The impact of working with a life coach, especially one trained in transformational coaching methods, can be truly life-changing. But is it really worth the investment of your time and money? As a coach and as a regular coach (person being coached) I believe 100%.
In this post I share eight key benefits of transformational coaching (plus five more positive effects worth mentioning). I have witnessed or personally experienced all of them in my own coaching clients and in my own life.
1. Greater transparency
A cornerstone of the transformational coaching process is time and space dedicated to thinking your best thoughts. When you give your mind this space, clarity appears. You begin to become crystal clear about what you really want in your personal life and career.
My clients also often talk about ‘getting unstuck’, because as their thinking becomes clearer they are able to identify what they need to do to move forward.
I am a huge advocate of Nancy Cline’s work. Cline pioneered a method of listening called ‘thinking environments’ to help people think for themselves. He believes that ‘thinking for oneself is still a radical act’. Transformational coaching encourages you to do this: that is, think for yourself to gain clarity of vision and thought.
Ask yourself the following: When was the last time someone really listened to what you had to say without interruption? With compassion and interest?
2. Increased confidence
Increased confidence goes hand in hand with clarity as one of the key benefits of transformational coaching. As a natural result of gaining clarity about your situation and taking action towards the changes you want to make, you are likely to feel more confident in yourself. You begin to trust your innate abilities and judgement.
An important part of the transformational coaching approach is that you make the client feel like your coach is creative, resourceful, and complete. You don’t need ‘fixing’. You already have all the answers you need inside of you. My job and skill as a coach is to help you draw these answers through the considered questions I ask. This is how I work with you to increase your sense of trust.
The ability to set your goals and be internally driven to achieve them is called autonomous motivation.
Corey D. Miller describes the process as follows: “Autonomous motivation means that the individual controls the decision-making process. The coach provides resources and support and pulls in when needed, but the coach is in charge.” (Positive Psychology: 30 Proven Benefits of Life Coaching and Mentoring).
You are much more likely to stick to your goals if you have autonomous motivation. Transformational coaching fosters the confidence and self-belief you need to effect real change.
3. Greater sense of purpose in life
As the coaching continues and you begin to experience improved clarity and confidence, you may begin to feel a greater sense of purpose. You feel more capable of re-imagining what is possible in your life and career now and in the future. That’s because transformational coaching empowers you. It puts you back in control.
Some of my clients have had great AHAs! moments about their larger purpose in life during our coaching sessions. This can happen when people are listened to empathetically and have uninterrupted time and space to think out loud.
4. Freedom from negativity
Another life-changing benefit of transformational coaching is its deep work to identify and challenge limiting beliefs, negative thoughts and assumptions that are holding you back.
We all have these mental challenges. Often they prevent us from living happy lives and reaching our goals. They express themselves with thoughts such as ‘I’m never good enough’, or ‘Success will never happen to me’ or ‘People won’t like me if I show them who I really am’.
In coaching we work to uncover what is really at the root of your negative assumptions and beliefs. Once identified, we can challenge their validity. This way we can minimize their negative impact and replace them with a more positive mindset to move forward. You can make powerful shifts in perspective and literally rewrite the stories you’ve been telling for years.
5. Unique personal toolkit
During a coaching program, you will find that you are building a unique personal toolkit of techniques and strategies specific to your needs. These will come up naturally over your time with your coach. They can be new ways of solving problems, or dealing with anxiety, or personal checklists to remind you how to stay on track. We do this so that you can return to these techniques again and again long after the coaching is over.
Depending on what work you’ve done with your transformational coach, your personal toolkit may include anything from strategies for combating negative thoughts, creative visualizations of your future, to a written five-year plan with action steps to help you get there.
Typically your toolkit may include techniques and tools to help you:
1. Build resilience
2. Increase productivity
3. Reduce negativity
4. Plan effectively
5. Know how to help yourself in challenging times
6. A path to your goal
Perhaps one of the best-known benefits of transformational coaching is its ability to help you set goals and chart a path for you to achieve them.
There are many ways coaching can help you get from A to B in the specific transition you want to make. For those who are able to imagine, creative visualization is a useful tool for envisioning your ideal day/job/future. If words come more naturally to you, your coach can use the coaching techniques of narrative coaching, asking you to act out your own story.
However you get there, developing an idea of your desired outcome/goal(s) and charting a path to get there is an important part of the transformational coaching journey.
Once you have the big picture, your coach will work with you to create a focused, detailed action plan. You’ll name the steps you need to take, know the order in which you need to take them, identify obstacles that might be holding you back, and come up with solutions to overcome them. The process is structured, creative and empowering. It can push you forward in a time frame that you previously didn’t imagine was possible.
Even if your desired outcome is more internal—working on the core assumptions that hold you back in life, for example—the process of identifying and becoming clear about your ideal way of being and discovering the way to get there is the same.
7. Accountability
One of the most powerful and essential benefits of transformational coaching is the value of accountability.
Accountability fights procrastination because it keeps you focused on your goals and helps you stay on track more successfully.
Most coaching sessions end with time spent reviewing objectives for the time between sessions. My own approach is to ask clients to name the action steps they want to take before we meet. Often these relate to the overarching goals we set together when we first met. Naming action steps alone allows coaches to hold themselves accountable. Coaching is an amazingly collaborative process!
To help with accountability I like to send an email summary immediately after each session. This helps the client reflect on their work and any insights they may have.
It may be surprising to learn that much of the change that occurs during a coaching program occurs between sessions. The unconscious mind is awakened by conscious thought which takes place in the coaching space. This is why I will offer clients additional accountability in the form of mid-session e-mail check-ins to support this process.
8. Conversion
The ultimate, truly life-changing benefit of transformational coaching is the transformation itself: the successful rethinking of ourselves, our priorities, and our lives.
With time and your commitment to work, lasting changes in your personal and professional life are entirely possible with the support and encouragement of a life coach. The process can be creative and profound.
My own experience is that the key to successful change depends on two things:
1. The quality of the relationship between coach and coachee
3. A sincere commitment by both coach and client to the coaching journey
3. If these two factors are present, the sky is your limit and lasting, life-enhancing change is possible—at any age or life stage.
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