Jonathan Jay is optimistic about the upcoming year for coaching, having achieved much success as a 34-year-old millionaire. Despite spending his last £145 on advertising a seminar on coaching in 1999, he is now the director of the largest coaching school in the UK and resides in a deluxe penthouse in Putney with views of the Thames. Along with his new book, Sack Your Boss! and TV shows Now I’m the Boss! and Get a New Life, Jay also offers coaching to businesses at a daily rate of £10,000.

Despite the common perception of a life coach as someone who is new age and touchy-feely, Jonathan Jay breaks the stereotype with his charm and business acumen. Having printed his first business card at 11 years old, he is now at the forefront of UK coaching and has become responsible for the exponential growth of coaching courses in the UK. Jay’s intention for 2006 is to extend coaching to all areas of British life, including schools, local government, and the NHS.

According to Jay, coaching is a potent panacea that can help anyone achieve their full potential. The growth of the coaching industry has resulted in the emergence of several niche areas, such as parent coaching, career coaching, and cancer coaching. Additionally, self-help books authored by life coaches are increasingly popular.

The Association for Coaching estimates that 100,000 UK citizens used a coach in 2020, resulting in the industry’s valuation at £50m. The National Occupational Standards have been established, ensuring good practice, and training is available for British coaches.

Leading life coach, author, and principal of the UK College of Life Coaching, Pam Richardson, is particularly enthusiastic about the future of coaching. With coaching for newly qualified professionals, work-life balance, exercise, diet, and parenting, she believes coaching can benefit all areas of society.

According to sociologist Frank Furedi, there is a concerning trend of people believing that they are not competent enough to deal with everyday life. This is resulting in more professionalization of various aspects of life, which is becoming more intrusive. For example, Furedi argues that parent coaching can be detrimental because it short-circuits the natural connection between a parent and their child. Furedi believes that we have lost the ability to rely on our friends, family, and community for support because we now pay for advice instead of trusting those relationships. Life coaches like Pam Richardson and Curly Martin perpetuate this cynicism by claiming that friends and family may sabotage our success if they become threatened by it. However, some life coaches like Fiona Harrold challenge their clients and provide feedback to help them take control of their lives. Regardless, we must be cautious of a society that continues to rely more on professional advice than on traditional support networks.

People seek my assistance to help them make progress in their lives. They come to me for guidance and recommendations. For instance, there was a time when a management consultant approached me, expressing his desire to become a guitarist. Once we sorted that out, he asked for help with his personal life and attracting women. I recommended a fitness coach to help him bulk up and a style coach to improve his fashion sense.

Sue Loveluck is another client of mine from Berkshire who has greatly benefited from my coaching. As a successful headhunter, she sought to take her business to the next level. I provided her with practical suggestions to simplify her life as a single, working mother. For instance, I advised her to stop driving her daughter to school and instead use school transport. I also helped her find a dog minder to deal with her little dog that was always barking. By addressing these little problems, I freed her up to focus on her business and achieve success.

I push my clients to overcome their obstacles and challenges, and to strive for excellence. Loveluck has grown her business by 30% in nine months, established new business ventures and travelled to America to meet venture capitalists. I also encouraged her to upgrade her image, from black suits to designer labels like Ted Baker and Joseph. Loveluck knew that I was on her side and appreciated my honesty.

That being said, not all clients are receptive to suggestions, and I let go of those who fail to carry out their weekly tasks. Therapy is not coaching, and I’m not interested in endless talks that don’t lead to action. Coaching is about helping people achieve their goals and aspirations for the future.

The price of coaching varies, with some charging as much as £250 per session. Professor Stephen Palmer is a notable figure in the coaching industry and expresses concerns about the high prices, which do not necessarily reflect the coach’s experience or training. Coaches need to be mindful of the value they provide to clients, ensuring they are delivering results rather than just charging high fees.

UK counsellors are divided on the rise of life coaching. Philip Hodson, a fellow of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), believes that the popularity of coaching is due to its ease of adaptation for television. However, he also argues that coaching only skims the surface and does not delve into the unconscious mind, which is a major development of the 20th century. Hodson believes that counselling requires more attention span and is a better option. In contrast, Mark Palmer, a life coach, argues that our nation has become increasingly impatient and less stoic over time. As a result, Palmer believes that we are more likely to seek the help of a coach when we face obstacles in life. Despite the different approaches of coaches, life coaching is here to stay. Many coaches have varying definitions of life coaching and different systems of accreditation, leading to a lack of regulation. Regardless, a coach’s job is to focus solely on their client and to support them through their problems. However, coaching can be quite expensive, and it is not always the best solution for those with major problems in their lives. Life coaching can be ‘non-directive’ or ‘directive,’ with the latter involving the coach telling their clients what to do. Fiona Harrold, a directive coach, focuses on helping clients achieve their goals, asking them questions like ‘What does your ideal life look like?’, and ‘What would you do if you won the lottery?’ before selecting one goal that will have a positive impact on their lives.

Harrold conducts weekly sessions of 60 minutes each with clients and reviews their progress during the second session. She sets new tasks for the following week based on their performance. Her aim is to complete the job within three months, but sometimes clients continue the program to maintain motivation and consistency. She prefers working with clients who have specific goals and is not interested in idle conversations about their personal life.

Fiona Harrold is a renowned life coach who trains various MPs, TV presenters, and business moguls. Her team of 25 coaches others while she attends four clients daily and has a bestseller book. She began her career in Belfast, working as a waitress and a singer. Later she became a massage therapist and an apprentice to a self-esteem consultant. Harrold’s specialization varies among money and quality-of-life issues, and she charges between £700 and £1500 monthly.

Carole Caplin became famous when she advised Cherie Blair on fitness, fashion, nutrition, and personal grooming. She started her career as a glamour model and in a pop group Shock, later moving into fitness, and personal development coaching. She founded LifeSmart, which specializes in health and fitness but can offer advice on all areas. Caplin charges £100 per hour for two hours a week, among other rates.

Jonathan Jay, the founder of the Coaching Academy in 1999, is a stage hypnotist turned personal development coach. He switched careers after realizing that nobody was training coaches in the UK and now owns the number one training program in the UK. He wants to propagate coaching enlightenment into public arenas, such as the NHS and schools. Jay has coached in many areas and charges a day rate of up to £10,000.

Carole Gaskell founded the Life Coaching Company in 1997 and Full Potential Group in 1999, published two bestsellers, and charges £2,250 per day. She formerly worked as a marketing director in publishing but came across coaching when promoting Riverdance in America in the 90s and signed up for a training course. Gaskell specializes in career change and fast-tracking without losing sight of personal lives.

Gladeana McMahon is a well-known counselor, psychologist, and author of self-help books. She is GMTV’s life coach and frequently appears on Britain’s Worst Parent/Britain’s Worst Neighbors TV shows and is now filming Ease the Load, a program about coaching in schools. McMahon coaches in all areas, from business to personal development, and charges £100 per hour.

Duncan Coppock, author of The Self Factor: The Power of Being You, and one of six UK trainers for Coach U, runs life-coaching retreats in Scotland and offers telephone sessions. He initially worked as a math teacher but later switched to self-development. Coppock aims to help clients explore their true self and believes that success should not come at the expense of one’s identity. He charges £250 for three sessions.

Eileen Mulligan, who primarily coaches Cornwall-based clients by word of mouth only, is known for her program, Life Coaching: Change Your Life in 7 Days. Many of her clients are celebrities and MPs. Mulligan previously ran a company that provided non-surgical face-lifts to high-profile people and later coached herself to achieve better work-life balance, subsequently creating her own program.

Professor Stephen Palmer, founder and director of the Center for Coaching and the Center for Stress Management, is a renowned author who has written over 30 books. With a background in psychology, he discovered coaching as a more suitable approach for people without clinical problems and believes it can be preventative. His particular expertise is in stress and performance, and he charges between £150 and £500 per hour.

Curly Martin, author of The Life Coaching Handbook and founder of Achievement Specialists, overcame breast and lymphatic cancer after being given a grim prognosis of only nine months to live. With years of experience in business training, her expertise lies in coaching mothers who juggle work and children, as well as women setting up their own businesses in Croatia. Her fee is £250 for 45 minutes.

As a former spiritual advisor for the Church of England, this life coach decided to branch off on his own after reading a groundbreaking article about life coaching in 1997. Following his training with Coach U, he established his own business and charges £100 an hour. Mark Forster, author of Get Everything Done and Still Have Time to Play and Do It Tomorrow (due to release this year), is frequently featured in the media. His specialty lies in time management and personal organization, and he charges £300 per month for three phone sessions.