Here’s a question from someone who has been getting our emails but hasn’t participated in any of our coach training yet. She asks a great question… so I wanted to share it.
Hi Mitch
I have been journaling the questions on the mini course every day and I have gone through your video series you offer free. Thank you for making these tools available and your right it has gotten me very excited not only re: the prospect of becoming a life coach but re: your life coach training and certification as well.
One of your emails directed me to a blog post where you had said one of the most important coaching tools you ever used was the phone! What a revelation and I couldn’t agree more that with our time crunched society this would probably be the only way to help our Allies. I am wondering though if that would also be true for coaching teenagers? Would you counsel coaches to only coach over the phone or do you think they need a little more one on one? I’m kinda on the fence and wondered what you thought.
Big Fan
Lynn
Here was my response:
Lynn -
Great to hear from you!
Thanks for all of you kind feedback as well. That means a lot!
As for teens and using the phone for coaching… that is a good question.
In this case… I’d highly suggest experimenting. See what works best for you.
I haven’t had a lot of experience with coaching teens (other than our own kids)… but I’ve had a few young clients over the years. In a few cases, I decided to break with my norm of coaching via the phone and I chose to coach them face to face. In most cases… I found that they actually needed someone to sit across from them, look them in the eye AND show them that I was visibly engaged.
I don’t find that adults need that as much.
In fact, most of my (adult) clients find it very safe to talk via a phone call… where they can find a setting that works for them where they don’t have to worry about being interrupted or overheard.
But… with many of today’s teens… they NEED to see the engagement. They can’t just hear it. They need to see it.
So yes… I’d say if you’re feeling called to work with teens… experiment with it and see what works best for you.
One last thought… is that using the phone and/or technology… does expand your potential reach. For example, since I do all of my coaching via the phone… I can work with anyone in the world. I’m not limited by any kind of geographical restrictions. So one additional “experiment” that you might want to try is using technology like SKYPE. That way your teenage client could “see” you but you wouldn’t be limited by only working with young ones in your area.
(One word of caution though… as you know… some kids have been brought up on tech. So you might need to think of some ways to make them comfortable but at the same time… not have them check out due to a conditioned response to looking at computer screens. BUT… again… it’s certainly worth some experiments to see what works best for you and the kiddos you’re feeling called to!)
Keep up the good work and thanks for the great question!
I hope that helps!
Talk soon,
Mitch
And… I hope that helps you too!
How might you experiment with your potential coaching clients? What tools might you try? Join in the conversation. Comment and let us know.
Keep dreaming big and helping others to do the same,
Mitch Matthews
PS – More information…
If you’re thinking about becoming a coach but you’re not sure if it’s for you… check out the FREE mini-course Lynn has been participating in called “THE 5 CRITICAL QUESTIONS: 5 Questions I wish someone had asked before I became a coach.”








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