December 30th, 2013
The 1st Reason Why Coaches Fail at a Full-Time Career
Reason #1: The Salary Parity Illusion
Some of my favorite clients are coaches.
They are discerning about themselves, open to experimentation, resistant to blaming others, believe in the power of setting and achieving goals, and most important, coaches are passionate about helping others create thriving businesses and flourishing lives.
Ironically, the greatest challenge for coaches is how to create a thriving full-time practice for themselves. Many coaches seem only to manage the part-time coaching gig. This is unfortunate when the part-time option is not by choice.
Over the next several weeks I will blog about the causes for this part-time coaching glass ceiling.
The first reason I call the Salary Parity Illusion.
Here is how the illusion works: A coach explains, “I love coaching and it feels like my calling. But first I need to build a large enough client base so that when I quit my full-time job I will simply replace one salary with the equivalent coaching salary.”
These coaches then become obsessed with two different full-time jobs and in the process do neither their full-time career, unrelated to coaching, nor their coaching practice, any justice.
We Cannot Have It All
In fact, most coaches under this illusion believe they can have it all. In the end, they suffer from extreme work-life imbalances and extreme exhaustion. They become lousy at their current careers and at building a full-time coaching practice.
I am not sure from where this life is limitless belief originates. One of my critiques of coaching schools is their cheerleader-like “you can do anything” approach. This gives the impression that full-time coaching is viable and rather simplistic for everyone. “Limitations are merely a figment of our narrow imaginations,” you may have been told.
Just say you are a coach and poof, clients come knocking at your door. Coaching schools churn out certified coaches with this mindset and a significant proportion will fail.
Well I am here to say we cannot have it all and if we want to become successful full-time coaches we must make difficult choices. Many of these choices will involve substantial sacrifice.
The first of these is to reframe our relationship with what is enough salary to live on. Coaching full-time means starting a business and only a tiny fraction of businesses make a lot of money in their first few years.
My First Two Years Coaching
I believe the following numbers will make my point more succinctly. In my first year of coaching full time I made $15,000. And in my second year I made $28,000. And the year before I took the full-time coaching plunge . . . well I made $175,000 in a totally unrelated career.
Most likely you too will not make your current salary for a few years. Admitting this fact does not make you a limited thinker. It’s great to envision being a full-time coach. But the vigor of the vision must be matched by the rigor of concentrated action.
Who wants to be the Walter Mitty of the coaching world?
My first change was to find a roommate to cut costs. I was in my early 40s when I made this decision, roommate free for 17 years. It most definitely created challenges but it was necessary so that I could focus like a laser on growing my practice.
My second change was to liquidate all of my savings plans I had created in my 20s and 30s. My IRAs were cashed in. My “emergency fund” savings account, the one Suzie Orman pleads with us never to use unless there is a true emergency, well, that too was spent. For me, it was an emergency to pursue my coaching career.
Finally, I sold my car and used the cash from that sale to make it through some very lean months.
I am not advocating anyone taking one or all of the above financial steps to stay focused on a full-time coaching career.
Get Real and Make it Happen
This is what I am advocating: It is folly to believe we can painlessly build a coaching practice without making substantial financial sacrifices. Pretending that next month or next year will be that magic time when we can give coaching our full attention without changing our lifestyle now is a dream that will not come true for the vast majority of us.
You will have to make sacrifices. But if coaching full time is truly your passion then the greatest sacrifice of all is not trying.
So create a realistic plan if you want to be a full-time coach. Be flexible and find excellent partners to share the joys and burdens. You will stumble along the way and maybe even determine that coaching full-time is not for you. Perhaps though you will discover that this full-time endeavor makes you an even better coach as you walk the walk of learning and growing just as your clients will if they hire you.
It’s why we call it a practice. Coaching only becomes a successful calling if we practice it.
If you’re curious about my income now, well let’s just say it’s a lot closer to $175,000 than $28,000. And it took a lot of practice to get there.
Click on the links below if any of the other topics in this blog series interest you . . .
Reason 2: Coaching Rates are Too Low
Reason 3: Coaching Doesn’t Feel Like Selling
Reason 4: Not Treating Your Practice Like a Business
Reason 5: No Program Equals No Clients
Reason 8: Clueless About Coaching Strengths
Other Useful Coaching Blogs . . .
The Attributes of a Great Coach
—
If you have any questions about coaching please feel free to contact me at scott@kineticcoaching.co, and remember I always offer a complimentary 30-45 minute session to prospective clients to determine if we want to work together.