CAREER COACHING FOR TENNIS PROFESSIONALS

1. As Coaches, we know that everyone can benefit from encouragement, input and suggestions on how to improve their game. No matter where you are in your career journey, it’s always wise to assess where you are, reflect on where you want to go, and plan your next steps.

2. The overarching goal of Career Coaching is to support you in making informed decisions about your career pathway, timeline and trajectory. Coaching can help you assess your specific situation and validate your plans, or encourage you to consider different options. Think of Coaching in a similar fashion to how your students book private lessons with you. Career Coaching is exactly the same.

3. A Career S.W.O.T. Assessment is included as a part of your First Coaching Session. The assessment is a starting point to help you establish or redefine your overarching career goals.

   • The assessment is designed to help you recognize those Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats which may influence your future pathway.  

   • The feedback you provide in your Assessment will help you and your Coach to clarify and / or refine your Career Goals.

   • The information you gather from your self-Assessment, and the follow up Coaching can nudge you to identify what you may need to add to your skill set, or deposit into you “experience bank”, to be more suitably prepared for your overarching goals.

4. After the SWOT Assessment you’re ready to really focus on what needs to be done to improve your chances of achieving your goals. This is where the growth begins. Coaching will help you to recognize the specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-sensitive steps you can take to better prepare yourself for what’s next in your career.

5. Having a clear understanding of where you’re ultimately headed, helps you and your Coach prioritize your Next Steps, which becomes your Career Action Plan.

   • Depending on where you are in your Career Pathway and what you determine needs to be completed first from your Career Action Plan, Coaching can help you determine whether your next position, might not be to your ultimate Goal, but serve as more of an Immediate Career Objective.

   • Different than your ultimate Career Goal, this 1 - 3 year Immediate Career Objective may include the option and potential benefit of pursuing an interim role as a viable pathway towards achieving your career goals.

6. Your coaching is focused on helping you navigate towards your Goal, by completing the steps on your Career Action Plan. The type and number of items that make up your plan will depend on where you are in your Career Pathway and where you decide you’re headed.

7. Coaching can also help you to address a single issue, or an “event” that might be a current challenge in your career, or that you anticipate you will soon need to resolve.  This could be a specific circumstance or personality you’re dealing with, or you could be relatively happy in your current role but believe that the Conditions or Compensation of the role could be adjusted. Coaching can present you with an honest, candid and objective opinion as well as strategies to facilitate change if needed.    

8. Career Coaching does not get you a job. That, is ultimately up to you. However, as a result of participating in your Coaching sessions you can expect to approach a search with increased confidence, more relevant insight into hiring trends and expectations, and be better prepared and more confident as a result of the personal encouragement and professional inspiration you’ll receive. A Coach can help you to expand your professional network in the area where you want to work and recommend concrete steps you can take to build your personal brand, increase your visibility and generally make yourself more interesting and appealing to future Employers, Search Committees and General Managers.