On Coaching, Part 5: Coaching Myths

There are a few myths out there about coaching. In today’s post we’re busting two of them!

“I’m going to see immediate results.”

This is not always voiced by people who sign up for coaching, but is a commonly held misconception. We see it when people ask to sign up for one session at a time to see how coaching goes. Here is what we tell them—that is not how coaching works. Unless you’re seeking quick coaching about an urgent situation or tough conversation at work, we do not recommend single coaching sessions. We offer three and six month packages because coaching is a process; it is not a quick fix.

Often at the start of your coaching journey, it can feel like things are getting harder before they start getting better, not dissimilar to signing up for personal training and having incredibly sore muscles for the first few weeks. If you realize at the start of coaching that a tough conversation needs to happen with a colleague, for example, it can feel very uncomfortable to prepare for that conversation with your coach, even somewhat painful to face some of the ways you may have contributed to the dysfunctional relationship. But just like microtears in our muscle fibers are necessary in order to fuse and increase our muscular strength, microtears in our ego, habits and patterns of comfort are natural and even essential to the process of increasing our leadership strength.

“I’m going to completely change my life and start all new habits and routines.”

How your coach will respond is: “Love the energy, but that’s not how it works.” Real change happens by starting with a consistent change to a single habit in your life, like making your goals the first thing you check in the morning instead of your emails.

Gary Keller, successful entrepreneur and author, puts it this way: “Build one habit at a time. Success is sequential, not simultaneous. No one actually has the discipline to acquire more than one powerful new habit at a time. Super-successful people aren’t superhuman at all; they’ve just used selected discipline to develop a few significant habits. One at a time. Over time.”

Your coach will help you identify the most impactful habits to build and what order to build them in so you don’t burn out. You will learn to focus your energy on one new habit at a time and watch the momentum build in your life and career success.