I'm not the Shell Answer Man

Post written by Mitch York - A ClientWise Professional Certified Coach (ICF)

An age-old conundrum in coaching is that some clients believe the coach will give them The Answer.

Whatever the problem is, there are some clients who hope there's an answer out there, a silver bullet, and who better than their coach to spell it out for them, tell them the direction to march and exactly what to do.

Only one problem: that's not what we do as coaches!

Here's what we do:

1. Use our skills as professionally trained and certified coaches to help you think through your business issues and expose possibilities that lead to success.

2. Use our experience coaching financial advisors (most ClientWise coaches have been working with individual advisors and teams for many years) to raise your awareness of what other people in your position have found successful and useful.

3. Help you tap into the vast resource that is ClientWise's Professional Advisory Model, which encapsulates just about every imaginable angle of the advisory business. We know this model inside and out and show you how to work it to your advantage.

"But Mitch, just tell me what to do!"

No! I can't do that! ClientWise coaches don't give "the answer" because we believe our clients already possess the best answers. Our job in our partnership with you is to coax out your creativity and help you create new, sustainable ways of thinking. Then you can achieve your next big goal on your own because you understand how and why you've made decisions and created your own path to success.

What do you have to do to assure success of your ClientWise coaching program? Be all-in with your coach. Make sure you don't show up to your conference calls with your coach without a solid idea of where you've been and where you want to go in the coming weeks. What did you accomplish since our last call? What are the challenges you face right now? What do you want to spend this precious hour on the phone talking about so that you come out with actionable ideas?

"But Mitch, that puts most of the work on my shoulders!"

EXACTLY! But you can handle it! And I will help you! My best clients email me at least several times in between coaching calls, with updates on successes or to ask a quick question or for an opinion. I love that! If you don't do that with your coach, you should. Keep the continuity and momentum - it's really important.

Coaching can be an amazing experience for advisors. All advisors owe it to themselves to take a time-out a few hours a month to reflect on their strategy, on their business, on their future. It's hard work (for you and us as your coaches) but man, it's worth it.

Mitch York has more than 25 years experience in business management and leadership development. His corporate career included senior executive positions with a number of high-growth companies.Mitch is a graduate of CoachU and specializes in coaching financial professionals and entrepreneurs.