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A manifesto for making coaching available for everyone.
I am sure you have heard it said you get what you pay for.
Well coaches have adapted that to say charge what you think you are worth.
Despite the problematic aspect of people charging what they “think” they are worth, there is an underlying assumption, and I would dare to call it an ideology of coaches that teaches this notion of people will pay for their dreams and if they do not then they do not want it bad enough. Again, while there are capitalist undertones to this that will need to be addressed, there is an assumption that as a coach you can make their dreams come true with your tools. As a coach there is a belief that either you have not marketed yourself well enough or the person does not want it bad enough, both of which create a victim narrative.
The World of coaching
While coaches are in the helping profession, they want to get paid, set themselves apart from their competition, and get to the top like everyone else. In coach language this is manifesting your dreams, breaking through limited beliefs, and maximizing your impact. Coaching is often a solo venture with a belief that you as a coach have a tool, resource, or insight that will benefit somebody else. This product is created to be unlike anything anybody else has created and will transform your life like nothing you have ever tried; that is if you are the right person. Coaching is all about the target market, getting clarity on your audience, and creating content that draws in the people you want to work with. As you can imagine the line of manipulation and authenticity is very thin. It just takes a few testimonials for coaches to display some sort of credible expertise and the rest of the social proof can be written in a way that will get people to believe the change is just waiting for them to take action.
The Systemic Foundation of Coaching
Without getting into the deep history of coaching, it can be recognized that in this past century coaching has exponentially grown as the access to the tools of industrialism became more and more accessible for those below the elite class. Speaking and being an orator has always been a way to expand knowledge and share ideas but in the 20th century it became scalable and globalized with people like Zig Ziggler, Jim Wron, Napoleon Hill, and the big leaders of today like Tony Robbins, Mel Abram, and Les Brown. These early leaders came out of a time where being a leader meant dominance and authority, logic and strategy, and maximizing profit. This ideology would later be summarized by Melton Freedmen as business is the tool to maximize profit. Profit was the bottom line, but coaches and speakers stared to learn that impact was another bottom line that expanded their influence and created greater profit.
As coaching as progressed it has expanded into many different niches and populations, with just about anybody being able to call themselves a coach if they do enough soul searching, but it is important to remember that coaching is rooted and founded in male dominance and male authority; that it was men that had the authority to teach and share these ideas. As the capitalist class it was men that benefited from these teachings and they went to support and uphold the superior male position. coaching was not there to create innovations to transform poverty or create equitable systems, it was there to maximize profit for the people that were already there and those that were allowed to have a pair of boots to pull up on the boot straps. While tony Robbins has transformed the coaching world with his second bottom line of impact it has still been built on the foundations of the male dominated system which it was predicated upon. Impact is something we can all make, which is what has allowed Robbins to expand his message worldwide. This impact message has allowed others to see they can also make impact including those that were traditionally outside the elite male class. Coaching and speaking have made an audience of people that are ready and passionate about making an impact in this world; the only problem is that it is still only for a select few.
The Triple Bottom-Line
We have had movements started with speakers and orators that distinguish themselves with their purpose, passion, and charisma. If you want a following just do those things, but if you want a movement then make it possible for the poor, make it possible for those to hear that don’t get heard, make it so your message breaks chains and sets people free. Do it so that you transform the people so much that power has nothing to do except to listen. President Johnson had a choice to listen to martin Luther King, but the power of the people made sure the only choice he could choose is to listen. Mandela and Ghandi had movements that made impact, was sustainable and made way for freedom. As a coach and speaker, I believe you want freedom for every person you work with, so I have a question for you when you have a choice are you going to stand on the side of freedom or power?
The way I see it, as a fellow coach, you have a choice every day, you have a choice in your marketing and sales. You have the choice to include those that can afford what you think you are worth or you can make a path so your work can create freedom. I applauded those who challenge the norm and offer sliding scales, pay what you will, or go above and beyond and create partnerships with those in the margins of the community. You can allow your programs to be open to all or you can make them closed off to those with dreams but cannot afford your price. A dream closed off is one dream of freedom less realized. So, I ask will you stand in the triple bottom line, will you take the bumble pill, will you stand for power or will you stand for freedom.
The choice is in what you charge.
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