Red Flags to Watch Out for When Choosing a Coach
By Debbie Gainsford | Career Coach for Marketers | March 2026
Debbie Gainsford is a career coach and global marketing leader with two decades of B2B marketing experience. She helps marketers at a crossroads get clear on what they want and build the confidence to go after it.
Most coaches won’t tell you this. But I think you deserve to know it before you spend a cent.
Anyone can call themselves a coach. There is no governing body, no required qualification, no minimum standard of practice. Some people complete a weekend course, build a website, and are open for business by Monday. Others do not even do that, they assume that because they have experience in a field, they are automatically qualified to coach in it. No training. No understanding of what coaching actually is. Just a belief that experience alone is enough.
It’s not.
That is the reality of the industry I work in. And I’ve seen first-hand what bad actors in this industry do to people who were simply trying to get support - people who were vulnerable, trusting, and deserved far better. It makes me angry. Which is why I am writing this, so you know what to watch out for before you commit.
First: What Coaching Actually Is
It helps to know what you are buying before you can spot when it is being misrepresented.
A coach's job is to listen and to ask questions. That is it. Not to share their opinions. Not to give advice. Not to tell you what to do or steer you toward their preferred outcome. A coach trusts that you already have the answers and their job is to ask the questions that help you find them.
The moment a coach starts telling you what they think you should do, they have stopped coaching. They are consulting, advising, or projecting, none of which is what you are paying for. Hold that as your baseline when evaluating anyone who calls themselves a coach.
The Red Flags
They guarantee results
If a coach is guaranteeing you specific outcomes - a promotion, a salary increase, a career transformation - walk away.
No ethical coach can guarantee your results, because the outcomes of coaching depend entirely on what you do with it. A coach has no control over whether you act on your insights, follow through on your commitments, or make the changes the work points you toward. Guaranteeing results they cannot control is either a fundamental misunderstanding of what coaching is, or a sales tactic designed to close the deal.
The people most drawn to those guarantees are often the ones who are most vulnerable - stuck, anxious, desperate for certainty. That is exactly when you need to be most careful.
They pressure you on cost and bury what you are actually buying
Coaching rates vary enormously, and some of that variation is legitimate. But cost is also where some of the worst behaviour in the industry shows up.
If a coach is pressuring you to commit to an expensive package before you have had time to think, offering a limited-time discount to close the sale, or encouraging you to spend more than you can comfortably afford - walk away. A good coach wants you to make a clear-headed decision. They will give you time. They will not manufacture urgency. And they will never encourage you to stretch financially in ways that create stress rather than relieve it.
But there is something else to watch for here and it is more hidden. I have seen people pressured into signing up for coaching packages worth thousands of dollars, only to discover that what they have actually bought is not a coaching relationship at all. No direct access to the coach. No one-to-one sessions. Instead: a group call, email support from a team member, and a portal full of pre-recorded content.
That is not coaching. It may have value in its own right but it is a course, or a community, or a support service. Calling it coaching, charging coaching rates for it, and obscuring that reality during the sales process is not acceptable. Before you commit to anything, ask directly: will I have regular, dedicated one-to-one sessions with you, the coach I am speaking to right now? If the answer is anything other than a clear yes, you need to know exactly what you are buying.
They are vague about their qualifications
Ask any coach you are considering where they trained, what the programme involved, and what it assessed. A good coach should be able to answer this clearly and without hesitation.
The industry is unregulated, which means qualifications vary wildly. Some programmes are genuinely rigorous. Others are weekend courses that hand out certificates freely. A coach who is vague, defensive, or evasive about their training is a red flag. So is a coach who cannot name a recognised awarding body or institution.
For reference: I trained with The Coaching Academy in London and qualified with a Diploma in Personal Performance Coaching (now knowns as their Life Coaching Diploma). It’s an institution and qualification that’s recognised by the ICF (International Coaching Federation), which means I had to meet their core competencies and commit to their code of ethics to receive my qualification. It took me 18 months to qualify, which included over 200 hours of coaching, with a minimum of four non-paying clients, attending classes and passing assessments. I’ve since gone on to further study and have added additional credentials and qualifications alongside my experience. I say this not to promote myself, but because this is the kind of answer you should be able to get from any coach you speak to.
They talk more than they listen
Coaching is built entirely on listening. A great coach is deeply curious about you - your situation, your thinking, what is actually going on beneath the surface. They ask questions that open things up. They sit with silence. They follow your thread.
A coach who dominates the discovery call with their own story, their methodology, their past clients, their framework - who seems more interested in impressing you than understanding you - is showing you exactly how the sessions will go. If they are not listening before you have paid them, they will not be listening after.
They give advice and share opinions
This one catches people out because advice can feel helpful, especially when you are stuck and someone confident is telling you what to do.
But a coach who gives advice has stopped coaching. They are no longer helping you find your own clarity. They are replacing it with theirs. And advice from someone who does not fully know your situation, your history, your values, or your context is often worth far less than it sounds.
Good coaches ask. They do not tell. If a discovery call starts to feel more like a consultation, where the coach is diagnosing your situation and prescribing solutions, that is a red flag.
They position themselves as the expert on your life
Closely related to the above, but worth naming separately.
Be wary of coaches who seem to have your situation figured out before you have finished explaining it. Who arrive with a framework your experience is expected to fit into. Who are more interested in demonstrating their expertise than understanding your reality.
You are the expert on your own life. A coach who forgets that, or never understood it in the first place, is not someone who can do this work well.
Questions to Ask Before You Commit
Use these in any discovery call:
Where did you train, and what qualification did you receive?
What does your coaching process look like, and what will you expect of me?
What can coaching not do, and when would you refer someone elsewhere?
How do you handle it when a client is not making progress?
A coach who answers these questions clearly, honestly, and without defensiveness is worth continuing the conversation with. A coach who deflects, oversells, or cannot answer the third question is telling you something important.
The Cost of Getting It Wrong
Bad coaching is not just a waste of money. It can actively set you back - reinforcing unhelpful patterns, creating dependency, or leaving you more confused than when you started.
The people I have seen most harmed by poor coaching experiences are those who went in trusting, invested significantly, and came out feeling like the problem was theirs when the coaching did not deliver. It was not their problem. It was the coach's.
Do your due diligence. Ask the questions. Trust your instincts in that first conversation. And if something feels off, it probably is.
There are many brilliant coaches out there. I know a lot of them personally. People who are rigorous in their practice, genuinely invested in their clients, and who do extraordinary work. This post is not about avoiding coaching - it’s about finding the right coach, because the difference a great coaching relationship can make is significant.
That is why the discovery call matters so much. It is not just a sales conversation - it is your chance to assess fit, to get a feel for how this person listens, and to decide whether you trust them enough to do the work. Trust is the foundation of any coaching relationship. Without it, even the most skilled coach cannot help you. With it, the work can be genuinely transformative.
Take your time. Speak to more than one coach before you decide. Any ethical coach will actively encourage you to do exactly that, because they understand that the right fit matters more than a quick sign-up. If a coach is pushing you to commit without giving you the space to explore your options, that itself is a red flag.
If you want a conversation with a coach who will be straight with you about what coaching can and cannot do - and whether it is the right fit for where you are - I would love to talk.
Book a free discovery call with Debbie
Debbie Gainsford is a career coach and strategic advisor for marketers and founders, based in Sydney, Australia. She works with clients locally and globally.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is coaching regulated in Australia? No. As in the UK and most other countries, anyone can call themselves a coach in Australia without any qualification or oversight. Professional bodies like the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) offer accreditation, and membership is a positive signal - but it is voluntary, not mandatory.
What qualifications should I look for? Look for coaches trained by reputable institutions with assessed, structured programmes. Ask for the name of the institution, the qualification awarded, and whether it is recognised by a professional body. ICF and EMCC accreditation of the training provider is a reliable marker of quality.
How much should coaching cost? Rates vary significantly. Be wary of very low rates (which may indicate limited experience) and of high-pressure tactics around expensive packages. A good coach will be transparent about pricing and give you time to decide without manufacturing urgency.
What if I have already started working with a coach and something feels wrong? Name it. A good coach will welcome the conversation. If you raise a concern and the coach becomes defensive or dismissive, that tells you what you need to know. You are entitled to stop at any point, and you should, if the relationship is not working.
