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I get it — you love to help others and genuinely enjoy seeing them succeed.
But is that same eagerness to serve causing you to head straight into coaching burnout?
And are you finding you’re doing anything and everything to satisfy clients’ needs (and beginning to feel resentful or unappreciated in the process)?
If so, you may be suffering from “over-coaching”.
Over-coaching is where you’re going above and beyond to deliver great service, but ultimately, find your clients becoming disempowered and limiting your ability to offer higher end coaching programs.
Just how much coaching is TOO much?
Give yourself a “yes” answer for each of these quick assessment questions:
- Your clients have multiple ways of contacting you, including your cell phone, home phone, private email and more… and they feel free to use them all
- You routinely allow emergency or “extra” coaching sessions
- You let coaching sessions go longer than scheduled (remember, don’t justify…just be honest in answering this)
- You do extra tasks for your clients, such as writing a marketing email, doing research, initiating a contact, or taking notes and sending them after the session
- Your income level is stuck but you don’t have time to take on more clients
If you have 3 or more yeses then fair warning: you’re either close to — or already in — coaching burnout.
If this is you, you’re not alone. Coaching burnout happens to most coaches at some point, so please don’t judge yourself harshly for wanting to do the best for your clients.
Here are my 3 Courageous Coaching® training tips for turning over-coaching into just-right coaching, saving yourself from losing your peace of mind (or even losing clients!).
Courageous Coaching® Tip 1: Stop Being So Amazingly Accessible
Have you considered that the more ways clients can reach you, the less valuable your services will be perceived? Some steps you can take include only giving out your private line to your top-tier clients. For clients in your entry-level or less expensive programs, access to you directly can be through group calls or by hosting special open office hours.
One of the first steps I have my clients take is to decide what days each week they are available for coaching…and stick to these. Just make sure that when you first start working with a new client, that you clearly go over what your hours are and how quickly you respond to emails or phone calls.
Remember, an ounce of preframing is worth a pound of reframing!
Courageous Coaching® Tip 2: Be In “Time Integrity” With Your Coaching Sessions
Time has become the new luxury, which means unless it’s a true emergency, coaching sessions should end on time, every time. One quick tip to accomplish this: let your client know 5 minutes prior to the end of the session that you’re about to start wrapping up. Here’s one of my favorite scripts that I frequently use:
“We have 5 minutes left today, so what do you see as your next step?”
Most of all, don’t let guilt drive you to over delivering. Any action done from guilt is not likely to end with positive results!
Courageous Coaching® Tip 3: Hold Your Clients As Powerful, No Matter What (Because They Are!)
Over-coaching can happen when you feel responsible for your clients. Instead, focus on asking powerful questions that help your clients see how brilliant they really and truly are…and open up new possibilities for them.
Remember that when someone is feeling stuck or challenged or might want to even give up on their goal, they’re only seeing closed doors. By you holding them as powerful, they’ll quickly see new possibilities, and they’ll gain confidence and courage to go for what it is they want.
No matter where you are in building your coaching business, tighten up your coaching and you’ll find yourself energized and ready to serve with grace and ease!
Want to know more about my Courageous Coaching® training program? Click here today
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