As renowned coach Martha Beck said in this article, “As every life coach knows, the way we do anything is the way we do everything.”
One of the best things I have done for me and for my clients is create a job search coaching group that meets twice a week. We meet twice instead of once so people won’t have to spend more than 3 days in a bad headspace.
After almost three years, here’s what I can tell you: The people who make attending a priority get a ton of support and value.
I have been wanting to write a post about how my coaching group can be a proxy for how my clients will show up in work situations, and an indicator of what situations might or might not be a fit for them.
The professionals
I deliberately don’t create a group scheduling link as a test to see how people manage their time. I worry about people who can’t get the days/times and the Zoom link on their calendar.
You’d be surprised by how many people who have had big jobs can’t seem to nail this simple scheduling task.
This is good information for me as I am coaching them.
The executives, leaders, and connectors
People who show up regularly and support other members in the group consistently get the best and fastest results. I have seen this over and over again.
They also tend to be leaders of teams or executives. These professionals just get it. They love to give advice and see people succeed. They cheer other members on.
Many will reach out to have individual conversations to get to know other participants better and to see if they can connect another group member with someone in their network.
They may even send them job postings they have seen.
Even professionals who are natural introverts eventually feel comfortable engaging because they see the same people on the calls week after week.
The disengaged
People who don’t show up and don’t support others may initially not not be ready for corporate jobs, and may do better as contractors or freelancers.
That is good information, and there isn’t one right way to work. But if they tell me they want to target a leadership role, I will ask them some tough questions, because from what I have seen, they are not acting like leaders.
The dismissive
If someone tells me the group meetings and group chat are irrelevant or distracting for them, I have concerns about them joining a company in any role.
This doesn’t mean they can’t work and make a good living, but it might mean they should consider starting their own business.
Or working as a specific type of individual contributor within a team.
Mostly, it seems to be indicative of a deeper issue like an exaggerated sense of self-importance.
Or maybe a difficult time in their life. Or poor boundaries with social media.
But I will say that if you can’t or don’t want to connect with others, I don’t know how you will be successful as an employee, much less in a leadership role.
So, is behavior in my coaching group a useful proxy? I think it is.
Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash
