There are many legitimate coaches. If you had success but no longer want to work as much in the field. Or if you want to make more money, you can coach. Plus it’s rewarding helping others, plus you get paid for it.

I can coach.

Good coaches are in demand. Football coaches, baseball coaches.

I like coaching. Teaching. Why can’t I do something I actually love to do?

For sports coaching, you don’t even have to be good at the game - Bill Walsh led the San Francisco 49ers to a bunch of Superbowl victories in the 1980s, and he sucked at playing football, for example. Just because you can’t do it well, doesn’t mean one can’t coach/teach well, and actually have valuable information.

Being able to teach is a completely different skill than doing it.

There is a need for coaches, otherwise that word wouldn’t even exist.

We all have had great teachers, and shit teachers. Some coaches are shit, some good.

And of course, the coach has to know the material and how to apply it.

I could explain more, but I think you take my point.

And to repeat, I AM making a distinction between people who don’t understand and know the material, vs people who do understand the subject matter and are not just regurgitating what others say, and actually can think and synthesize and formulate and systematize and write interestingly and all that.

I’ve been paid to coach, some stay with me for years. They are NOT stupid people that I coach. They pay me. They get value.

Any job “coach” seems ridiculous to me

So just any coach in any domain?

Coaching and guiding someone is a different skillset then leading and running a business. They’re basically a mentor/consultant for hire

If you can do it that well, then what the heck are you doing coaching?

This is crazy. We all do what we are best at or enjoy the most in one way or anothrr

Maybe they could run a business, 50 hours a week, but they’d prefer to help 5 businesses 6 hours a week each?

They may have a skillset where they can effectively produce the most marginal value in those fewer hours with each business. In that case it makes sense to repeat that multiple times rather than spending all your time immersed in one project

I’ve said for years that when I retire, I’m becoming a “get out of my life coach” and call it Shiny Spine Coaching. I’ll help folks get rid of relationships that don’t serve them anymore.

I think there are legit coaches who have acheived success in whatever field and then realise they are better skilled at the teaching aspect AND (and this is the big one) can make more money coaching the 100s / 1000s / millions / whatever of people out there who want to learn the skill than they can by just doing the skill / business themselves.

Think about it, if you do the skill / business / whatever yourself you’re limited to your own resources, time, money, team etc but if you then document your knowledge and skills into a course or membership etc you just have to create that once then can sell it infinitely without having to constantly put all the work back into it, so it does kinda make sense in some instances.