By: Max Kalis, Career Coach at The Last Coach
- It Makes Financial Sense. Let’s begin by tackling the return on investment question. Imagine that you want to change your career in order to produce what you perceive as $50k of benefits. Let’s say that means a $25k salary raise and $25k worth of other benefits including enjoying your career journey more, feeling more confident and in control. For the cost of a coaching program (around AUS$1500 for 6 sessions) it statistically makes sense to do the coaching if it is capable of improving the likelihood of this new reality by just 3.3%. Still skeptical..?
- Your Sanity Is Worth Protecting. As well as the main source of income, our careers are probably the primary source of stress in our lives. Burnout from work is increasingly common. The 2021 study by Indeed shows it is at the highest level ever and is increasingly reaching younger and younger generations. Your wellbeing and sanity deserve protecting. A coach can customise wellbeing guidelines for you specifically, rather than leaving you to glean generic insights from the internet, if you even have time for that
- Build Resilience Amid Change. In a ‘VUCA’ (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Accelerating) world we have more and more chapters to our working lives which are ever more dynamic than for previous generations. Why not invest in the art of building greater career resilience and agility and control. Get supported with pivoting, whether that’s rebooting an existing role or switch between different roles and the skills will be there for you again the next time the world changes direction.
- Know Yourself. When did you last take full stock of your career journey so far? I mean a really deep exploration in order to recognise the underlying patterns so you can decide consciously whether to break them or keep them. You should only need to do this once and then just need to keep an eye on what you’ve discovered but you do need another person to do this effectively. If you have never done coaching, consider whether that may be from fear (of what underlying insights you could discover) or from pride (protecting a fragile ego). Either way, you have a good chance of learning empowering insights.
- Set Your Own Course. The HR team is on your side, but not as much as they are on the side of the people who pay them. Your friends and family all have their own hang ups and interests. That’s not to say that you need to ditch these sources of opinion on your working life. However, a good coach is able to bring some objectivity and balance to the debate, helping you to find and protect a path that is truly yours. And have you ever heard anyone say how much they regretted getting a coach for their career? What’s the worst that could happen, that you have to ask for a refund? No coach is going to refuse that if you have made a genuine effort to participate and truly found the experience lacking.
- Be Your Best Self. As with learning an instrument, sport, language or fitness, career building is a skill that is simply better done with a partner that can guide you. Someone for whom to put in the work initially until you’re able to do it for yourself. You can anticipate and rehearse work situations before encountering them in order to be at ease when they occur. You have a limited range of experiences and we’re all subject to our own bias. By working through your role with someone familiar with a broader range of career journeys you are able to improve empathy, the top rated soft skill for improving your career journey. Our working lives are inherently in competition with others and as more of them are getting coaching, there is frankly more need to
- Give Back Better. Success is hollow without completing the circle and giving back. Having been through coaching yourself you’re going to be in a much stronger position to give back empathetically and appropriately. You’ll be better at dealing with challenging
situations, people and conversations. Whether through leadership, mentoring or family support, when you give back wouldn’t you like to be reassured that you’re doing it in the best possible way? Coaching will help you to achieve that too.
I’d be delighted if anyone feels differently about coaching as a result of reading this and welcome any comments or questions.
Max Kalis, Career Coach at The Last Coach
