Career in Life Coaching

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Life coaching was born in the USA about twelve years ago. There are already several thousand well-established coaches over there but, here in Australia, the profession has been recognised for just a few years. With increased mentions and coverage in the national media, more and more people are seeking their own personal life coach. Many become clients on the recommendation of friends who have already enjoyed the amazing benefits of coaching.

"Being part of the LCA family means that I can be in business for myself without feeling that I am by myself. This reassurance has helped me to build my practice with success and confidence."

An increasing number of people are adding life coaching to their own portfolio of skills. Some delegates are doing so for their own purposes along their path of personal development. Some delegates are already on a career path and become coaches so that they can take their skills back to the workplace and use them to help their fellow employees. Recent corporate delegates at LCA have included staff from Arthur Andersen, British Telecom, Glaxo Wellcome, Vaig Group & Snap Printing.

The majority of delegates see life coaching as a development of something that they may have been doing informally for years as a 'listening friend'. Now they aim to use these talents and turn them into a rewarding part-time or full-time practice.

Most coaching sessions are conducted over the telephone. Your client calls you at a pre-arranged time each week or fortnight and you work together for an agreed period, usually between 30 minutes and an hour. You can do this from your own home and arrange times to suit your domestic routine and other commitments. You will need a telephone in a place where you will be free from distractions and where you can write notes as the session progresses. Some coaches also use a fax or email facility but these are not essential.

"The best career choice I have ever made! It is so satisfying and rewarding to experience the changes that are made. The course was invigorating and the support from my mentor coach was tremendous!"

New coaches are sometimes concerned that they will have difficulties in finding clients. Once you have your first few, you will find that word of mouth recommendation brings others. Our coaches have found some interesting ways in attracting new clients here are some of the examples:

  • A coach approached her local health club with an offer of free consultations to members... and signed up new clients.
  • A coach with an educational background became involved with the new government initiative to provide coaching services for pupils and teachers.
  • A coach provided his local paper with a story about his new business... and got a flood of enquiries when it was published.
  • A coach asked her very first client to recommend some other possible clients... and signed up two of them almost at once.
  • A coach with a financial background found eight clients within his own business network.
  • A therapist offered coaching to her existing clients and won half a dozen coaching clients within a week.