Episode summary: All coaches recognize that they should be helping their clients become more competent and self-reliant. If the coaching relationship isn’t doing that, it’s very likely that the client will become overly dependent. Coaches can, subconsciously, have an economic incentive to ignore the problem of client dependency, creating a potential conflict of interest. It’s natural for them to want to expand their business, but the best coaches put their clients’ interests first. 

A coach should equip their clients with the skills and confidence to navigate their own journey. But what if your client starts showing signs of dependency, and wants you to tell them what to do and how to do it? What then? 

Melinda Cohan, our senior coach and host, invites Jim Wright, a coach for course creators at Mirasee, to talk about how to recognize and navigate dependency. They’ll discuss what dependency is and is not, and how coaches can establish necessary boundaries.

In this episode we discuss:

• What are the indicators or signs that a client might be becoming dependent on you? 
• What are the roots of dependency?
• What tools can coaches use to help their clients be less dependent? 
• When is enough enough when it comes to dependency? 

“I think as a coach, probably the single biggest gift you can give someone is to let them know that they can do it, that they have that power.”

Jim Wright

Guest Coach Bio: A writer, teacher, coach, and advocate for clarity in communication, Jim joined Mirasee as a course-building coach in 2018.  Through teaching, Jim has been coaching and supporting students for over 20 years, both online and in the classroom. 

An accomplished musician, he has been playing drums and singing in a career that has spanned over 31 years, performing in everything from marching bands and musicals to country and rock bands.

In his spare time, Jim speaks on a variety of topics including online and email marketing, WordPress website design, and search engine optimization. Jim’s hobbies and interests include sailing, chess, audio, and video production, trying to keep his French current, and learning Mandarin Chinese.

Jim lives in beautiful Perth, Ontario, Canada, with his wife Cindy and their two children Maxim and Madeleine.

Resources or websites mentioned in this episode:

• Mirasee 
• Coaches Console 

Credits:

• Guest – Jim Wright
• Host – Melinda Cohan
• Producer – Cynthia Lamb
• Executive producer – Danny Iny
• Writer – Melinda Cohan, Michi Lantz, and Cynthia Lamb
• Assembled by – Geoff Govertsen
• Audio Post Supervisor: Evan Miles, Christopher Martin
• Audio Post Production by Post Office Sound
• Music soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely

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If you have a question for Just Between Coaches, put the show title in the subject line and send it to podcasts@mirasee.com

Music and SFX credits: 

• Track Title: Clouds
  Artist Name(s): Acreage
  Writer Name: Marshall Usinger
  Publisher Name: BOSS SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTIONS
• Track Title: Coastline Dream
  Artist Name(s): Wild Sky
  Writer Name: Adam Simons
  Publisher Name: BOSS SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTIONS
• Track Title: Coo Coos
  Artist Name(s): Dresden, The Flamingo
  Writer Name: Matthew Wigton
  Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION
• Track Title: Stars & Trees
  Artist Name(s): Outside The Sky
  Writer Name: Dustin Ransom
  Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION