Your clients are not you.
Sometimes, the journey to being a better coach is getting over ourselves.
Hey Fertile Guides!
For so long, one of the core philosophies taught to small business owners is that our ideal client is simply an earlier version of ourselves. And while I think this is accurate - and extremely applicable to those of us working in the fertility space - it’s important to be cautious with this principle when actually support our clients and patients.
Yes, it is true that we are each, uniquely gifted to work with people who are on a journey similar to our own, it doesn’t make those people us. As such, we must be careful to not come to the coaching table and use ourselves as the template for how things should ideally progress.
Now, this may be a no-brainer to you, but let’s take a minute to evaluate some of the ways this self-focused mentality impacts our ability to coach well:
Thinking through how you would approach an issue and then relaying that to a client without evaluating how that would work for them.
Automatically recommending certain things because they worked for you without understanding the entire situation.
Assuming you know the core of the struggle because you’ve been there.
Regularly telling the client how similar you are and referencing your own experience.
I don’t want to diminish your journey, because it is very valid for you. Unfortunately, what you’ve gone through does not automatically apply to your clients and can set you both up for frustration in the long run.
Here’s the key takeaway: Operating on autopilot makes it difficult to be a good listener (reread the guide on listening well here) and unlikely that we will grow as professionals. After all, if we already know the answers, what more is there to learn?
Today, I want to challenge you to go back to the basics and focus on listening well when working with your clients. It will help you better steer the conversation and, who knows, you may even learn a thing or two!