To wonder why there are so many life coaches

[Eastie77Returns]

My Linkedin feed is awash with former colleagues and acquaintances who have become life coaches. It seems as if every other person is now qualified to guide me through whatever life stage I'm at even though there is no official credential necessary to call yourself a coach. My extrememly toxic former manager has set herself up as a fertility coach - an area she has zero experience in.

Another coach pitched her services to me the other day via LN. She coaches 'Senior Female Professionals' and offers a package for £485 consisting of a few sessions in which she helps women cope with burnout, manage your career with kids, elevate your personal brand and reach C-suite positions. All fine except her profile revealed she is about 25 years old and has 2 years professional experience😂

On the one hand it is great that so many people who want to branch out into self employment are able to do so. On the other hand, AIBU to think that this coaching industry is largely a lot of nonsense, targetting (mainly) women and persuading them to pay out £££ to receive common sense advice or stuff you can just download on the internet for free?

I think it's all a load of old nonsense, and if you're daft enough to spend money on this sort of thing, then you've clearly got more money than sense.

sounds like a con to me

I’m not sure you fully understand what life coaching actually is. There are so many different modes of life coaching from transformational to NLP. Whilst it’s true that you don’t need to be qualified to become a life coach, I would advise anyone looking for one to only work with one who is qualified and accredited. There are plenty of highly qualified, life coaches out there who genuinely care about making people’s lives better.
Whether that’s their career, relationships, health, etc there are many different avenues and people benefit greatly from life coaches. Going to a good life coach isn’t really that much different than having a personal trainer for example. No-one seems to think that’s outlandish. And whilst you might be able to go onto YouTube and get the same exercises a personal trainer would provide, you wouldn’t get the personalised service with that looking into your diet, your areas of weakness or where you excel, guidance, encouragement, goals setting, motivation, accountability and so on that will undoubtedly help you reach your goals and usually with greater speed. Having a life coach is no different. The personal service you get, as well as the expertise is what you’re paying for. If it’s not for you then it’s not for you. There’s no issue with that. However, many people benefit greatly from working with a life coach and anything that makes people’s lives better is a good thing in my book.

It's a nonsense, but it is a way to make a quick buck. I would never pay for one, but its up to others what they do with their money.

It’s the new fad, along with ‘estate agents’.

I think there are genuine coaches out there who can provide helpful guidance, but there are also grifters who slap on the title and churn out a few wanky LinkedIn posts about growth.

Because they have realised that they can charge not very bright people a lot of money for doing very little.
A friend i used to work with is doing this, the rubbish on her socials is never ending

The two that I know have both made a complete mess of their own personal or working lives.

send me your money and i will give you great advice! @Eastie77Returns

Estate agents are a new fad?

I knew someone who set herself up as one of these. She does ‘food coaching’, where she has dinner with people and talks about mindful eating and being at peace with hungry sensations. She also offers various types of therapy with no qualifications other than a certificate from a £30 course run by the university of spiritual quackery. I wonder if she actually has any clients or if it’s a fantasy.

I was just thinking that 🧐

They couldn’t hold down a proper job. Many of them do MLMs on the side.

I know several people who have turned their lives around through seeing a life coach, so whilst my initial reaction was to think it’s a con, I’ve changed my mind and think it’s actually very valuable to a lot of people.

I had one free session and it was more useful to me than a whole course of psychotherapy via the NHS. Don’t knock it unless you’ve tried it!

Obviously some people are going to be shit, so you look for someone with good references or personal recommendations.

As Tipsyjoker said: Going to a good life coach isn’t really that much different than having a personal trainer for example. This is a great example as the PT can guide you but can't do the exercise for you.

There are qualified coaches out there that will support you and keep you accountable whilst you work towards your goal.

However, I'm sure there are a lot of dodgy coaches out there too. As with anything, you need to do your homework before employing any kind of service.

Just to give a slightly different view, I've had two career coaches ( paid for by different employers) to help me through changes in my roles, and both were transformative for me. I got to choose them- had a budget and objectives but I could pick the person I wanted to work with. I also used a stylist (recommended by one of my coaches and paid for by me) and she helped me a lot. It's unregulated and there's a lot of bullshit out there, but if you are clear what you want it can be really helpful to get you out of a rut. I agree there are lots of failed execs out there who just want to make a job of it though! But I'd be open to using a life coach or similar. I think being clear what you need help with and finding the right person is critical.

There are a lot of MLMs targeted at clever, well-to-to and underemployed mums peddling “be a lifestyle coach” type opportunity shit.

Look for the money. Someone is making a lot out of exploiting people to try and therapize their friends and acquaintances.

Life coaches I’ve come across seem to be unaware they’re in some sort of pyramid scheme, where their clients are only ever other life coaches. Bizarre. They’re an eye roll from me.

It's easier that having a proper job!

Genuine question, is there a professional body that moderates the activities of 'life coaches' or can just anybody set themselves up as one?

I remember seeing a pair of ‘coaches’ on Rich House, Poor House who live in my city. They were laughable in their delusion. Their ‘rich house’ is on a street with a YMCA hostel on one end and a distinctly dodgy boozer at the other. A surface level dig shows a lot of failed companies and enterprises and lots of money owed to HMRC and banks. Hilariously, I think they both believe their own nonsense and instead of giving some actual cash to their ‘poor house’ compadres, they gifted them some of their phenomenal courses 😂

TBH there are a lot of misconceptions here.

Although coaching isn't regulated like counselling, there are some industry standards especially when it comes to recognised qualifications. There are professional associations where there is some verifying training/experience. Some coaches are psychologists, for example. And professional coaches take out public liability/professional indemnity insurance.

They also don't give advice (and neither do counsellors.)

Coaches who are trained are told never to give advice. It's the first 'rule' of coaching.

Like a counsellor, they allow their clients to make choices, by asking very searching questions and trying to help them overcome negative mindsets or behaviour, if that's an issue.

In practise, it's about setting targets and being a facilitator to help the client set and achieve a goal(s.)

'Executive' coaches often work in companies and many executives have regular coaching around their performance at work. It's a way they can bounce ideas or issues around away from the boardroom, as it's confidential.

You need to do your homework because yes, a 25 year old with little training or life experience isn't someone I'd choose.

I tend to think that if someone has really got their life together, they'd not be working as a life coach. So if they can't sort themselves, they're unlikely to be able to sort me.

It's an MLM model - life coaches training new life coaches is the main earner - not being a life coach. It's a massive scam