| Is Life Coaching for You? |
ICF Survey
The following is from a survey conducted for the International Coach Federation.
Benefits of Working with a Life Coach
Clients who work with an experienced, Professional Life or Business Coach report many benefits. A study conducted by the International Coach Federation reported the following on why people work with coaches and what some of the benefits were:
Role of Coach
By far, most coaching clients pay their coach to be a sounding board - to really listen to them and give honest feedback. Clients, who could select as many choices as were applicable, characterized the role of their coach as the following:
- Sounding board: 84.8%
- Motivator: 78.1%
- Friend: 56.7%
- Mentor: 50.5%
- Business consultant: 46.7%
- Teacher: 41.0%
- Taskmaster: 30.5%
- Spiritual guide: 29.5%
- Other: 13.3%
Coaching Issues
Most clients turn to their coach for help on time management as well as career guidance and business advice. To a lesser but still significant extent, they seek coaching on relationships, family, wellness and spirituality. Clients, who could select as many choices as were applicable, said they work with their coach on the following issues:
- Time management: 80.5%
- Career: 74.3%
- Business: 73.8%
- Relationships/Family: 58.6%
- Physical/Wellness: 51.9%
- Spiritual: 51.0%
- Personal: 45.2%
- Goal-setting: 39.5%
- Financial: 38.1%
- Creativity: 11.0%
- Other: 01.4%
Results of Working With a Coach
The outcomes that clients most often attribute to their coaching are a higher level of self-awareness and self-confidence, a more balanced life, smarter goal-setting and lower stress levels. Clients reported experiencing the following outcomes as a result of working with a coach:
- Self-awareness: 67.6%
- Setting better goals: 62.4%
- More balanced life: 60.5%
- Lower stress levels: 57.1%
- Self-discovery: 52.9%
- Self-confidence: 52.4%
- Improvement in quality of life: 43.3%
- Enhanced communication skills: 39.5%
- Project completion: 35.7%
- Health or fitness improvement: 33.8%
- Better relationship w/ boss, co-workers: 33.3%
- Better family relationship(s): 33.3%
- Increased energy: 31.9%
- More fun: 31.9%
- More income: 25.7%
- Stopped a bad habit: 25.7%
- Change in career: 24.3%
- More free time: 22.9%
- Increased profitability of business: 17.1%
- Other: 15.3%
- Started new business: 12.9%
- Empowered employees: 11.0%
- Business turn around: 09.0%
- Change in residential location: 05.7%
Value of The Coaching Investment
A landslide of 98.5% of coaching clients said their investment in a coach was well worth the money. * 70% of clients said their investment in a coach was very valuable.
- 28.5% said their investment was valuable.
- 1.5% said their investment in a coach had not been valuable.
Merrill C. Anderson, Ph.D.
MetrixGlobal, LLC
November 2, 2001 |
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