Finding a Good Coach is About Asking the Right Questions
Read this before you invest your time, money, and trust
Finding a good service provider is hard work. Especially so if you’re looking for a coach.
The coaching industry is still unregulated and it seems everyone is hopping on the bandwagon to offer their shiny services. How do you tell who’s reputable, trustworthy, and effective…and who is not?
I wrote a piece on Medium with top questions to ask a prospective coach. Below are my answers.
Are you a trained and certified coach?
Absolutely, yes. I started my coach training in 2020 with Animas Centre for Coaching. I loved it so much that I left my corporate job immediately after receiving my Associate Certified Coach credential (ACC) from the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and have been successfully running my own Coaching-Consulting business ever since.
I’m currently working on my next level of certification, the PCC. This requires over 500 paid coaching hours (I have 800+), an investment in mentor coaching and Continued Personal Development (CPD), plus two client coaching demonstrations.
The ICF is a globally recognized gold standard for coaching. If someone isn’t certified, they should at least know what the ICF is and have a clear stance on coaching ethics and principles.
✅ Green flags to look for:
They know what the ICF is.
They understand that coaching requires training.
They have an identifiable method, framework, or philosophy and are able to communicate clearly about this when asked.
A solid coach will either be trained or in training and they should still be able to speak intelligently about the craft of coaching and how they work.
How would you describe your coaching style or approach?
In keeping with one of my core values, I work flexibly with people. I adjust the pace, structure, and even my own voice to work in partnership and show up in the way I think will be most useful to YOU. Meaning, while you’re leading the way, I’m picking up those cues and helping by focusing, structuring, and deepening the conversation as we go.
This might mean that we stick to “pure” coaching as defined by the ICF, where I’m listening deeply and NOT offering any advice or opinion, allowing you all the room to think and explore. Or I might bring more of a mentoring or consulting approach in (where useful and always signposted!) to offer some guidance, a light suggestion, or a next step.
Another core belief I have about coaching is that once psychological safety is established, people are robust and can be challenged — especially with humour. This keeps things fun, light, and manageable, even as we get into the heavier topics.
This is also one of the ways I build and maintain trust and connection with people.
For more about my coaching approach and process, please visit: What is Coaching?
For more about what actually happens in a session, go here: Coaching Demystified
In sum, good coaches are self-aware. They know who they are and how they work best. They know their boundaries and limitations. And especially the difference between coaching, therapy, mentoring, and other talking modalities.
✅ Green flag to look for in any coach: If someone can articulate these distinctions with confidence and clarity, you’re in good hands.
How does it work and what’s the getting-started process?
As a User Experience professional (my last career before I left the corporate world), I think getting started with anything is extremely important! I want you to have a crystal clear understanding of:
What you’re committing to
How sessions are scheduled and structured
What the expectations are for both of us
How rescheduling, cancellation, and payment works
I’ve put a lot of work into making this simple and streamlined. Being fairly tech-savvy helps a lot, but tools can only do so much before they start complicating things, so we keep an eye on that, too.
Regardless, I aim to make all of the above clear both verbally in an initial Discovery Call, in a follow-up email, and then officially through a written agreement — I loathe the word ‘contract’; it’s so antithetical to the kind of partnership I want to create!
And because I am adaptable, flexible and like to mix things up, the commitment period, session length, and payment schedule are all quite variable. That said, there are trends…people typically have 1-6 sessions with me, usually for 60-minutes, every other week. But all of that can (and often does) change.
One more thing worth sharing now…
I operate a fully flexible rescheduling policy. Life happens. If you can’t make it to a session, I always use the time well in other ways — this is adaptability in action. We’ll reschedule, no big deal. That said, if showing up or other scheduling issues repeatedly arise, we’ll talk about it and work through that challenge, too.
✅ Green flags to look for in any coach: They have an agreement, process, and structure. The vibe is professional and organised.
What kind of ongoing training, supervision, or development do you pursue?
I believe that coaches should always be learning and improving their craft. This is relational work, and requires continued awareness about people, systems, and self.
For me, this is one of the most enjoyable and rewarding parts of the work. I love my regular supervision group through 3D Coaching, but I also seek out all sorts of other CPD events and various learning and development opportunities.
I also give and received mentorship, as well as regular coaching session swaps and other paid coaching programs. It’s a great way to stay connected with my peers, especially across many time zones — I’m coaching and getting coached from America to New Zealand to Barcelona and beyond.
The key here for me is to stay current in coaching, beyond what I do daily.
✅ Green flags to look for in a coach:
They engage in continued education or credentialing.
They receive regular supervision or peer reflection.
They invest in their own coaching.
Other questions to ask a prospective coach
What kind of time commitment or “homework” should I expect?
Again, this varies! We’ll decide this based on what works for your schedule, style, and accountability needs. I can always make suggestions based on what others similar to you have done, we’ll try it out, and adjust as necessary. And if something isn’t landing, no biggie. Let’s try something else.
Do you record sessions, and how is that data handled?
I often do, at your request (I’ll ask at the start of the session). I include recordings and transcripts at no extra charge.
I take data privacy very seriously. This means that I password-protect and two-way encrypt wherever possible. Also, I don’t stream, record in the cloud, or let Otter or other pesky critters sit in on our calls.
How do you ensure the space is emotionally and psychologically safe?
I am always open to learning about and using the safest and best tools, methods, and ways of being that will allow us to do great and uninhibited thinking together. Whatever your needs, I’ll work with you to accommodate them in the safest, simplest, and most efficient way possible.
And it still might not be a good fit!
Coaching is an investment in your growth, your clarity, and your future. Don’t be afraid to vet me (or another coach) the way you’d vet any other service provider.
Just know this: You might like — or even love — the answers you get AND they still might not be the right one for you at this moment, for whatever reason. That’s ok.
When the relationship is aligned, coaching can be life-changing. So take your time. Ask the hard questions. And go with your instincts.
If you are going to invest your time, your money, and your trust, it’s gotta feel right. The best way to find out is to have that initial conversation.
