Why Creative Artists Hire Coaches for Career Success

By Dana P. Rowe, PCC, CPCC, CPQC

Whether you’re a writer, a performer, a musician, or an entrepreneur, creative life can be a complex one. And let’s face it, managing your mental health, balancing work and family commitments, or just trying to figure out what the heck the next step is going to be in your career isn’t always easy. And that also goes for deciding what projects you should take on, ways to deal with clients and colleagues, where to spend time and energy…or how much sleep is enough? These are all big questions creatives have to answer every day—and sometimes they need help doing it. Especially if they want a successful career. That’s why I believe that every creative artist needs a coach.

A Good Coach Is a Good Investment

Hiring a coach can actually save you money in the long run! According to recent studies, the potential financial gains can more than cover the cost of working with a coach. The bottom line? Working with a coach to establish a plan for your professional and personal goals can help lead you to higher levels of career success, fulfillment, and increased earnings.

The right coach will not only help boost your income (from taking your art from good to great) but could also help you brainstorm and cultivate overlooked money-making opportunities. This could include teaching workshops and selling your own merchandise.

 

 Celebrities and Career Success

Oprah has always been a vocal proponent of the emotional and psychological benefits that coaching can provide. Martha Beck, one of Oprah Winfrey’s first coaches, is quoted as saying, “Coaches help people find their essential selves and plot a course to their unique best lives.”

Even Leonardo DiCaprio has worked with Tony Robbins, commonly known as the head honcho of life coaching. Robbins has helped hundreds of thousands worldwide by showing them how to tap into their own personal power. He’s done this through his work with individuals and corporations alike, allowing people in all walks of life the chance at reaching a higher level than they ever thought possible before.

Along with Oprah and Leonardo DiCaprio, other celebrities who have worked with life coaches include Nia Long, the band Metallica, Serena Williams, Bill Clinton, Andre Agassi, and Hugh Jackman (to name a few). All these famous people know that a coach can help them achieve their goals better than they could on their own.

 

“Life is so much bigger than tennis. It’s the basic things in the little steps of life that we overlook. You should be the happiest person alive because that’s a gift in itself and Tony (life coach) helped me realize that.” – Serena Williams

What Kind of Coach Do You Need?

Now that we’ve established that having a coach can be valuable in career success and personal growth, what sort of coach would best serve you? There’s no correct answer here! If someone likes being challenged, they might want an extreme motivator-type coach (i.e., Tony Robbins). If someone wants to be told exactly what path to take, they might want a life/business coach (i.e., Martha Beck or Michael Hyatt).

How Do You Define Career Success?

It’s essential to know what more career success means to you to get a clear picture of the coach you are looking for. There are many factors to consider. A potential coach may have any qualification from being professionally certified and holding relevant degrees, to having a variety of prior coaching experience, or maybe they’re a newly minted coach, which could bring yet another unexpected level of discovery and support.

What Skills and Areas of Experience Could You Look For in Your Coach?

Sometimes coaching specialties will include different career interests, such as business strategist, professional speaker, or executive coach.

 

· Creative Marketing, Business Strategy, and Execution

· Creative Career Assessment

· Expand Your Networks

· Counseling skills

· Team-building skills

· Communication and project management skills

· Business start-up advice

· Mentoring skills

· Industry-specific experience and/or achievements

· Recognized certifications such as those from the ICF (International Coaching Federation)

 

It’s essential to find a coach who understands your particular challenges and possibly has experience in your chosen field. With this level of support, you’ll be able to achieve goals and maintain confidence — as well as set up a game plan for the future.

While it might be challenging to pinpoint what the exact “it” might be that makes for your ideal coach, along with expertise and experience, there must be an organic connection so they can bring out the best in you!

 

“Everyone needs a coach. We all need people to give us feedback. That’s how we improve.” – Bill Gates

The Creative “Juggle”

Creative Professionals are constantly juggling a million things at once. It’s challenging work, from managing deadlines to finding new ways of expressing yourself creatively while maintaining high standards and quality!

Working with a Coach

The first thing a coach will usually do is help you figure out what you want and need. They’ll ask lots of questions to get a sense of where your head is at, and then they’ll help you identify your goals and think about the best way to help you get there. The coach doesn’t give you the answers or make significant decisions for you. Instead, they’ll ask questions to help stimulate your thoughts and ideas so that you can be the one making those decisions.

They’ll give you the tools and support you need to get clarity, focus on what’s important, and even create habits that help you move forward with confidence.

Coach = Accountability + Support + Insight

“Executives and HR managers know coaching is the most potent tool for inducing positive personal change, ensuring better-than-average odds of success and making change stick for the long term.” – The Ivy Business Journal

The ideal coach will show up as an ally who helps keep things moving forward and who will hold you accountable when necessary (but even then, it’s never about being punitive). You’ll be free to focus on your work because your coach is looking out for you. They are there to help you interpret what’s going on with your career (or business), give you feedback, support you through the challenges, and help you move forward in a way that works specifically for you.

This kind of guidance can be crucial for creative career success because sometimes we are our own worst critics. A good coach will challenge your thinking and help you see things in new ways, but they’ll also be there to hold onto your agenda and remind you why it’s so important to follow through with them.

Setting Goals and Staying on Track

Sometimes we take a step back from our lives and wonder how we got to where we are. Maybe you feel stuck in an old mindset that no longer serves you, or maybe you want more out of your career, but it seems unattainable. A coach can help you shift your perspective to see things differently and feel more confident about your life’s direction.

Being Your Best Self

Your coach will ask questions about what your personal values are. That way, they can help you think about how your decisions affect those values. Because when it comes down to it, this is what we are all working towards—it’s not just about making more money or finding success; it’s about finding satisfaction in what you do and knowing that you’re making a positive difference in the world.

Support When Things Get Tough

Connecting with someone we can confide in is often difficult. It might feel like a sign of weakness or that the person will judge us for what we say. A coach, however, is someone who will listen without judgment, keep your conversations confidential, and help you find a solution. They are there to remind you that your feelings matter, and they can help you learn how to manage your emotions rather than allow them to dictate how you feel or react in certain situations.

Learning to Let Go

Another thing a coach can do is teach you how to let go of things that don’t serve you anymore. Part of getting more emotionally resilient is learning to disengage from anything that’s no longer benefiting us, such as an unhealthy relationship, toxic work or home environment, or unrealistic expectations. A coach can help you dig deeper to find out what’s truly going on with your emotions and why it’s so hard for you to let go of something that doesn’t serve you anymore.

 

Finding Your Coach

You will find hundreds of resources online that offer up names and faces of coaches – some brilliant and others less so.

Do some research. When you are clear about what you’d like to accomplish and what sort of support you’d like to have, ask friends or search online for the sort of coach you are looking for. Like many things in life, you can spend as little or as much as you’d like on a coach. Get the one that’s right for you and get the best coach you can afford. My suggestion is to contact at least three coaches and set up complimentary chemistry sessions to see if it’s a good fit!

I Understand, I’ve Been There

As a creative soul who has been on both sides of the equation, I feel confident in telling you that hiring yourself a coach is one of the best investments you can make. My coaches have profoundly impacted my career, relationships, creative collaborations, and the quality and flow of my art — that is to say, my life.

You’re Worth It!

For all the study, practice, hours, and hard work you have put in so far towards becoming a successful creative artist, why not hire yourself a coach who will not only help guide you through the tough times to get over your obstacles but help you move to that next level of success?

What Level of Career Success is Possible for YOU?

A good coach will help keep your life and career aligned with what you want to achieve; they’ll be an unbiased sounding board for ideas and give clear feedback about where there might be some blocks or limiting beliefs holding back your progress. They’re also someone who’s going to encourage you when things get tough and remind you how fantastic your successes are when times are great! Hiring a coach is not just for business owners, executives, and entrepreneurs but also for creatives.

“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” – Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist, Letters, 1973

“You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no results.” – Gandhi