something new every day, right up until your last breath. Maybe even beyond. Who knows?
• Impermanence
  The sun will explode in five billion years. Embracing the impermanence of all things will keep your priorities straight.

A lot of other things are also important to me, of course. Joy, fulfillment, courage, resilience, empathy, compassion, justice, equality, fun… all important. From a coaching perspective, though? The seven I picked above drive a lot of my approach to life, and therefore a lot of my approach to coaching.

I invite you to transform yourself

Now that you know a little about the world I live in, I invite you to join me in that world. It really is a wonderful, fulfilling, centered, grounded, and positive place full of healthy relationships, peace, creativity, achievement, and abundance.

What is it you most want from the next year? Two years? Decade? What do you think you can accomplish on your own? How much farther do you think you could go with my help? How much quicker do you think you could get there?

And how much more joy would you get along the way?

There’s one easy way to find out.

Connect with me

Schedule a consultation session now or drop me a line.