Training, coaching or mentoring

Training, coaching or mentoring – which do you need and why do I offer all three services as a hybrid offering!

I call myself a VA coach, trainer and mentor. I’m aware that sounds like someone who couldn’t pick a lane. So let me explain what each one means, why I use all three, and exactly where each one shows up in what I offer.

The difference, in plain English

Training teaches you how to do something. There is a set curriculum, I know the subject, and I decide what you need to learn and in what order.

Coaching helps you work out what you are going to do, and then holds you to it. You set the agenda. I listen, ask the questions you have been avoiding, challenge your thinking and keep you accountable. I don’t hand you the answers, because the answers that stick are the ones you find yourself.

Mentoring is me sharing what I have learned throughout my time in the VA industry; so you can get there faster and with fewer bruises. If you ask me how I would handle a client who won’t pay or how to scale your VA business to a multi-award winning VA Agency, I will tell you. That is the point.

The way I put it: a trainer shows you the way. A coach helps you find your own way. A mentor tells you how they found theirs, and where the potholes are.

All three rely on the same core skills: listening properly, asking good questions, keeping judgement out of it, giving honest feedback and keeping you focused. What changes is who is in the driving seat.

Why training on its own isn’t enough

I have been training this since 2014 but officially in the industry since 2012 (although I started my research on joining the industry in 2008!) and in that time I have watched a lot of VAs buy a course, get excited, and then stall. Not because the course was bad, but because nobody was there when they hit the bit that didn’t fit their business, their clients or their confidence.

I also get enquiries from Virtual Assistants who tell me they have done a VA training course with another Trainer but actually don’t know how to put that knowledge into practice or how to find clients.

The evidence backs this up. Knowledge fades fast if you don’t use it. A course you never apply is just a folder of notes.

I spent 23 years in the Royal Navy, and the lesson I took from it is simple: training gets you qualified, but it’s the people alongside you who get you competent. That is how I have built everything at the VA Training Academy.

Why coaching on its own isn’t enough either

Pure coaching says you already have all the answers. Sometimes you do. But if you are new to running a VA business, you genuinely don’t know how long tasks take, what to put in a contract, or how to price. No amount of clever questions will pull that knowledge out of you, because it isn’t in there yet.

That is where training and mentoring earn their place. I would rather tell you straight than watch you spend six months working it out the hard way.

Why mentoring on its own isn’t enough either

Pure mentoring says do it my way. Sometimes that is exactly what you need. But my way worked for my business, my clients and my circumstances, and they are not yours. If all I ever do is tell you what I would do, you end up running a copy of my business rather than your own, and you have to come back to me every time something new crops up.  This isn’t the world according to Amanda Johnson – we need to help yo create a business that serves you.

That is where training and coaching earn their place. Training gives you the skills to do it yourself. Coaching helps you make the call that is right for you, and builds the confidence to make the next one without me.

So I don’t pick one. I use the right one for the moment, and I’ll tell you which hat I’m wearing.

How that works in what I offer

VA Momentum Course: training, delivered personally

VA Momentum is my training course for new VAs. It is structured, it covers what you need to set up properly, and you work through it module by module. You can start it at any time and the course itself is structured. But…

The difference is what happens when you complete a module. You don’t get a tick and a certificate. You get personal written  feedback from me on your work, every time. That feedback is where the coaching and mentoring come in. Sometimes I’ll ask you the question that makes you rethink your plan. Sometimes I’ll tell you what I have seen work, and what I have seen go wrong.

It is a training course, but nobody goes through it alone. It also comes with 12 months of the VA Membership, so the support carries on once you have finished.

VA Membership: training plus weekly group coaching

The Membership has a training library you can dip into whenever you need it. But the heart of it is the weekly group coaching calls.

Those calls run on a coaching and mentoring model. You bring what is going on in your business: the client you are not sure about, the price rise you are putting off, the decision you keep going round in circles on. I’ll coach you through it. Where you need experience rather than questions, I’ll share mine. And you get the bonus of hearing from other VAs who have been exactly where you are.

One-to-one coaching and Power Hours: built around you

My one-to-one coaching and Power Hours are completely bespoke. What happens on the call depends on what you bring to it.

In practice, most sessions are a hybrid. We might start with coaching, because you need to get clear on what you actually want. Then switch to mentoring, because you need to know what I would do. Then a bit of training, because there is a skill or a system you need to get your head round. You get what the moment needs, not what a script says.

VA Mastermind Days: all three in one room

My VA Mastermind Days are full days, in person, a few times a year, where you step out of the day-to-day and work on your business instead of in it.

They are where training, coaching and mentoring come together most obviously. There is training: structured workshop sessions using the frameworks I teach, like Battle Rhythm and Commander’s Intent. There is coaching: you apply each one to your own business there and then, and I challenge your thinking as you go. And there is mentoring, from me and from the other VAs in the room, because some of the best advice of the day comes over coffee and cake from someone who solved your exact problem last year.

You walk out with a plan you made yourself, tested by people who have been there.

Why I work this way

I believe in servant leadership. My job is not to look clever or to keep you coming back. My job is to make you more capable, more confident and less reliant on me over time.

That means being honest about what you are buying. Coaching and mentoring aren’t regulated in the UK, and anyone can use the titles. So before you spend your money with anyone, me included, ask them:

1. What will I actually get: training, coaching, mentoring, or a mix?
2. What will I be able to do, or have done, by the end?
3. What real experience do you have of running a VA business, and how recently?
4. How much personal access do I get to you?

If someone can’t answer those clearly, walk away.

Good support is never about the person giving it. It’s about you, and whether you are better off at the end than you were at the start.

Be you, be awesome.

Not sure which is right for you? If you are just starting out, take a look at VA Momentum. If you are already up and running, the VA Membership, one-to-one coaching or a Mastermind Day is the place to start. Or drop me a message and we’ll work it out together.