Assessments in a Coaching Program

by Wyetta Ford

Coaching professionals are faced with various challenges throughout their career.  Connecting with a client and developing rapport is one of the essential elements that dictate the success of the experience.  Successful internal coaching programs and private coaching relationships are hinged on the ability of a coach to provide an experience where a client has a safe space to explore options.

Throughout my career as an HR Professional and Certified Professional Coach, I have found great success by using personality assessments.  If you are looking for another tool to add to your coach arsenal, start employing a quality personality assessment.

As a note, for those of you who also graduated from the Center for Coaching Certification, we were all given an assessment dashboard for free and can give dozens of assessments at wholesale including the DISC and assessments designed to help during the hiring process. 

Personality assessments have been around in one form or another since 500 BC and with over 2500 personality assessments available on the market today a coach has a wide range of tools to explore.  Understanding the history of these sorts of assessments will help a coach understand how to use them today.  When appropriate, coaches can effectively use an assessment before starting a coaching relationship, throughout the coaching sessions, and once the coaching concludes to give a client the ability to self-explore, draw connections, and understand themselves.

Read “Assessments in a Coaching Program” in Coaching Perspectives IX to help you gain more knowledge around assessments to determine if it is the proper tool to use with your next client.