The Benefits of Working With a Coach

And some tips for hiring one

A coach is someone who shows others how to improve a particular skill or process. They help a person (or a group) towards a specific goal to succeed. Pretty obvious, right? But we often don’t know whether it’s useful to work with a coach.

In this article, I’ll share my thoughts on working with coaches. In case you want to hire one, this can help. Full disclosure: I don’t offer any coaching services, and I’m sharing this from the perspective of someone who hires a coach.

I generally think it’s more effective to work with a coach when you’re serious about a particular skill or process. Let me give you a few examples:

• Building a career: Some coaches can help with interviewing techniques, negotiating raises, switching careers, etc.
• Building a business: A coach can help you grow your business by advising you on things like hiring, marketing strategy, sales, etc.
• Learning a skill: A coach can teach you any type of skill: Writing, coding, tennis, playing the guitar, learning a language, and so forth.
• Getting in shape: There are a lot of coaches in the health and fitness field. You can work with a coach to improve your strength, stamina, diet, etc.