Red Flags to Watch For When Choosing a Coach
Trust Your Instincts Here
I have talked to a lot of physicians who hired a coach, had a bad experience, and then decided coaching itself was the problem. It was not. They just picked the wrong person.
Choosing a coach is a real decision. And like any decision, it helps to know what to watch out for. Here are the red flags I would pay attention to.
They Promise Specific Outcomes
No coach can guarantee you a promotion. No coach can promise you will land a department chair role or get that grant funded. If someone is making those kinds of claims, they are selling you something other than coaching.
Good coaching changes how you think and how you show up. The outcomes follow from that. But they are yours, not the coach's to promise.
They Use a One-Size-Fits-All Approach
Academic medicine is its own world. The politics, the publish-or-perish pressure, the Byzantine promotion processes. A coach who treats you the same way they treat a tech executive or a small business owner is going to miss the things that matter most.
If your coach does not ask detailed questions about your specific environment in the first conversation, that is a problem.
They Do Most of the Talking
A coaching session is not a lecture. If you are sitting there nodding while your coach delivers a monologue about what you should do, you are not being coached. You are being told.
The best coaches ask sharp questions and then get out of the way. Your thinking should take up most of the session, not theirs.
They Get Defensive When You Push Back
A good coach welcomes challenge. If you say "that does not resonate with me" and your coach gets flustered or dismissive, pay attention. That tells you something about how they handle discomfort. And coaching, done well, involves a fair amount of discomfort.
They Are Vague About How They Work
You do not need a peer-reviewed methodology deck. But a coach should be able to explain what a typical engagement looks like. How often you meet. What happens between sessions. What their approach is and why.
Vagueness is not mystery. It is a lack of preparation.
They Pressure You to Commit
High-pressure sales tactics have no place in coaching. If someone is pushing you to sign a six-month contract after a single conversation, slow down. A good coach knows that fit matters more than speed. They will give you room to decide.
One Bad Experience Does Not Mean Coaching Is Wrong for You
It means that particular coach was wrong for you. The difference matters. If you have been burned before, do not close the door. Just be more selective about who you open it for.
If you want to explore what coaching looks like when it is built specifically for academic medicine, let's have a conversation. No pressure, no pitch. Just an honest talk about what you need.
