Why choose a Strategic Coach?
1. What is Strategic Coaching?
Strategic Coaching is a proactive form of coaching that supports the coachees to fast-track their success. Most coaching programmes are designed to be 12 weeks long and include anywhere between 30 minute and one-hour zoom weekly meet-ups to assess progress. Increasingly coaches are using technology to enhance the effectiveness of their time, and you can expect to submit your weekly outputs online prior to your zoom call.
2. Why would you want to engage a Strategic Coach rather than a standard Life Coach?
The coaching model commonly employed in Australia and around the world is an American model that is a deliberate noninterventionist approach. The allows the coach to not need any particular expertise in the business the coachee is engaged in, or in personal development more generally. In essence, the coach is there to support the client in making better decisions and hold the client accountable for their actions. It is both achievement-oriented and task-driven. The transformation comes as a result of disciplining yourself to take action despite the discomfort, and in the achieving of specific outcomes.
If you as the client are struggling with internal conflicts, procrastination, doubt, or self-sabotage, these issues fall outside of the province of coaching and the coach is taught to refer you to a counselor, psychologist, or psychiatrist depending on the gravity of the issue.
Direct change work is considered therapy, and not part of coaching. This does two things. This lowers the barrier to entry and people with relatively little training can put themselves out there as coaches. However, coaching clients often feel shortchanged because they assume the coach should be able to facilitate some basic change work, even if it does not include deep dives into the darker recesses of your mind.
Many coaches charge anywhere between $200-$500 per hour, and many clients expect that fees like this should include some intervention if required.
A strategic coach is more holistic. They do have a toolkit they can draw on to facilitate basic change and get you back on track when you get stuck. Whilst it is not therapy, there are a number of typical issues that hold people back, and strategic coaches are well versed in dealing with them.
3. What differentiates a Strategic Coach from a Strategic Psychotherapist, and what can I expect to pay?
Strategic coaches focus on the achievement of goals while strategic psychotherapists tend to address issues. Coaches tend to focus on what can be, while psychotherapists tend to focus on what has been and seek to clear it.
Coaches will set up a 12-week programme and help you set goals that will require time and effort. Psychotherapists will operate in a more ad hoc manner.
The hourly rate for coaches varies enormously. You can expect to pay anywhere between $200 and $400 per hour, although most will charge a flat monthly fee for their services which will usually include weekly zoom meets, as well as the occasional call if something comes up that is more urgent. This fee usually ranges between $500 and $1000 per month. Coaches with particular expertise could charge more than that again.
Good Strategic coaches are rare and can be in high demand. A strategic coach will assist you to achieve more in a matter of three months than you are likely to have achieved in a decade. This is why the very best, from C suite to world-class athletes tend to have coaches.
