People frequently ask me how often do I need to meet with my clients to coach them effectively. The answer is that it is never the same for everyone, as each person is different, and I have realised that not all my clients respond to being pushed in the same way.

Of course it is all about personalities, and I pride myself on being able to understand people well, and therefore how they are best likely to respond to my coaching. Some, perhaps the most driven entrepreneurs, like to be pushed hard and like to meet every 3 weeks or so. Others like to think about things over quite a period of time, and actually push me away if I push too hard. Then there are the rest on a steady sliding scale between those two extremes.

The thing is, the general consensus (or common wisdom) is that a good coach is one that pushes hard and doesn’t allow their clients to get away with not carrying out agreed actions, or to have excuses. However, I do not hold with this opinion, as I firmly believe that the coaching regime needs to be tailored to my clients’ wishes. After all coaching should never be about the coach, but always about what the clients’ goals are. So whilst I will hold them accountable, and drive them ever onwards to those stated goals, it needs to be done at their speed, to suit their lifestyle and the best way they find to get results.

As I often say, this means that I establish strong relationships with my clients, and they trust and understand that I want what is best for them and their business, not just something that makes me feel good. This approach seems to work very well, and I am happy to say that my clients are all reaping the benefits.