What is the best timing for engaging a coach?

Timing is very important.

Perhaps the most critical element contributing clients’ success has been that the timing was right. People pay attention and invest in the process when something important is at stake in the coaching.

Coaching can be more effective when there is a precipitating event such as being promoted into a leadership role, a preventable error was made, or there is significant division in a team. The precipitating event immediately invests the client in the coaching process.

Master coach, James Flaherty, emphasizes how important this is:

“In coaching, timing is everything. Knowing when to start may well determine if you get anywhere. Since most people aren’t walking around soliciting coaching, it’s the coach’s job to determine when the correct moment occurs. Most people don’t seek out and are not ready candidates for coaching until their everyday life is interrupted.”

— Flaherty, James (2010). Coaching - Evoking Excellence in Others 3rd ed. Elsevier: Oxford.

Coaching will not work for everyone. Early in the process, something important to a client has to be identified. While clients are often skeptical when they start coaching, the coach has to be skilled at helping the client resolve any ambivalence into internalized motivation to create intentional change.

When a potential client is just not ready to put in the effort to initiate changes, another strategy should be implemented. The coach can help a sponsor of coaching or a person interested in coaching determine whether coaching is appropriate for helping achieve a specific goal.

It may not be enough if only the employee is ready to invest in the coaching. The client organization and the client’s manager also have to consider their own readiness for supporting the coaching. If there has been too much water under the bridge, as the saying goes, it may make sense to consider an alternative strategy.