Is Coaching a Sustainable Career Choice?

by Kiwa S | Sep 9, 2022

How often have you asked yourself the question, “Is coaching a sustainable career choice?” If the answer is ‘just a few times’, then you can be certain that this question might pop up a number of times more before you finally decide to seriously take up a coaching career.

“Sustainability in coaching seems no different than other careers – as related to resilience it requires 3Ps – Passion for helping others, Passion for developing yourself and Passion for working through change.” – George Phipps (Webinar Attendee)

“Absolutely, the only difference is that the product is you. The more you invest in yourself, the better others experience you.” – Komal Smriti (Webinar Speaker)

Like any other venture that requires time, commitment, strategy and planning, coaching is no different. However, there are additional aspects to coaching that make it a unique career. For example a sense of community is something that coaching can leverage to make it sustainable.

Have a look at how different attendees of the webinar define sustainability differently, but which all add up to building a successful coaching career.

“Sustainability means to keep adding in the basket of your skills to empower others.” – Akansha Jain

“I think to have a sustainable career requires that we continue to upskill, particularly with technology moving as it does, and also to keep up with the generations of the future.” – Cynthia Soares

“Sustainability is continuing to engage in new opportunities, continuing with what works, and revisiting prior learning to update and evolve with new needs.” – Jennifer Cohen

“Staying true to your reason for being in business, ability to face the ups and downs, being open and flexible enough to change with the times, working on self before supporting others to work on themselves.” – Sridhar Laxman

“The ability to sustain could be linked to the willingness and ability to reinvent, sometimes the reinvention is so undefined that some unsettling feelings may arise.” – Ami Mehta

Here are some questions for you to explore that can impact your coaching journey.

How does one sustain themselves?
Does one have the ability to sustain?
What does it take to build a business pipeline?
Apart from gaining credentials and subject knowledge, what are the other areas that coaches should explore?
How does one peg coaching fees? How can one try to be patient and perfect the skills of coaching?
What does sustainability look like in different phases of your coaching journey and finally what’s a mantra that will always hold you steady during rough times?

You will be able to find answers to these questions in this webinar where Gayatri Krishnamurthy, PCC Coach and Komal Smriti, PCC Coach explore how to navigate through this rollercoaster journey. You will learn about what anchored them as they worked towards creating an empowering space for themselves and others on the way. They speak about why it is important to stay connected to one’s purpose, passion and how to take practical steps to build financial sustainability while balancing the emotional challenges that may play out. The conversation further highlights the importance of focusing on upskilling and growing.

If you want to learn more about this topic, Gayatri recommends the book, “Seeing Around Corners: How to spot inflection points before they happen” by Rita McGrath (2019).