“I collaborate with coaches and other knowledgeable individuals.”

Kate Solovieva is a former psychology professor, a PN master coach, and the director of community engagement at PN. This quote has become one of her signature phrases.

While Coach Kate has coached thousands of “ordinary” clients, her main focus is on coaching fellow coaches. Through her role as an instructor for the PN’s Level 2 Master Health Coaching Certification, a facilitator for PN’s exclusive online coaching communities, and as a coach in her personal practice, she gains insight into the questions and challenges that both novice and experienced coaches face.

Coach Kate is aware of what fellow coaches are experiencing. She has witnessed the triumphs and the mistakes made by thousands of coaches, and today, she will reveal three common errors she observes them making. Coach Kate’s ultimate desire is to see her colleagues reach remarkable success, so her aim with this article is to assist coaches in:

• Ceasing to feel immobilized by self-doubt and insecurity—and beginning to expand their business
• Learning to view their clients in a more objective light, enabling them to better address their clients’ needs and aspirations
• Clearly recognizing their duties as a coach (hint: they’re not what many coaches assume)
• Leveraging their innate enthusiasm and commitment to a client’s success—without exhausting themselves in the process

We will explore three frequent coaching missteps, along with solutions to rectify them. Let’s dive in.

Coaching mistake #1: Prioritizing coaching over selling

Coach Kate likens a coaching business to a three-legged stool.

• One leg is the coaching leg (which represents your skills and expertise as a coach),
• A selling leg (which pertains to your ability to market yourself and draw in clients), and
• An administrative leg (which encompasses how clients arrange appointments, process payments, and use various organizational tools and systems).

“Most individuals entering coaching begin with the coaching leg,” Kate notes. “They aspire to be the best coach they can become, which is commendable. However, to elevate your coaching abilities, information and theoretical knowledge alone won’t suffice.”

As Kate states, “You cannot achieve your full potential as a coach in isolation, conversing with yourself in your office.”

Thus, she encourages coaches to resist the temptation to wait until their knowledge feels “complete.”

Instead, she advocates for starting to sell right away.

Why?

Coaches who begin selling sooner also begin coaching sooner.

Gradually, they will hold an advantage over those coaches who strive to be “the BEST coach they can be” by accumulating 12 certifications before offering their services.

In contrast, the coach who “might not fully grasp what they’re doing” but has started practicing will begin to develop their business and coaching experience—and increase their chances of overall success.

Solution: Approach interactions as a COACH, not an EXPERT

A common tendency among aspiring coaches aiming for excellence is to obtain those 12 certifications before embarking on their coaching journey. “Sometimes we cling to the belief that we will eventually reach a level of confidence to tackle any question that arises,” Kate reflects.

As every coach understands, when you start sharing what you do, questions will inevitably come up. Often, these will be questions that you may not have answers for, which can be unsettling… perhaps even embarrassing. (You’re meant to be the expert, right??)

According to Coach Kate, this belief—that you should be an authority with all the answers—is founded on a flawed assumption.

“When I enter a coaching discussion, my role is not ‘the expert,’” she affirms.

Indeed, coaches must show up in client interactions with a foundational understanding of nutrition