Be Straight with Your Clients
Hi coaches! This week I want to speak to the power of being straight with clients. For me, it is front of mind since the last blog I posted. When I first got started in this industry in 1989 being straight with clients seemed to be such a risk. Each time I did it I felt like I might be risking my contract with the client. I would even catch myself trying to be more diplomatic and careful with what I said. Well, about 6 years ago, not being straight finally cost me a contract. I began to wonder how many other contracts I have put at stake being diplomatic or careful. I knew that I could no longer take the chance of not being straight.
I share this with you to make the point that as coaches we cannot risk our clients' futures by being careful, diplomatic or selective in our communication. After all, don't they pay us to shake things up, to say what they might not say, to push them beyond their limits? If you are working with clients who are not open to straight conversations, fire them. If you are a coach too fearful of being straight, transform that conversation or get out of the business. This might sound drastic, but being straight is so important to what we do and who we are as coaches.
What do you think? What have you learned or experienced by being straight with clients?
Have a great week, Coach Gary Henson
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