The natural connector

You’re not just a good listener—you’re a listener on a mission. Your ideal job is and always has been one in which you can communicate one on one with people and help them achieve positive results. Even the times when you’ve just offered informal help to a friend or family member, it felt natural. And there was nothing so fulfilling as when they followed your advice—and it worked.

You’ve been curious about the coaching profession for a while—either because you know someone who does it or have received coaching yourself. You may have even survived a health crisis (or supported a family member through one) and recognize that not only is this something you would love doing, but that it’s also pretty important. You also wonder if this will be a viable career, and if so, how that all works.

I’ve long said that coaches play a critical role in the (r)evolution of healthcare and that the collaboration among licensed clinicians (doctors, nurses, physician assistants) and non-licensed practitioners (nutritionists, coaches) is going to be central to the future of medicine.

So whether you’ve gone so far as to look into certification or have even done some coaching yourself, chances are you’re hungry for more education, more strategies, and more tools. The best coaches are! What you don’t need is medical or technical training. I believe coaches have their own skill set, and it doesn’t require or, frankly, permit them to practice medicine. Leave that to the practitioners—so that you can focus on how to become a better, more effective coach.

What you do need, however, is the framework that allows you to see how all of this works together—and a solid business model so you can make coaching sustainable for you as a career.