You’re considering self-employment in Executive Coaching. What benefits should you expect?

Executive Coaching is an exciting profession. As a Self-employed Coach, you have "flexibility and autonomy" to function. You are at liberty to choose your Clients, decide the location, frequency and duration of your delivery sessions. It is advisable to consult your Client organizations and decide the above, based on mutual acceptance. As a Self-employed Coach, you can fix your preferred fees for the services rendered by you.

I started my coaching practice while I was working full time. It’s a great way to gauge if you think you might like to do it full time. This approach allows you to build up a client base, get your systems in order, build frameworks, and explore your pricing structure. Sometimes we only look at the great things about being an executive coach, such as flexibility, not commuting, and yeah no more ‘death by meetings’ corporate culture! But you also have to be able to sell, network, managing your books, and all the admin that goes into a coaching practice. It’s worth it, and I am thrilled I did it, but use the flexibility the coaching offers you to “try before you career change buy”! ;-)

Coaching others require time spent on refreshing you, the coach. Therefore, having flexibility to read, run, and spend time with the family. I live by the belief that everybody needs a coach, so I also seek out others to obtain feedback, and also ideas on what they have accomplished.

Venturing into self-employed executive coaching offers a unique blend of professional freedom and personal fulfillment. One of the biggest perks is autonomy. You control your schedule, location, and clientele. This allows you to choose projects that align with your passions and expertise, fostering a more satisfying work experience. You can also set your own fees and craft your coaching methodology, giving you greater control over your income and impact. Beyond flexibility, self-employment lets you witness the direct results of your efforts. Seeing executives you coach flourish under your guidance is a deeply rewarding experience. The satisfaction of knowing you're making a positive impact on individuals.

I chose self-employment specifically for the benefits of flexibility and autonomy. I transitioned from a corporate career about 15 years ago, and embracing the flexibility was harder than I anticipated. It took me a while to let go of my deeply ingrained beliefs relating to the "rules of work". I had to redefine what success meant to me and get comfortable with what that meant in terms of my work days/hours and how I created value in my new business. It took time but was absolutely worth it.

As a Self-employed Executive Coach, you can function without fetters providing tangible Creativity and Innovation benefiting your Client organizations. You can design and deliver tailor made courses in your coaching sessions, meeting specific needs of your Clients. Your unique style and personality can be revealed in such coaching sessions.

There is nothing to limit your "Income and Growth Potential", as you can stretch your time, energy and resources to serve as many Clients as possible. You can scale up your Executive Coaching profession according to your vision, mission, goals and more importantly based on the reputation you earned in your profession.

Marketing while working is one of the challenges. A coach needs to consider a percentage of time focused on additional work. This should be through organizations or areas to offer written material.

Self-employment has its own limitations, as there is no guarantee on regular income stream. As an experienced Executive Coach, you can manage the confronted Challenges with suitable solutions/approaches. To overcome business uncertainties and to ensure success in your marketing efforts, you need to plan and prepare a detailed approach to promote yourself and market your professional skills. Not to get disappointed, you need to set realistic achievable goals and grow systematically.

Life takes on a broader perspective. Having the honor of holding a space for others most inner thoughts gives you perspective of your world. In other words, it makes you infinitely wiser. This is the most valuable benefit that coaching brings.

As a Self-employed Executive Coach, you need to keep pace with the evergrowing and evolving technologies like AI and ML and assess their impact in the domain of your Clients base. "Learning is a lifelong process". You need to continuously invest time, energy and money in various processes of learning that include attending in-person classes, conferences, workshops, seminars and webinars. You can join professional associations to interact with seniors and peers in your profession, enhancing your network.

I believe that coaching is a profound experience and a fulfilling career path. It adds value to both the coach and the individual being coached. Every conversation with the coachee provides a unique human experience and creates a sense of oneness. In my opinion, coaching brings us closer to serving humanity and finding our purpose. When viewed from a holistic perspective, it opens up opportunities to work with groups and organizations, creating amazing cascading impacts. It is an endless journey towards self-discovery, and from that space, we can create opportunities for others to discover themselves. Therefore, if you are considering coaching as a career path, be open to going back "to your being first."