I'm a Mom... and I'm a Coach... but I'm NOT a Mom-Coach!!
Let me explain...
As I embark on this journey of Life Coaching I've been researching getting a Life Coach Certification.
Of course, I want to have the best certification from the best school with the highest accreditation... blah blah blah. It's just who I am. I want to be the best of the best in anything and everything I do. A little unrealistic? Yes... but I'll never stop trying (and yes I have addressed this in therapy! Haha! I have a healthy balance of drive and grace now thank goodness)!
So I looked at this program that seemed to have it all. Loved it! Loved the curriculum, loved what I'd learn, loved the idea. The price was a little high... over $7,000. Especially when I saw programs that were on the lower end. And I mean low! As low as $275 for a certification. But I'm thinking that I don't want to sell people short on their coaching experience so I don't mind investing in my education.
So I signed up for a mock session so that I could see a coach in action! Actually she was one of the founders of the program. So I was excited to see the caliber of coach that I had the potential to become!
Woh... I was a little blind-sided during this session. My opinion was that the Coach was speaking to the Client in a more condescending, mom-like manner. It almost seemed like she was scolding with a smile on her face. So weird and very unnatural. The Coach would interrupt the Client to point something out which seemed very abrupt and abrasive to me. She would look at her with almost a smirk on her face. Maybe I'm reading too much into it or maybe my past traumas are playing a role here, but if I was the Client in that session I would have discontinued services. I was very uncomfortable for the Client, and I just wanted to reach in and pull her out and hug her.
I've coached women in Mary Kay. I've coached women without being their coach. And I've BEEN coached by some very powerful and amazing women. Not once did I ever feel like they were talking down to me or treating me like they were on any different level. Coaching should be more of a draw out than a "talking to".
I vow, here and now, that I will NOT be Coaching like a Mom! I have my Mom-hat at home which is fine and I do like to coach my kids as well, but they are children. My clients are not! I will treat every client like an adult. A very capable, driven, full-of-potential adult who is moving forward into some deep discoveries that will catapult them into the success they have been dreaming of!
I'm starting to agree with the research I've seen about Coaching certifications. Maybe that is why it is not required to have a certification to be a Life Coach. The articles and books I've read about coaching talk about the kind of person you must BE to be a coach. Not what you must say, or exercises to give, or plans to write. My coaching will be based on integrity, grit, self-love, releasing barriers and limitations, accountability, and forming simple, do-able habits that give my client traction in their goals. The more research I do, the more comfortable I feel with my decision to start coaching NOW! Before certification. I do plan to get one in the future... but certainly not through that program!