Coaching interrupted

This article is intended for everyone who does not believe in the power of coaching, mentoring or therapy. It is also meant for those who have either already had a negative experience, have not received the expected results or have not received any results at all.

Coaching without results

How is it possible that people do not get expected results from coaching, mentoring or therapy? We have tried to put together some of the most common reasons.

1. Living up to general expectations: very often coaching does not bring any visible results because expected results are not something a person really wants to achieve. Rather, it is something a person believes he/she has to achieve. The most common examples here are career promotion and family creation. If those objectives are not the sincere personal expectations but the acceptance of a general trend or social pressure, it would be difficult to expect positive results from any coaching related to the matter.
2. Not being fully ready to embrace expected results: often a person is eager to achieve something, but not sure how this achievement would correlate with other expectations. For example, a person wants to create a family, but is concerned that it might become a real challenge for his personal freedom. This concern needs to be addressed, so that a person discovers how it feels to have a family and feel free at the same time without excluding one or another.
3. Negative past experience: this can be related, for example, to incorrect expectations in terms of the final result or the speed of its receipt. In this case, it is essential to be realistic: it is difficult to expect to resolve all the problems which have been accumulating during the past, for example, 40 years of life during a single session.
4. Unwillingness to take responsibility for one’s own life: it is easier to complain about a coach than to make some proactive steps by applying received knowledge in real life.
5. Inability to choose a specialist who will be able to help in a particular case. This can happen, for example, when a person gets in touch with a specialist based on someone else’s advice without figuring out whether an approach applied by this specialist suits specific needs of a given person.
6. Lack of knowledge about human psychology and physiology. If we experience some physical pain we tend to seek consultation with a medical doctor in a specific area of expertise. We are often unable to see a broader context and to consider that maybe our pain has a psychosomatic basis and can be resolved by a coach, psychologist or therapist.
7. Low self-esteem: some people find it easier to make decisions for others, but not for themselves. Moreover, some people don’t feel they deserve to make investments in themselves.

An unfortunate experience of the past should not determine the fate of new experiences. In fact, any experience is valuable and can be used for personal growth. Looking back at the first experience, it is good to see what was done and what was not; what mistakes were made and what criteria would be necessary to use in the future while choosing a specialist.

Many clients with whom we work, have had in the past their positive or negative experiences. During our first conversations, we are always eager to determine whether a given training is suitable for each individual client or not. We specify their expectations. We reflect on similar cases we have dealt with previously in order to see which strategies may work. We also look deeper into failures of their first experiences, searching for understanding on what hasn’t worked.

We invite you to submit a request for a consultation with our specialists. Together we can assess whether our training is right for you personally.

And what about you? Have you tried to follow some coaching, mentoring or therapy sessions? Have they been successful? Have they boosted or decreased your trust in professional coaching support?

“All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players…”

(W. Shakespeare, As You Like It)

We believe that each and every one of us is not only a leading actor but first and foremost a writer of our own destiny. Overwhelmed by life events, we may unintentionally forget that we are the sole playwrights of our own lives. We may even unwittingly drop or lose the thread of our unfolding life story. Then, we start questioning ourselves and let others do the writing for us. Doesn’t this happen to all of us occasionally? The best thing we can do is to resume the leadership as soon as we can: only we should write the play of our life!

With the renewed confidence and new skills, we design new perspectives. Coaching and training are some of the best instruments we use to achieve this goal.