Point/Counterpoint on Coaching
Author: Susan Dunn, M.A.

In response to Dr. Cathy’s Goodwin’s article, ”The Free Coaching Session May Cost You Plenty,” I want to talk a little about coaching from the standpoint of the coach.

First let me say that I respect the field of consulting, but I don’t really know what consultants do. I have no right, therefore, to an opinion. That’s not what this article is about. What this article is about is that I’m a coach, and I’m telling you upfront what I know and what I don’t know, and I do this with every client. Three major things I don’t do are give financial advice, give legal advice, or do therapy.

However, I do “sell expertise.” I bring with me 25 years in marketing, public relations and fundraising. I am currently working with a client who’s relying on this expertise. I doubled the annual income of the nonprofit I worked for in 2 years. I’m qualified to talk about fundraising. I have expertise and I have coaching skills. I can also advise him on how to avoid the landmines of nonprofit management. In the case of this client, I’m a one-stop shopping center.

In addition to my marketing experience, I have a master’s degree in psychology, understand therapy, and have marketed it. I am currently working with a therapist turning coach who wants to get online. Instead of dealing with a cast of thousands, he deals with me. I do it all - the market research, the marketing plan, the implementation, the website. I won the Golden Web Award last year. I’m qualified.

And yet the cobbler’s children have no shoes. I am not qualified to market myself. The woman who has herself for a marketing expert, has a fool for a client. For this I have a coach. She has a Ph.D. in Psychology, has a successful practice, owns her building, and does corporate coaching. She’s very qualified to help me build my practice, and you can read a couple of chapters in any of her books to find out more about her; she’s nationally published.

I am published on the Internet, and have a website, so you could make a decision about my services without the “free session.” However, in my free sessions I don’t hint of things to come, I leap right in. The prospect’s fear of the unknown would offset any casual promises I made of pie in the sky. Besides, there is no pie in the sky, which my savvy clients know. Coaching is work; I work and the client works. So in my case, your free session is your first coaching session. If you hire me as your coach, you’re already one step closer to your goals.

It’s a wonky world. There are good coaches and bad, just as there are good consultants and bad. Since coaching is an unregulated field, if you’re considering hiring a coach, pay attention. There’s a quality control problem, but no more so, I submit, than in a licensed profession. Getting a Ph.D. in Psychology and a license shows that you have what it takes to get a degree and pass a test; it does not guarantee you’ll be an effective therapist, or even an ethical one. Visit my website for a list of things you should consider when hiring a coach, go here, www.coachauthority.com for a review of coaching websites, and keep your wits about you. There’s a coach for everyone. Make sure you get the right one for you.








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Susan Dunn is a coach who specializes in EQ, marketing of professional services, and helping clients identify their natural talents and maximize them for greater happiness and success. She has an M.A. in Clinical Psychology, is widely published on the Internet, and invites you to visit her at www.susandunn.cc. In addition to private coaching, she offers ecourses and teleclasses on various topics. Email her for free ezine: sdunn@susandunn.cc. Write "ezine" for the subject line.

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