What is a Transition Coach?

What does a transition coach do?

As a transition coach, I partner with you to effectuate change. I use the same process with all clients, whether they are seeking services for career coaching, life coaching or transition coaching. 

We meet regularly in my office (or via Zoom or phone) for the duration of your program. These are your strategy sessions, these are 50-minute sessions where you move through stuck points and clear out any limiting beliefs that keep your thinking small. I help you focus on options, one at a time, so that you can zero in on the one that is a fit for you . These one-on-one strategy sessions create a regular structure  for change during our program. These meetings, like a steady drumbeat, create the steady, dependable structure for your change.

And throughout your coaching program, I am available via email between sessions. Some clients email me every morning and night to plan out and review the day’s accomplishments. Others will write a long “here’s where I am” note in the middle of the week so that we can explore their thinking together. 

The in-person strategy sessions are where we strategize, the time between sessions are where you execute the strategy we’ve discussed. And I’m always there for you -- celebrating your wins, and encouraging you to do that thing we discussed if you might just be overthinking it.

When I say I’m there to celebrate your wins I mean it; celebrating wins is a key part of our work. As a coach, I often receive wonderful letters and images at key life moments, whether it’s “I quit!”, “I’m pregnant!”, “We just got engaged!”, or -- and yes, even, “They offered me a $50,000 signing bonus we talked about!!” 

It is a great honor to be part of the celebration at these key life moments. You are me to effectuate change, to coach you through a transition. and It’s an honor to share in and celebrate these moments with my clients. And I hope I get to do it with you!

What does a career transition coach do?

As a career transition coach, I support you as you make a significant career change. You may have recently been laid off, or are returning to work after a five or 10-year hiatus. Maybe you took leave to care for a loved one, maybe you started a family. Perhaps you’re in a job and “doing well” according to traditional metrics of success, but it just doesn’t feel right to you.

Clients reach out to me when they are in transition (recently fired or the writing is on the wall), or when they are stuck and want to get unstuck and move forward towards something different. 

Some call this a career coach, a transition coach, a life coach, or a career transition coach. Call it whatever you like. You can find more details on my coaching process here.

What is the difference between a transition coach and a transformation coach?

Not to be a grammar nerd (though I am), it’s about nouns and verbs. I use transition as a verb and transformation as a noun. Transition is an action. We transition to achieve a transformation. I verb. We verb. Your result is a noun. You want to hire a coach who can verb. If you want to make change, you want a coach who sets strategy and focuses on action. Insight, action, results.

I could also call myself a transformation coach. I think it sounds bigger and bolder than a transition, which is why other coaches use it. I like the idea of a transition because it's graceful, elegant and understated. Like a superhero changes his costume subtly, while no one notices. Or like an octopus. They transition and sure, they transform but they don't like to brag about it 🙂

As a transition coach, I coach you through a change. The obvious metaphor is a butterfly -- your caterpillar self calls me, and we build the chrysalis. It might look quiet in there; but it’s not. No more quiet than growing a baby. We’re building! Doing work! Making the moves, growing wings...we may appear dormant to the outside world because change isn’t visible yet. But believe me, you’re working your tush off and a big change is about to be revealed. But first, the work.

The transition is the act of making change happen. The transformation is the result, the goal, the reveal. I’ll help you build the chrysalis and evolve inside it. On the other side of that evolution is the reveal, the transformation. Our coaching work, the transition coaching, is the work that drives the transformation.

The work is in the chrysalis. It’s un-sexy, not-instagrammable hard work. This is where we sit, side by side and roll up our sleeves together. We strategize, then do the work. This is where I live and provide the partnership to you when you’re doing the work that needs to be done.