The difference between being responsible TO and responsible FOR your clients

When you are a coach, you want to see your clients succeed. Their success is your reason for sharing your knowledge, wisdom and support.

However, I have seen people get very upset about whether or not their clients were getting good results. And to be honest, in the beginning I was like this too.

“It’s important to remember that you should be responsible to your clients, but not for them.”

Are you responsible for your clients’ success?
It would be ideal if you could be responsible for your clients and even do some things for them. But, you can’t do that right?

You can give your clients the keys to the kingdom, however, for most of them, there’s no way to guarantee that they will actually succeed. This is not because your materials aren’t any good or your system has holes in it. Absolutely not.

You can’t force your clients to take action.
The truth is, you simply cannot guarantee to yourself that your clients will be successful for one gigantic reason – you can’t make them actually do the work. That is unless you decide to take personal responsibility for each one which is really not possible.

What can you guarantee?
You can guarantee that if people do the work, the system, the methods and the coaching can and will help them succeed. You just can’t guarantee that any of your clients will actually DO the work. You have no control over this. Do you see the important distinction here?

So, are you responsible for your clients’ success?
Well you are responsible “to” them for:

- Delivering everything you promise
- Offering what you know works
- Providing all the materials you talk about in your sales messages
- Supporting them on the path and encouraging them to go for it

What is the limit of your responsibility?
But, you are not responsible “for” your clients. They are responsible for themselves to:

- Put your systems and suggestions into place
- Implement the steps in your proprietary system
- Make the calls, write the letters or give the workshops, etc.

Your clients are the only ones who can take on these challenges, complete the steps and reap the rewards by following through. As a coach, learning this crucial difference in responsibility will help you enjoy your work more and feel satisfied with your efforts.

Your Client Attraction Assignment
Have you been taking on the responsibility for your clients’ success and as a result feel crummy about your work? If you said “yes”, you may need a short break from your work to get clear and take the pressure off yourself.

Remember where your true responsibilities lie. You need to deliver the materials, systems, classes, support and answers. Only your clients can put these things to work in their lives or businesses.

Hold on to that distinction to prevent yourself from taking on responsibility for what is not realistically under your control.