What is a Transformational Coach?
I am a Transformational Women’s Empowerment Coach.
In this article, I’ll delve into the significance of transformational coaches in our lives, and highlight the distinctions between a transformational coach and other coaching types. We’ll also explore whether a transformational coach could be a great option for you. Towards the end of this article, I’ll provide some valuable tips on what to consider when selecting a transformational coach.
What Is a Transformational Coach?
A transformational coach focuses on transformation, and that is in contrast to transactions.
A transactional coach is usually trying to get you from point A to point B, with transactions or tasks, steps or goals that you have to get there. A transformational coach might also be looking at certain transactions., but ultimately, they’re providing transformation.
Let’s consider someone who seeks the assistance of a coach in their quest to find true love.
They turn to a relationship coach who can guide them through this journey. During this process, the coach assigns specific tasks to the individual. These tasks may involve actions such as acquiring the services of a stylist to enhance their appearance, and adjusting their wardrobe accordingly. Additionally, they’re encouraged to have professional photographs taken. The next step entails creating a captivating profile on a dating site, which might require the expertise of a skilled writer to ensure its appeal. Once the profile is set up, the individual is then encouraged to embark on a series of dates, where the coach will provide guidance on what to do, say, and how to approach these interactions.
Ultimately, it’s through this meticulous process that the individual is expected to discover their true love. That’s very transactional. There exists a structured process that involves taking a series of sequential steps.Then you’ll find the love of your life.
There are no guarantees in any kind of coaching. Coaching is very dependent on both the coach and the participant. It’s about how much you’re willing to put into it, and where you can go. Obviously, lots of experienced coaches have great experience getting people the results they want.
In the same scenario, if you’re working with a transformational relationship coach, they may still offer some transactional suggestions. For example, they might say, “Let me review your dating profile and see if there’s anything that can be improved or adjusted.” These types of recommendations involve a certain degree of transaction or consultation.
However, their primary focus will be on transformation. They will delve deeper into the underlying issues. They will aim to help you discover what’s preventing you from finding true love. They’ll explore aspects such as your internal barriers, the narratives you tell yourself, how you present yourself, and any self-doubt or lack of confidence that might hinder your progress. They’ll also examine if you have any inner saboteurs so you as a person actually begin to shift. You transform.
That’s what the transformational coach is helping you to do.
This doesn’t mean you become a different person. It means you transform into more of who you truly are.
You’re tapping into the best and deepest aspects of your creative potential and bringing them forth to create the fulfilling life that you want.
I focus on women’s empowerment. I’m helping women find the things that disempower them, that keep them stuck and wondering why they can’t achieve what they want. I do it much more holistically because I tend to believe that if we’re having trouble in one relationship or area of life, we’re probably having trouble in other relationships or areas.
If we’re having trouble at work, we’re probably having trouble with other aspects of our life. Perhaps our personal care. Nothing happens in a vacuum. Things are always interrelated. It doesn’t mean everything has to be falling apart, or everything is great. But often, there’s more than one area or one specific thing in our lives being impacted.
Often, you’ll see coaches or authors of books talking about things from a more transactional perspective in terms of how they market their coaching or how they title their book and what they promise. Then you go to read a book that promises you this new relationship and finding the love of your life, but in the book, it’s actually teaching you all the things you can do to become the best version of yourself. That becomes a more transformational process.
A lot of people initially look for the transactions because they know transformation is tough for them. It’s difficult. They know transformation requires some deep inner work. It might require discomfort. That’s a huge difference between a transformational and a transactional coach.
I have a couple of other articles on coaching that I encourage you to take a look at. One is What Makes A Great Coach that will guide you into what to look for when choosing a coach. The other is Coaching vs Therapy: Which Is Right for You? Take a look at those articles to get more distinctions on what coaching is all about and what might be the right path for you.
Ultimately, a transformational coach is going to pay attention to your growth and your forward movement.
They’re going to be taking a look at who, how, and where you are in your life right now in relation to who, how, and where you want to be in your life. They’ll hopefully do it in a way that’s excavating all of you and looking at the holistic picture of you.
I tend toward a more holistic picture, but not everyone does. Some people focus only on mindset and beliefs. Some people focus on only the emotional realm, or on somatic coaching, which is more about the body and what lives in our bodies. I believe it all works together. Nothing happens in isolation.
A transformational coach is going to want to see how you can do deep work as it’s required. They’re ultimately providing tools for ongoing transformation. That’s what you’re looking at when it comes to what a transformational coach is, and what they do.
What Makes a Transformational Coach Different from Other Coaches?
A transformational coach can actually be in many domains of your life.
You can have holistic women’s empowerment coaching, such as what I offer. You can schedule a free consultation with me to see if that feels right for you. There’s leadership coaching, parenting, wellness, health, business and relationships, all of which can be more transformational coaching focused. They can also be transactionally focused.
Often, transformational coaches are going to include transactional aspects in their coaching. I do that as well. I offer guidance and mentorship in addition to the coaching, so I’m also sharing my lived experience. That’s part of why I became a coach.
A lot of transformational coaches became a transformational coach because they themselves had the transformation, and they want to share it with others.
Similarly, transactional coaches figured out the steps you need to do to get from point A to point B, so that’s what they’re offering. You’ll see both types of coaches in all of these different domains.
In certain cases, fitness coaches primarily focus on providing a structured process or program along with consultations. These interactions can be transactional since they involve following a set of steps (A, B, C) to achieve a specific weight loss goal. It’s much more specific. It can also be transformational because if you lose a hundred pounds by working with a fitness coach, that’ll be pretty transformational in your life. You’ll show up differently. Your whole presence is going to be different, not just physically but internally as well.
You’ll also have your goal-based coaches. Goal-based coaches will focus on a goal, not the transformation. Their focus will be to get you to a certain goal. Perhaps the goal is transformation. That’s fair. But a lot of times the focus is on tangible outcomes like earning a certain amount of money in a business or reaching a specific target audience through marketing efforts. Consequently, the coaching experience with goal-based coaches is often more transactional in nature, prioritizing the necessary steps to achieve the desired results rather than profound personal transformation.
How To Know if a Transformational Coach Could Be of Help to You?
Would a transformational coach be of support to you?
One of the first things I love to consider is, are you going through a major transition in your life?
A lot of times, transitions in our life are an immediate trigger toward a transformation in our life. Whether we’re going through a change in relationship like a divorce, or even a marriage. It’s very different to be single and then be married and have to figure out your life shifting into that way of being.
Or are you going through a major health challenge or transition where you have to meet some challenges and go through some of those difficulties? Are you moving? Are you changing careers or longing to change careers? If you’re experiencing some of these transitions, a transformational coach can be so helpful to you.
Often we’re experiencing the transitions or longing for the transitions because something in us is also longing for a certain amount of transformation. We’re longing to excavate more of our inner wisdom, the deep inner knowing that will help us live more fulfilled and empowered.
Another reason to hire a transformational coach is if you see a gap between where you are now and where you want to be. If there’s a big gap, chances are you want to look at who you can become, and where you need to be.
In the question of who you’re wanting to become, there’s a perfect opportunity for a transformational coach to support you.
Another consideration is, are you willing to do the work of transformation?
If you’re not willing to do the homework your coach assigns to dive into depths, to be willing to answer questions that might seem uncomfortable, to be real with yourself and real with your coach, transformational coaching may not be for you. You won’t have a transformation if you’re not willing to go to those depths.
Are you open to an entirely new perspective?
That’s another thing transformational coaches are really good at doing. They’ll offer you completely new perspectives, a completely different way of seeing things, a completely different vantage point. If you transform, often part of that transformation is through bringing you to new vantage points. It’s not changing who you are as a person. It’s bringing greater awareness to the surface for you.
You must be willing to change perspectives. That can be painful too because maybe you’ve had different beliefs, stories, ideas and perspectives that have felt safe and comfortable, and transformation is going to take you out of your comfort zone for sure.
What To Watch Out for When Hiring A Transformational Coach?
I’ll leave you with one thing to watch out for if you’re going to hire a transformational coach.
Are they trained, and what’s their experience? Do they have formal training you feel comfortable with that allows them to really hold the space for transformation?
Transformation can be messy. It can be challenging. You want to know if this person has direct experience going through these transformations, because direct experience is amazing for coaching. But training is also a big part of what makes a huge difference in how they show up as a coach.
I’ve had experiences of being coached by someone who called themselves a coach but did not have the formal training. They did not honor the most basic things such as safety and ethics. They shared private information I’d spoken with them about in a conversation when we were together in a group of people. That’s completely inappropriate. It creates an incredible lack of safety.
Needless to say, I didn’t coach with them anymore. You want to make sure you’re going to be held in a safe space to do transformational work. Training is what teaches coaches how to make sure they’re maintaining a sense of ethics.
Good transformational coaches know how to hold space for the difficult, big emotions and the challenges that can come with transformation.
That’s the biggest tip I want to give you if you’re thinking about looking into a transformational coach. Make sure they’ve been through formal training to understand how to hold you through the space of transformation.
I hope this understanding of transformational coaching offers a wonderful opportunity for your growth and your future sense of empowerment. I’d be so honored to support you on your transformational journey. Schedule a call and let’s chat about possibilities!
For a video version of, What Is A Transformational Coach?, watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbkEuY0OX6k
