Too many coaches?

Are there too many coaches? A good friend recently made the off-hand comment that coaches were ‘a dime a dozen.’

There are an unending number of coaching specialties. Most marketing gurus advise coaches to find a niche and fill it. And since many certified coaches come from other fields it stands to reason that they would focus on an area where they have some previous expertise.

So, there are coaches who specialize is lifestyle, fitness, careers, nutrition, parenting, money, happiness, spirituality, organization and a host of other areas too numerous to mention.

While there are well-established schools and training programs to certify coaches there is still no nationally recognized standard so there is nothing to stop anyone from just putting up a shingle or building a web page.

I don’t know if my friend’s comment is indicative of the public’s attitude toward coaching. I certainly hope not, and my area of expertise, which focuses on career counseling, there doesn’t seem to be a shortage of people looking for a new career – either voluntarily or not.

In this country the issue is more likely to be an individual’s recognition that a coach could help them clarify their goals and make decision-making more effective and, in the long run, more effective.

But I will admit that there can be so many choices in coaching that even deciding what kind of coach you need can be daunting.

My suggestion is to look at local organizations-such as East Bay Coaches – and check out their web directory – at least it narrows the list to folks who are committed enough to join a professional organization.

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