How do you know your coaching works?

1 Define your coaching objectives

Before you start coaching, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish with your clients. What are their specific needs, challenges, and aspirations? What are the desired outcomes and indicators of success? How will you track and evaluate their progress and satisfaction? By defining your coaching objectives, you can align your approach and methods with your clients' expectations and goals, and create a framework for measuring your coaching impact.

3 Collect and analyze feedback

Feedback is essential for learning and improving as a coach. You need to collect and analyze feedback from different sources and perspectives, such as your clients, your peers, your mentors, or your supervisors. You can use various methods to solicit and receive feedback, such as asking open-ended questions, conducting surveys, requesting testimonials, or observing behaviors. You can also use self-reflection and self-evaluation to assess your own performance and impact as a coach. The key is to be open and curious about the feedback, and to use it to celebrate your successes, recognize your challenges, and plan your actions for improvement.

4 Apply continuous learning

Coaching is a dynamic and evolving process that requires continuous learning and adaptation. You need to constantly update your knowledge and skills, and apply them to your coaching practice. You can do this by engaging in professional development activities, such as reading books, attending courses, joining communities of practice, or seeking supervision or mentoring. You can also learn from your own experience, by reviewing your coaching sessions, experimenting with new approaches, or seeking new opportunities or challenges. By applying continuous learning, you can ensure that your coaching works for you and your clients, and that you grow as a coach.