It was not the first time I was asked this, but I had to rub my eyes and re-perk my ears.

Wait, who’s in charge here? The answer is: no one. In particular.

But did I just hear a client ask me how she was going to write her profile for my satisfaction, that of her coach? Yes, I just did.

Shouldn’t it be written for her enrichment, regardless of the coach, but for her as my client (whose profile are we pumping anyway)? Absolutely.

Is it a fact of our lifestyle that in our compassion to please others, we forget to release our own fears, by trying to please ourselves first and foremost. Yes, if we need help in going beyond our capabilities, then, yes, the coach is there to noodge, to encourage, to cajole, to facilitate.

Coaches are not here to please the client; they are there to elicit the best the client can do to describe “why you.” Never “what you.”

Deep breath.

OK I feel better.

After a short chat with the client, she understood better, pursued her best attempt, and reached near-perfection in the assignment, once we reoriented her focus on the right audience.

I always knew she had it in her. She just couldn’t get out from under herself. 

Whew! Another day as a LinkedIn coach.