There are many people who call themselves coaches—but how do you find the person who is right for you?
Choosing a coach involves more than reviewing credentials or finding someone with experience in your profession. You are selecting a thinking partner: someone with whom you can be candid, explore unfinished thoughts, challenge assumptions, and consider new possibilities without feeling judged.
In this episode of Growth Beyond Boundaries, Andy Huckaba, Teresa Schwab, and Phyllis Collins explore what professional coaching feels like and how to choose the right coach.
What coaching is—and how it differs from consulting
Where to find qualified coaches
Why credentials matter but do not guarantee fit
What to notice during a chemistry conversation
Questions to ask and warning signs to recognize
Why trust, vulnerability, and readiness matter
Coaching provides protected time to stop, breathe, think out loud, and make sense of tangled thoughts.
A coach listens deeply, creates room for reflection, and asks questions that help you identify what matters most.
Coaching should feel safe and nonjudgmental—but it may not always feel comfortable. A strong coach supports you while helping you examine assumptions, patterns, and choices that may limit your growth.
Begin by clarifying what brings you to coaching: a challenge, transition, recurring pattern, decision, or new opportunity.
A consultant generally brings expertise and recommendations. A coach helps you think, learn, explore possibilities, and develop an approach that fits you.
Start with trusted organizations and referrals. ICF credentials—ACC, PCC, and MCC—provide evidence of coach-specific education, experience, competency assessment, and ethical commitment.
Talk with two or three coaches. During each conversation, ask:
Do I feel heard and understood?
Does the coach listen more than they talk?
Can I imagine being candid and vulnerable?
Will this person support me while also challenging me?
Does the conversation feel natural rather than pressured?
As Andy shares: “Chemistry is everything.”
Ask about the coach’s philosophy, training, expectations, approach to support and challenge, how progress will be recognized, and the fees and terms.
Be cautious if the coach dominates the conversation, offers solutions before understanding you, is unclear about confidentiality, guarantees an outcome, pressures you to commit, or leaves you feeling judged.
Good coaches give you space to decide whether the partnership is right.
Choose someone with whom you feel safe enough to be vulnerable. Begin with trusted organizations and referrals. Speak with more than one coach. Look for chemistry that creates safety, creativity, confidentiality, exploration, and growth.
What would you need to experience in an initial conversation to trust someone as your coach?
Subscribe to Growth Beyond Boundaries and share this episode with someone considering coaching.
ICF — Find a Coach
https://coachingfederation.org/get-coaching/
ICF Heartland — Find a Coach
https://www.icfheartland.org/content.aspx?club_id=151304&page_id=145
Other Growth Beyond Boundaries Episodes that connect with this Episode:
Episode 18 — Coaching Employees Who Want the Answer
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2NpnDrdG1IiTnBwATHMGUK
Episode 26 — The Infrastructure of Trust
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2u3Wjzdp5fBwtMHaFrn17J
Episode 30 — The Power of the Pause
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4uSkujugZjq5lwucAUNy0M
Podcast archive
https://adastracoachalliance.com/coaching-podcast/
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