Questions for your Coach

These are some questions you might consider asking a prospective coach. Please note that the fees question is at the bottom. The reason is that fee should be your last consideration! What's more important is that the coach be trained and able and willing to help YOU. Most coaches have a sliding fee scale, and/or a referral list, which can benefit you in that you might be referred to someone with an even better 'fit' for your situation. Explanations of some of the questions follow the article.

1. What direct experience do you have regarding my situation? Do you have ADD?

2. How much training have you received that deals directly with ADD?

3. What is your general style or philosophy when it comes to dealing with someone in my situation?

4. What is your biggest strength?

5. Why would you want to work with me?? How do you know?

6. Where are your weak spots? Will you admit to them, if one comes up in coaching?

7. What are your strongest learning modalities? Are you able to use others?

8. Am I required to sign up for a minimum amount of time? Why?

9. If I feel I need more than our once a week session, how do you deal with that?

10. What happens if I forget a session?

11. How much do you charge?

12. How do I know I'm ready to quit?

Reasons for some of the above questions:

1. While there ARE great coaches out there who can help you with issues around ADD, although they themselves do not have ADD, sometimes it's a comfort to know the coach has "been there, done that"

2. Some coaching instruction schools, although very good, and turning out excellent business or other niche coaches, NEVER mention the reality of ADD! So what? Well, as an extreme example, if you were to try to work with a coach who has no idea what the workings of an ADD mind are, the coach might actually decide you're just stupid, impossible to work with, and incompetent. Is that attitude going to help you?

7. Okay, I got technical here. Learning modalities boils down to (you already guessed it) HOW you learn. Do you learn best by watching someone do it? Reading about it? Do you need to get your hands on it to transfer it to your brain? Do you fidget with something while listening, and find that the information is absorbed better? Don't worry if you can't determine your modality. Everyone has more than one, and often the fact that someone has p,x, and z modalities does not mean that they can't work with a coach who has q,r, and i as their strong modalities.

8. Why? Because coaches like you! Okay, enough joking aside. Especially in the world of the person with ADD, it takes a while to make a new system or habit your own. A "linear" may be able to change behavior and habits in as little as 3 weeks. Those of us with ADD simply take longer to rewire the part of the brain handling that. We're NOT slower--in fact, it's been found that usually, someone with ADD has more complex wiring than a "linear". .....just don't tell the "linear" that!

12. This is the best day of a coach's life! You know you've accomplished the goals you set out to reach, and the weekly phone call has become less a joy than a "why?" Often, a good coach will ask you "What are you getting from our meetings? Is it valuable?" Don't be offended by this question, consider it validation that you've done a GREAT job of becoming successful!

I currently do not have a reliable phone, so please either email me or write to me at
Kris Paige
721 Weaverbird Way
Livermore, CO 80536