Financial Advisor Coaching: Are You Ready?

There’s a thoughtful post in a recent Harvard Business Review by Steven Berglas, PhD, Get the Most Out of Executive Coaching

He highlights three considerations that successful financial advisors might ponder when selecting a coach:

• Intrinsic (vs. Extrinsic) Motivation. Psychologists have long known that there’s a big difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. They have seen that extrinsic motivators, e.g. a demand, incentive or threat, are short-lived and even counter-productive. [Google Professor Edward L. Deci, for more on this intriguing topic.] Another good example of this is a medical study that was undertaken a few years back. In this study, cardiologists told their seriously at-risk patients they would literally DIE if they did not make changes to their personal lives, e.g. diet, exercise, smoking, etc. Yet, astoundingly, six in seven (14 percent) of the sample study were not able to make behavioral changes for the long-term, even knowing the dire circumstances should they not do so. Coaching is much about finding those intrinsic motivators that move you forward.

• More Than a Cheerleader. Berglas makes the point that business coaches are not like Little League coaches who hand out “Good job!” accolades and ego-building praise at the drop of a (baseball) cap. Being coached can be hard work, as well as committing yourself to the risk and discomfort that can be a part of creating new and powerful results.

• Participation vs. Commitment. There’s an old joke that says that the difference between participation and commitment can be seen by ordering a bacon-and-egg breakfast. The chicken participates in the breakfast. The pig, on the other hand, is fully committed. As Berglas also points out, being a “participant” in the change process is not nearly the same as being fully committed to the coaching process. Whether it’s stopping smoking, losing weight, or working with a coach to change or improve your behaviors and skills, we often claim that we want to eliminate destructive and dysfunctional behaviors from our lives. However, there can be big shadow between one’s intention, and one’s action. Commitment to coaching requires a number of real and concrete considerations and responsibilities, including: taking ownership of one’s own progress, a willingness to discover new self-awareness, making a commitment to action, following through on these commitments and being accountable for one’s own actions, growth and progress.

Coaching is ultimately about unlocking your potential in order to maximize your performance. Sounds fair enough. What’s really interesting is that the bearer of the key that unlocks this latent ability…is you.  

We trust this helps.