Must-take quiz to test your knowledge of coaching

Following is a quiz to help you assess your knowledge of coaching and the coaching profession. While not intended to replace the International Coach Federation’s examination process, this quiz might uncover some opportunities for your continued growth. Enjoy!

1. You notice the client rolling his eyes while you are coaching him. What do you do?

   1. Ignore the client and keep asking open-ended questions until he fires you.

   2. Change pace and offer a motivational quote by Ghandi.

   3. Fire the client before he fires you. He is clearly uncoachable and doesn’t deserve you.

   4. Start or join a MasterMind Group of coaches who can empathize with you while you vent.

2. Your client wants to hire you, but some of the work seems like consulting, training, and/or facilitation. What do you do?

   1. Refuse the job, of course.

   2. Call the International Coach Federation (ICF) and ask their permission to take the job.

   3. Call the ICF and complain about your client for putting you in a tough spot.

   4. Take the job but feel untrue to your real self.

   5. Meditate to find whether your true purpose is coaching, consulting, training, facilitation, or never making any money.

3. A prospective client asks you for a proposal after your very first meeting. What do you do?

   1. Panic.

   2. Spend all weekend writing a 50-page personalized proposal. Guess at things like budget.

   3. Spend some of the money from your upcoming engagement at the nearest Ritz-Carlton for a celebration dinner. Call ahead to let them know about your gluten-free and vegan preferences.

   4. Ask your mentor coach for a template coaching proposal and put your name on it.

4. You want to make more money as a coach. What is the first thing you do?

   1. Read The Secret for the fiftieth time.

   2. Commit to writing a book and don’t do anything else until that book is perfect.

   3. Buy a new dream catcher.

   4. Align your chakras.

   5. Time to update the website and write a blog!

   6. Buy a $1,000 online marketing program from an Internet marketing guru.

5. Which of the following coach website headlines attracts the most clients and will help you stand apart as a unique coach?

   1. “Unleash your inner leader!”

   2. “Be a better leader!”

   3. “Click here to access your unlimited potential as a leader!”

   4. “We help you get emotionally intelligent, because every CEO wakes up in the morning asking how they can get more emotionally intelligent.”

   5. “I license my content from a best-selling author, so if you don’t have a big budget, hire me instead of him and we all win!”

6. A client tells you that she doesn’t want to work with you anymore. What do you do?

   1. Panic.

   2. If the client doesn’t want to work with you anymore, she doesn’t deserve you.

   3. This happens all the time and you are used to it. Acceptance is divine.

   4. Try hard not to let this event validate all of the awkward and personal rejection you faced trying to get dates during high school and in college.

   5.  Start another MasterMind Group of coaches who can empathize with you while you vent.

7. How do you find your niche as a coach?

   1. Because you are up to your eyeballs in debt and you are about to declare bankruptcy, obviously you should be a financial coach.

   2. Because you have been fired from every job you ever had, have never been promoted, that you hate authority and think corporations are usually evil… you should become a corporate leadership coach.

   3.  Go on a weekend coal walking seminar, and come back with clarity.

   4. Get a higher coaching designation.

   5. Panic.

8. You are at the monthly meeting of your local coach’s association. What should you do first?

   1. Brag about how many coaching hours you have.

   2. Brag about your MCC designation with the ICF.

   3. Brag about how prestigious your university-based coaching program is.

   4. Brag about a guru who trained you during a weekend seminar.

   5. Look for a coach who seems to actually have clients and see if you can form one of those marketing or referral alliances all the other coaches are talking about.

9. A prospective client asks you how you can justify that your fees will be worth it. What do you say?

   1. Pretend you got a call from your child’s school telling you that your child is sick and needs to be picked up now. Run!

   2. Ask the client to draw a vision board.

   3. Offer to coach for free until you prove your worth.

   4. Take offense because the client obviously knows nothing about the worth of your coaching designation, mentor coach, and the weekend you spent at Esalen.

10. Which of the following concepts is sure to be the next big thing in coaching?

    1. From brain-/neuro- coaching to butt-based coaching: The dual sources of truth and authenticity.

    2. Anything with the word IQ, EQ, a Q, or the word intelligence in it.

    3. Transformational Infinity. Remember: As long it has the word “transformational” in the name, it is sure to be a hit.

    4.  Pizza delivery as a major source of income for most life coaches who aren’t collecting disability, receiving alimony, relying on a severance package, or who lack a trust fund.

11. A rival coach is getting more work than you. What should you do?

    1. Report her to the ICF.

    2. De-stress by enrolling in a hot yoga class.

    3. Reread The Secret for the fifty-first time.

    4. Meditate on your authentic voice so you can be more competitive.

12. You get the humor in the above questions, even if they are a bit biting. What should you do?

    1. Make sure your have substance and a practical path to results with clients.

    2. See that there is a huge opportunity to do circles around the many coaches who made this satirical quiz possible.

    3. Keep working to upgrade the coaching profession by showing clients the results that they can get with competent, effective coaching.

    4. All of the above.