Most people have heard of business coaches, life coaches, leadership coaches, executive coaches, career coaches… Have you heard of success coaches?
Success coaching is a (relatively) new category on the block and we’re diving right into understanding what it is all about, how different (if at all) it is from other categories of coaching, and how one can become a success coach.
What is a success coach?
To put it very simply, success coaches are professionals who guide their clients towards the achievement of success. ‘Success’ can be related to a variety of fields, but in the coaching context, it is understood that success coaching is an educational process that helps an individual significantly enhance their economic achievements and personal wealth.
According to Russ Alan Prince, these are the 3 major components of success coaching:
- It is a process: Success coaching helps individuals to both define and achieve realistic financial goals with greater ease and quicker than would be otherwise possible
- It is educational in nature: Success coaches are hired by people for the knowledge, skills, and expertise they possess along with the ability to create further knowledge
- It amounts to greater personal wealth: The process is all about enhancing personal wealth taking into account resources available, which could also include ‘time’
Roles & responsibilities of a success coach
Success coaches are often employed in higher learning institutions, where they may be referred to as either academic coaches or retention coaches. They can also be found employed in government agencies or have their own independent practice or business.
Here’s how success coaches typically show up for their clients:
- They help identify clients’ strengths and goals
- They help them create realistic and practical strategies toward realizing their goals
- They provide goal-oriented guidance and steps to success
- They encourage active participation
- They help them build their resumes and get better at time management skills
- They perform progress assessments and encourage clients by recognizing milestones and alleviating challenges that come in the way of progress
- They provide continuous feedback, regularly follow up, and help increase accountability
- They consult and collaborate with other stakeholders on clients’ progress, where relevant
- They help inculcate success-enhancing cognitive, psychological, and physical habits & routines
Success Coach Certification
Some success coaches typically possess undergraduate degrees in human services, psychology or counseling and are credentialed through a certifying body such as the International Coach Federation.
Success Coach Salary
Well, success coach salary largely depends upon their experience, qualifications, location, clientele as well as their pricing or business model. But on an average a student success coach can make around $40K to $50K a year.
Key differences between life coaching & success coaching
Some may argue that success coaching and life coaching sound rather similar, but there some differences that make that make them two distinct professions.
- Life coaching is broader in its scope of practice, wherein the client defines the desired results. It can reach into either or both the client’s career and overall life. In contrast, success coaching is customized or tailored to help people achieve realistic educational, financial, or professional goals. In success coaching, coaches assist clients in formulating particular strategies to achieve what the client defines as “success”.
- In keeping with ICF’s definition of coaching, life coaching means “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. The process of coaching often unlocks previously untapped sources of imagination, productivity and leadership.” Success coaches catalyze the overall process towards a particular definition of success at that particular point in the client’s life – for example, from an individual connecting with an apprenticeship program, to establishing and developing the relationship between an apprentice and their employer, to final graduation from the program.
- As the name implies, life coaches look at the big picture. They help people visualize and verbalize their ideal lives and then assist them in creating a comprehensive plan for how to get there. Life coaches also help clients address significant personal obstacles getting in the way of their success. They could be anything from interpersonal skills to organization techniques. On the other hand, success coaches often work on a micro level. For instance, a family might hire them to prepare their high schooler for college, or an individual could use their guidance to start a business or undertake another significant project. Sometimes, organizations hire success coaches to work with a team through a transition period.
Sources: Chron, Betterteam
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