Good coaching has many benefits, and can actually be life changing. But the nature of the profession can also make it susceptible to burnout and high stress levels for coaches.
How to coaches stay sane and highly functional?
Nance recently contributed to this topic on the Aware Now business blog and talked about the benefits of coaches, having their own coach.
5 Strategies to Stay Sane as a Coach
Strategy #3 – Use Other Coaches
“Another way to stay sane… is to use the very thing you offer to others: coaching. Certified coach Mike Bundrant of iNLP Center advises fellow coaches that “we should walk our own talk and hire a coach! Every life coach should be in coaching as a client. It’s our professional duty to work on ourselves.” Indeed, some clients could take the position that if coaching is so valuable, that there would be something odd about their own coach not taking advantage of this opportunity.
In particular, coaches can provide part of an early warning system for signs of impending burnout, as discussed in the previous section. According to Nance L. Schick, New York City-based conflict resolution coach of Third Ear Conflict Resolution, “nearly every coach I know has a coach. We also have mastermind groups or other accountability partners because we know that our work can be emotionally, energetically, and intellectually draining. We need to have mutually nurturing and supportive relationships, which help to identify burnout in its early stages.”
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Nance L. Schick, Esq., is a workplace attorney, ethno-religious mediator, and conflict resolution coach based in New York City. Her goal is to keep you out of court and build your conflict resolution skills so everyone has a better work experience. She helps managers and business owners have empowering conversations about emotionally-charged issues such as gender, race, religion, and disability. She is creator of the Third Ear Conflict Resolution process, author of DIY Conflict Resolution, and an award-winning entrepreneur acknowledged by Super Lawyers (ADR, 2018, 2019 & 2020), the New York Economic Development Corporation/B-Labs (Finalist, Best for NYC 2015 & 2016), U.S. Chamber of Commerce (2015 Blue Ribbon Small Business), Enterprising Women Magazine (Honorable Mention, 2014 Woman of the Year awards).