Dawn Metcalfe on how to become a successful coach

I’m from a place (Ireland) and a generation (never mind!) where you didn’t refer to yourself as “successful” and I certainly don’t feel comfortable using the word to describe my business. There’s no doubt that others in my field have made more money, written more books, worked with more people, built bigger social media platforms, etc. etc.. But, if success means waking up every day genuinely grateful that you get to do the kind of work you do with the kind of clients you do, then I’m definitely a successful coach.

I fell into coaching. I was working for a small consultancy firm and had been sent on an executive  education programme to Stanford where one of the professors asked me how long I’d been coaching. Apparently he recognized the attitude and techniques of an executive coach in my interactions with classmates. I’d never considered this as a career option and will be forever grateful to that perceptive and kind man for not just noticing some nascent ability but taking the time to discuss it with me. I’ve tried to emulate that throughout my career.

My first professional coaching client was a gentleman who, nearly 15 years later, remains a friend and, to a greater or lesser extent, I am still in touch with 98% of all my clients. This makes me both happy and proud because it implies that I’ve been able to help them in some way – that they think I’m valuable. That, to me, is the point of being a coach. It’s being given the opportunity to focus entirely on another person and try to help them – what a joy! The only times I’ve had a coaching engagement that was a complete failure (it happens!) was when the client didn’t believe that – didn’t believe my only motivation was to help them – and that was miserable.

When I first started, executive coaching wasn’t very common in the Middle East – it was still seen by many as an indication of failure or remedial in some way and so most of my work was with Europeans or North Americans. But this changed quickly as word spread of its effectiveness and, for some people, having a coach became a sign of openness to change and a desire to constantly improve.

As the market grew and developed, so did my business. I wrote a couple of business books (and co-edited a free book for young people) and found myself involved in bigger projects at more senior levels with the ability to have more of an impact on results. I also found myself speaking at more events and about topics beyond the current books but touching them such as DEI and cultural change.

This growth was possible because of the trust clients placed in me and the risk they were prepared to take in recommending me to others.

Based on my experience here are the three things to think about when building a successful coaching business.

1) Build your reputation

Even in a world of social media your real brand is your reputation or what people say about you when asked. It’s not how many followers you have or how many “likes” a post gets. That’s important for some jobs but if you’re interested in being a coach rather than an influencer I struggle to see how it’s useful.

Word of mouth – personal testimonials – are what made the difference to me.  When a person who has worked with you takes the time to write a testimonial or make a recommendation then you know you’ve got a reputation you can be at least a little proud of. So protect it!

2) Know who you are

The reason I set up my own business was that I wanted to be known for certain things  – being trustworthy, honest, fair, straight-forward, easy to work with, fun to hang out with, good value for money.

I wanted clients to know that I was genuinely interested in them and their success – in both their circuses and their monkeys. And all of that was easier to achieve if I was in charge!

You may want to be known for something different. Or you may be working for someone else and not able to do exactly what you want how you’d like. That’s ok – just be clear on what you, personally, want to be known for and then be prepared to make a difficult call if needed.

3) Pay your dues but know your worth

As we grow in our careers we’re faced with different challenges and decisions with regard to  clients, engagements, fees and a  myriad of other things that go into growing a business. These decisions are the ones that tell us who we really are.

It’s important, when making such decisions, to both know your worth and to pay your dues.

Knowing your worth will mean different things to different people – for me it’s about feeling like I’m being treated like a partner rather than a cog in a machine or a special guest. It means not being expected to be on a call 24/7 but being appreciated when I make the effort to squeeze in a call from an airport lounge. For others it’ll mean something different.

But you only get to claim your worth if you’ve proven it and, for most of us, that will mean paying some dues as we develop our businesses.

I certainly originally spoke for free and would turn up for  the proverbial opening of an envelope as well prepared as I do now for a speech being live-streamed to an audience of 1000s. And I was genuinely glad to do so. It allowed me to hone my craft, building an understanding of what audiences wanted to hear about and how best to connect with them, as well as to build the reputation I wanted amongst the people I needed to know.

At some stage, however, there will come a moment where one of two things is true. Either

1)you have evidence to show that you are adding value and therefore should be rewarded or

2) you don’t have such evidence and should therefore stop and do something else instead

If you’re lucky, work hard and have a great network then being a professional executive coach can be one of the most rewarding jobs in the world. Good luck!