August 19, 2025 • 32 mins
Get ready to learn about a critical yet often overlooked aspect of health coaching: your own bias as a coach. Host Erin Power shares personal anecdotes and discusses how coaches’ biases can inadvertently sabotage coaching relationships, even when they mean well.
As Erin says, 'Your job is to make your bias imperceptible,' you'll gain insights into maintaining a non-judgmental and empathetic approach that fosters genuine client growth.
In this episode, Erin explores reflection, inquiry, presence, and the importance of maintaining a nonjudgmental, empathetic attitude. Learn practical strategies to make your bias imperceptible in your coaching, focusing on client-centred practices. Don’t miss out on this vital topic that can elevate your coaching practice!
Episode Overview:
0:00 Intro
2:28 Anecdotes on Bias in Coaching
5:22 Teaching Health Coaching and Bias
12:14 Defining Bias in Coaching
21:39 Managing Bias in Coaching
Connect with Erin on:
- Submit your questions to help@primalhealthcoach.com
- Website: primalhealthcoach.com
- Instagram: @primalhealthcoach
Ready to turn your passion for health into lasting impact?
Health Coach Radio is your backstage pass into the world of health and fitness coaching, hosted by Primal Health Coach Institute Coaching Director, Erin Power, and powered by the legacy of founder Mark Sisson. Each episode is packed with real stories, expert strategies, and practical inspiration to help you grow as a coach and make a difference.
Curious about what’s possible for your own health coaching journey?
Visit primalhealthcoach.com to learn how Primal Health Coach Institute can help you transform lives—including your own—through the power of coaching and ancestral health.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Coach's Bias is Imperceptible is not only the working title of this episode, but
Also, a line item on the grading rubric that I use when I'm grading the assessments of the health coaching students that I teach
And I want to talk about it today.
Hi, I'm Erin Power.
(00:23):
I'm a health coach, a health coaching educator, and mentor, and your host of Health Coach Radio
This podcast delves into the art, science, and business of health coaching.
Whether you're aspiring to land a coaching dream job or to embark on your own entrepreneurial adventure, we cover it all.
Our mission is to help you grow your career, elevate your income, change the lives of the clients who need your help, and leave a lasting mark in this rapidly growing field.
(00:50):
It's time for health coaches to make an impact.
It's time for Health Coach Radio.
So welcome back to Health Coach Radio.
And today we're talking about something that most coaches aren't taught in their education, but they should be.
And it's something that can quietly sabotage the entire coaching relationship, even when your heart's in the right place, even when you know a ton about your specific expertise.
(01:16):
We're talking about bias.
specifically, your own bias as a coach and why, if you want to be a truly effective client centered practitioner, your bias should be imperceptible inside the coaching relationship.
I know to a lot of coaches this sounds very counterintuitive.
(01:36):
This conversation is for every coach who's ever caught themselves giving a little yay when the client says
she did the thing that you wanted her to do, or who feels weird when a client eats in a way that you wouldn't eat, or the coach who gets stuck when a client has a goal that doesn't match what you think their goal should be.
(01:57):
or anywhere in between.
I've been there, we all have, so let's talk about it.
And I want to start actually with a couple of anecdotes.
As I was working through that intro, I was thinking about a client who is in my program right now, my health coaching program, and I work with women on weight loss.
(02:18):
And I guide my clients through the coaching relationship to make meaningful changes in how they eat, move, and live so they can achieve the weight loss they want from a place of intrinsic motivation.
And I have a bias toward animal protein.
So my bias toward consuming animal protein is so strong that I'm very upfront in even my social media posts and
(02:46):
and every aspect of my program that this is not for you if you're plant-based or trying to be more plant-based.
I just put my flag in the ground and that's what I do.
Lo and behold, a client joins my program.
We go through the entire discovery process.
She's an amazing fit.
She's very motivated.
(03:06):
She's very good at clearly articulating her values-based goals.
I'm in, she's in, it's a beautiful match made in heaven.
We sign on the dotted line.
She gets started.
She's working through the program in the early stages, having some good success, feeling really motivated, and then
Weeks later tells me, Oh, by the way, I'm vegetarian.
(03:30):
First of all, I had no idea.
I was taken completely by surprise.
Like, how did I not catch this at any point in the weeks we've been communicating?
What's interesting about this particular anecdote is that she knew I was going to be weird about it, which isn't great.
She knew I was going to be weird about it, which is why she kind of tiptoed around it and then dropped the bomb on me when she was ready.
(03:52):
Look, she's having a great time in my program.
She's having great results.
It's working.
So, right out the gate, I'm questioning my own bias.
This client had to illuminate my own bias to me, and how it's unnecessary for me to have this bias.
That's a good example of where a coach might actually feel a little mind-blown because we all do have our
(04:16):
Preferred methodology, our preferred approach, the thing we like, whatever it is.
Everybody listening has a different approach they prefer.
I'm trying not to use the word bias because I'm going to use that word a lot in this talk.
And I do too.
And on some level, we should, right?
On some level, I don't want to work with vegetarians, but I am, and it's working fine.
(04:40):
And I think what's interesting about that, as I circle back on this, is that she knew my bias.
My bias is so clear that she had to dance around it for me.
And I'm not okay with that.
Now, here's another anecdote.
And the backstory in this anecdote, you may or may not know this, is that I am on the faculty of a health coaching school.
(05:03):
I kind of teased that in the introductory moments of this talk.
I teach an advanced health coaching course.
This advanced health coaching certification qualifies you to sit the National Board of Health and Wellness Coaches board exam so you can become a board-certified health coach.
And in this advanced coaching course, there's certain methodologies and there's a rubric we have to teach and that coaches have to measure up to.
(05:29):
It's a very rigid educational standard that we must meet.
It's great.
It's amazing.
So the point being, I work
For a health coaching school, and I have for the better part of a decade.
We're a health coaching school that's been around for a while.
We've been in the trenches doing this for a long time.
And we've really evolved our teaching methodology over the years.
(05:50):
As the health coaching industry evolves and matures, we've rolled with those changes.
I'm really proud to be part of this school.
We posted an article on our blog, and the article was entitled Maximizing Results (05:57):
The Synergy of GLP One Agonists and Health Coaching.
Obviously, GLP1 agonists, these weight loss medications, are big topic right now, and a lot of health coaches are worried about them.
(06:23):
I mean, I'm in the weight loss space, that's what I do, so I should be quote unquote worried as well, I'm not.
But I think
For fairly good reason, a lot of coaches in the health and wellness and weight loss space are kind of concerned (06:30):
like, well, what's the point of me being in this industry if there's a medicine that will just do it?
So, there is a little bit of a push-pull, there's a lot of sort of
dissenting opinions, differing opinions in the world of health and wellness as it pertains to GLP ones.
We can agree on that.
(06:52):
I don't think there's one right answer.
I always think in the realm of health and wellness and weight loss and nutrition and diet and exercise, there's a ton of nuance that we have to factor in.
That nuance does get lost a lot of the time in these conversations.
So, anyway, this blog post that the school posted was in the spirit of having a nuanced conversation about
(07:14):
health coaching, GLP wants, how they can coexist in the same space.
And for whatever it's worth, we're certainly not the first organization to
Share this thinking with their audience.
It's pretty common narrative in the space.
Now
A student wrote in and said, I appreciate this blog post, but for me, it's a disconnect because we go through training and it's stress how
(07:43):
Important it is to eat clean.
Certain foods are allowed, aren't allowed.
Certain methods are encouraged, are discouraged.
This is what we learn in school.
But we're supposed to accept that taking this medication is just okay.
It just seems like everything it seems like it goes against everything we learn in health coaching school
(08:06):
I was very disappointed to see this was published.
And that's actually that comment, which was, by the way, very thoughtfully submitted to us
Is what sparked this episode.
Because, you know, I replied back internally, something to the extent of
(08:27):
It's interesting that our audience of coaches and students feel protective of the eating methodology, the type of
Health methodology that we teach.
Perhaps rightfully so.
But as a health coaching school
Our mission is to train amazing coaches, and amazing coaches are client-centered.
(08:53):
And to be a client-centered coach, you must confront your biases.
And demonstrate openness.
So you can still have your personal preferred bias.
But they must be imperceptible.
Coaches' bias is imperceptible.
I go back to this grading rubric that I use.
(09:15):
So my students have to submit.
A recorded coaching session to me, and I grade it pass or fail against this massive rubric, and they have to hit certain competencies.
And one of my absolute favorite line items on that whole ginormous rubric.
Is coaches' bias is imperceptible.
I want to hear you and your opinions fade into the background.
(09:40):
So the client is in front, really driving this relationship.
So I go back to my anecdote where my embarrassment comes in because my
Client is so hyper-aware of my bias that she had to dance around it.
That's not her job.
Her job isn't to make sure that my bias is imperceptible.
It's my job.
(10:03):
So let's talk about this.
And I'd love to know what you think, because I will reiterate, this is a topic that
Can feel countercultural to a lot of health coaches.
And I think as the health coaching industry matures, we have to grow with it.
And I'll say this as a veteran in the health coaching education space.
(10:24):
We've had to grow and evolve how we teach health coaches because the industry is changing and changing and changing.
It will continue to change.
Welcome to a relatively new industry that's new and growing.
It's going to change for the foreseeable future before it settles down into some more
routine or regulated parameters.
(10:47):
Let me tell you about my friend Carolyn.
She's an athlete with a passion for heal
She'd been health coaching friends, families, strangers, not even knowing it was a thing.
She just felt called to help other people live their healthiest lives
Then she discovered the Primal Health Coach Certification Program and she went from feeling like an imposter to belonging to an amazing community of like-minded health pros.
(11:12):
confident and finally able to enjoy a fulfilling and profitable career doing exactly what she loves.
Carolyn is one of
Thousands of certified primal health coaches living their best lives and helping their clients do the same.
The Primal Health Coach Institute offers a variety of health and fitness certifications and specializations.
(11:33):
Our graduates are practicing unique coaching specialties and changing lives in countries all over the world.
We're always growing and evolving, so come grow with us.
Visit primalhealthcoach.
com to check out our courses and offerings.
So let's start by defining bias in coaching.
(11:53):
First of all, let's just define bias.
Bias is a lens.
It's the filter through which we all see the world.
We all have one.
You really can't not have one.
I think, in my opinion, it's hard not to have one.
And it's shaped by how you were raised, what you've learned, what you've experienced, what's worked for you.
(12:18):
And ultimately, it shapes how you move through the world.
It was shaped by and shapes how you move through the world.
So maybe you really believe in low carb.
Maybe you really believe that sugar is evil.
Maybe you really believe that we should get all the toxins out of our household cleaning items.
(12:41):
Maybe you believe that we need to have an elaborate morning routine.
Maybe you believe that we all need to put our feet on the grass every day, grounding or any of the above, or anything along those lines.
Maybe you believe in macro tracking.
Maybe you believe in calorie counting.
Maybe you believe in
(13:02):
Veganism.
Maybe you believe in carnivore.
We all have a belief.
None of them are wrong.
You have your belief.
This is how you move through the world.
This is probably how you came to health coaching on some level.
I would wager a pretty strong guess that what brought you to health coaching was some personal
(13:24):
Journey transformation through health, where you anchored yourself to a set of beliefs and viewpoints, and now you want to proceed with those viewpoints in the
In the front and center, which is fine.
But if you're not aware
(13:46):
Of your own lenses.
You might end up coaching through them without realizing it.
And then, when your voice is louder than the clients, you're no longer in the coaching partnership.
You're now in the boss role.
You're now the boss of the relationship, and your client is the subordinate, and that's not our job.
(14:10):
The National Board of Health and Wellness Coaching takes this seriously, and it's baked into the educational standards.
I mentioned that.
This is a line item on the rubric that our students must meet
The demands of in order to qualify to sit the NBHWC board exam.
Are you with me?
According to the NBHWC, one of the key markers of a competent coach is this.
(14:33):
Maintain a nonjudgmental, respectful, and empathetic attitude while remaining aware of and managing one's own biases.
So hear that again.
It's not that you are deleting your biases, you're just aware of and managing them.
This is part of our ethical foundation as health coaches.
(14:55):
It's how we create a safe, non-directive, client-centered container for growth
Because coaching actually isn't about your opinion, it's about their transformation in their life.
There's some more real world examples.
Your client might say, you know, I'm actually okay with being in a bigger body.
(15:20):
You freeze because
You're not really sure whether to celebrate this or redirect it.
Maybe because you still believe that weight loss, shrinking, is a goal that everyone should have.
Maybe you yourself, as a coach,
Have a high-performing kind of body recomposition program where you help get people shredded and very lean and athletic.
(15:45):
And the client comes in, they want to work with you, they like your approach, but they don't necessarily want that.
Or the client comes into your program and says, I really like intermittent fasting and I want to keep doing it.
But you instantly launch into the research you've read or heard on Instagram how women aren't supposed to do this.
For example.
(16:06):
But did you stop to ask her why she's doing it or how she feels?
Or a client says, I don't really want to go to the gym and lift weights.
I just don't like it.
I'm cool with like taking walks and going to Pilates class.
And again, maybe your bias is Pilates isn't real strength training.
(16:27):
I'm not getting into that debate, but that's a bias that exists.
We've probably heard that on some level.
I mean, that's a fight that happens on the internet between
Warring factions, the anti-Pilates people and the pro-Pilates people.
Those are two biases arguing with each other.
That happens a lot in the wellness world, but now we're in the coach-client relationship.
We can't be argumentative, obviously.
(16:49):
But do you see what's happening?
We start strategizing how to get this person on our page instead of coaching them where they are.
We start steering them instead of exploring with them.
And that's where coaching stops being transformational and starts to become transactional.
And by that, I mean you pay me, I tell you what to do, you go do it.
(17:13):
That's how this relationship works.
We don't want that.
That's not how this relationship works.
That's the transactional model.
That's not what we're after anymore.
And the reason why I mentioned this feels like a cognitive dissonance to coaches is because that was the old model of coaching.
And quite honestly, I say this with absolute respect as myself.
I'm a personal trainer myself, but that's kind of the personal trainer model in some ways, right?
(17:34):
And I say this as a personal trainer, but also a person who has a personal trainer.
One of the
Parameters of that relationship is okay.
I'm engaging in this relationship with you because I want you to program the workouts for me, then tell me what to do.
And of course, my personal trainer is going to check in with me to make sure it's feeling good, I'm getting the results I want.
(17:55):
And I do have some say in the workout, but not that much.
And I don't really, frankly, want that much.
But I think in health coaching,
I don't think I know that in health coaching, I believe strenuously as a health coaching educator, there's a stronger partnership here in the way the analogy or the imagery I use.
Is the co-driver imagery.
(18:17):
And this comes from my history in the military, okay?
When you're in the Army, at least the Canadian Army, which is what I was in.
You do the driving course, you learn how to become a driver in the Army.
There's a whole method to how they teach drivers, and you are the driver or you're the co-driver.
There's two of you in the vehicle
If you're driving, you're doing the driving.
If you're the co-driver, you're navigating, you're keeping the driver awake, you're helping them maintain the vehicle to a certain extent, do the vehicle inspection, what have you.
(18:43):
The co-driver's job is equally as important as the driver.
It's just that the driver is literally behind the wheel pressing on the accelerator.
But the co-driver's job is a partnership, a very, very one-to-one, 50-50 partnership.
So using this analogy, stretching it out a little further, the coach is not driving the vehicle, but the client also is not driving the vehicle.
(19:04):
We are driving and co-driving, both of us.
It's a partnership.
So, I do think for sometimes for coaches, that takes a little bit of rethinking, reimagining.
And I'm here for it.
I'm here for it.
I absolutely love teaching health coaching.
For this reason, because we get to reframe what the relationship is like from transactional, I'm the boss, you're the subordinate, I tell you what to do, you do it, from that to the transformation.
(19:36):
Why does this matter, though?
Here is the impact.
Clients may accidentally begin to shape their goals around what they think you want to hear.
If you consistently put your biases on BLAST, they'll say, Well, I guess I'll
(19:58):
Try keto, or I guess I can track my macros again.
Not because it feels right to them at all, but because they sense your subtle approval.
or not so subtle, as is the case with my client who felt sheepish about mentioning that she doesn't eat animal protein.
So this isn't empowering.
(20:21):
This is now performative.
We're now performing this act of coach and client.
And that's got such an expiry date on it, this game.
Because when a client is pretending to align with your bias
Trust erodes.
(20:43):
There's no intrinsic motivator there.
They're not doing this from their own place of motivation.
They're doing it because you want them to.
And growth stalls.
And not only does it not feel good for the client, but it doesn't work.
Your client might stop showing up fully in the relationship.
(21:09):
And then they won't get the results they deserve.
So, what do we do?
First of all,
Having a bias doesn't make you a bad coach.
It makes you human.
And earlier in the conversation, I
I was thinking and talking at the same time that we all have biases.
It's impossible to imagine not having them.
(21:31):
I think about this, this is just a parenthetical
From the perspective of a specific kind of bias called confirmation bias, which is kind of what we're talking about here, to be quite honest with you.
Confirmation bias is (21:39):
I already know what I believe, I already know what I believe, I already know my bias, and I'm going to go seek out.
Material, thought leaders, podcasts, blogs, books that support my bias.
I'm going to confirm my own bias by sharing the things that confirm my bias.
And confirmation bias is pretty rampant in the health and wellness world, unfortunately.
(22:02):
It's everywhere.
And I always think to myself in my quiet moments, during my quiet scrolls,
What would it be like to not have that?
What would it be like to be able to actually consume content and in every corner of the health and wellness world without your own bias coming into play?
I think it would be amazing if we could do it.
I just want to validate that it's hard.
(22:24):
It's very human to have bias.
And your job as a coach is not to be bias-free.
Your job is to make your bias imperceptible.
Okay, how?
We tell you how.
Number one, notice your reactions.
When you're in a coaching conversation with your clients and you're guiding the conversation in a motivational interviewing, active listening sort of way.
(22:55):
With your coach who's very with your client who's very intrinsically motivated and self-determined, are you getting little pings of excitement when they say the things that you want them to say?
Or are you bristling when they do something that you wouldn't have done or had them do?
(23:16):
So, a really good place, although not as easy as I make it sound, to start.
When it comes to confronting or making imperceptible your own biases, is noticing your reactions.
And that just takes a little bit of presence, and it might slow the conversation down, which is a good thing, by the way.
(23:37):
You ask
An open-ended question, the client answers it back.
You reflect back to the client.
There's some summaries, there's some affirmations.
This is all the ingredients of active listening.
The client says something that either confirms what you believe or confronts what you believe, and then you have a feeling about it.
Just notice that feeling.
And then don't say anything about your feeling, just feel it.
(24:01):
And then ask your next question.
Start to guide and encourage the client to keep saying more about that and maybe create a goal around it.
Anytime you hone your skills of presence, it pays off.
And that's all this is.
Notice your reactions, be present with your reactions.
(24:24):
Number two, check your language.
I just think language is such a powerful tool.
And that's my bias because I used to be a writer.
And so I really, really lean into language.
So please understand that this list of ideas to help you make your own bias imperceptible is my bias.
This is coming from me.
(24:45):
And another coach in another parallel universe who's hosting another health coaching podcast might have a totally different list, right?
Isn't that crazy to think about?
But here's a really useful tool.
It's so, so simple.
It's called Reflection.
It's one of the most basic communication tools that every coach should be mastering.
And anybody who's done my advanced health coaching course
(25:07):
As one of my students knows that I hammer on this.
We have a whole exercise that we do one day in the course where every single thing your client says, you must reflect it back because you're using their language back to them.
Mirroring her words and feelings back to her.
(25:29):
That's an easy way to confront your own bias or hide them and continue the conversation moving without accidentally inserting your bias.
Third way is to stay in inquiry mode, not instruction mode.
This takes a ton of practice.
(25:50):
You'll get it.
You will get this.
But this is removing you from the teacher boss role into the co-driver seat.
Coaching is more listening than it is advising, and simply answering, advising
(26:11):
Teaching, telling, talking, your client will tune that out.
But also, then, when your voice is the predominant voice in the conversation, you are now
Running the risk of steering the whole thing down the lane of your bias.
Another thing that I just want to bring up when it pertains to these
Assessments that I grade is (26:31):
I'm actually listening to what percentage of the time, roughly, is the coach speaking versus the client.
Actually, there are tools I think that will do this online, AI tools.
I haven't used them yet.
Maybe I will.
But like, I do want to hear the client's voice 75% of the time, 60%, 75%, maybe more.
(26:56):
And I really just want that coach to be there as the guide of the conversation.
I know that feels a little
Discombobulating because I think coaches are used to being the teachers, tellers, the leaders.
I will say it one more time, that's not our role.
(27:17):
Here's a great tool as well is review your sessions.
Record them, play them back, get some peer review, ask a friend, coaching peer to listen to your session.
Get a teacher.
Learn how to do this better.
Get some grading done on your session to just see if you're getting closer to
(27:40):
A paradigm where your bias is imperceptible in the conversation.
And then, like, there's
kind of thought experiments you can do.
You know, be really honest about your biases.
Write it out, journal it out, say, here's what I believe.
What is the opposite of that?
And would I still be able to coach a client who felt the opposite?
(28:02):
Because
For the longest time, and I'm not saying that this is incorrect, but for the longest time, I had a staunch no-vegetarian rule.
You know, I don't work with men, I don't work with vegetarians, but I could.
There's no reason why I couldn't.
Now in some cases, you're going to draw lines in the sand, which I want you to do.
(28:24):
This is all in the spirit of niching or niching your business down the way you want it.
And that's cool.
That's great.
You have to that's a business conversation that you've probably heard a million times on business podcasts.
But when it comes to the coaching relationship, inside the container of that conversation, really anything goes.
(28:44):
And I tell my students this.
Once you learn how to
Let's say, construct this coaching conversation, you can literally have this type of conversation with anybody.
A client, a loved one, a stranger, the framework that we kind of follow, this motivational interviewing framework
(29:08):
Open-ended questions, reflections, summaries, the whole nine yards, it works.
And it really works because you don't have to know anything.
You don't have to know anything.
You're a blank slate.
You come into the conversation a blank slate.
The client gets to decide the intention of the session.
The client decides the intention of the session.
(29:28):
The client moves toward their own goal based on their values.
It's all them.
Your job is to move them down that continuum to get them to a goal, a process goal that feels important to them, so they can get their eventual outcome goal.
Here's the truth.
The truth is, you are an expert, but you're not the expert on the client's lived experience or the way they're going to execute health change in their life.
(29:56):
You're the expert in helping your client become the expert.
Meta.
You're like the meta expert here.
You don't have to know every nook and cranny of nutrition and fitness.
Of course, you do have your expertise there.
And quite honestly, that's probably how you'll niche your business, your practice, in terms of your expertise.
(30:18):
I work with women, I work with athletes, I work with moms, whatever it might be.
But then, in the granularity of the coaching conversation, the coaching relationship, you are now the meta expert who's training the trainer, the client to be the expert in their own life.
So let your coaching be more of a mirror rather than a microphone.
(30:43):
And let your brilliance show up in how well you hold unbiased space.
Not in how many brilliant things you say or how you blow their mind with the latest factoid you picked up on Twitter.
Because the most powerful coaching moments
Often sound like silence, and they feel more like curiosity and
(31:10):
They land with impact and respect.
And this can only happen when your bias is imperceptible.
So, this coach is something for you to work on.
And the best place to start with working on it is understanding it.
So hopefully, we've gotten a little understanding here in this conversation.
But you know, I'd always love to hear from you
(31:31):
What you think about this concept and how you'll work on it
So let me know.
You can reach out to me at any time at hello at primalhealthcoach.
com.
All right, we'll catch you next time
Thanks for listening.
This podcast was brought to you by Primal Health Coach Institute.
(31:53):
To learn more about how to become a successful health coach, get in touch with us by visiting primalhealthcoach.
com forward slash call.
Or if you're already a successful health coach, practitioner, influencer, or thought leader with a thriving business and an interesting story, we'd love to hear from you.
Connect with us at hello at primalhealthcoach.
com and let us know why we need to interview you for Health Coach Radio.
(32:16):
Thanks for listening.
Coach's Bias is Imperceptible is not only the working title of this episode, but
Also, a line item on the grading rubric that I use when I'm grading the assessments of the health coaching students that I teach
And I want to talk about it today.
Hi, I'm Erin Power.
(00:23):
I'm a health coach, a health coaching educator, and mentor, and your host of Health Coach Radio
This podcast delves into the art, science, and business of health coaching.
Whether you're aspiring to land a coaching dream job or to embark on your own entrepreneurial adventure, we cover it all.
Our mission is to help you grow your career, elevate your income, change the lives of the clients who need your help, and leave a lasting mark in this rapidly growing field.
(00:50):
It's time for health coaches to make an impact.
It's time for Health Coach Radio.
So welcome back to Health Coach Radio.
And today we're talking about something that most coaches aren't taught in their education, but they should be.
And it's something that can quietly sabotage the entire coaching relationship, even when your heart's in the right place, even when you know a ton about your specific expertise.
(01:16):
We're talking about bias.
specifically, your own bias as a coach and why, if you want to be a truly effective client centered practitioner, your bias should be imperceptible inside the coaching relationship.
I know to a lot of coaches this sounds very counterintuitive.
(01:36):
This conversation is for every coach who's ever caught themselves giving a little yay when the client says
she did the thing that you wanted her to do, or who feels weird when a client eats in a way that you wouldn't eat, or the coach who gets stuck when a client has a goal that doesn't match what you think their goal should be.
(01:57):
or anywhere in between.
I've been there, we all have, so let's talk about it.
And I want to start actually with a couple of anecdotes.
As I was working through that intro, I was thinking about a client who is in my program right now, my health coaching program, and I work with women on weight loss.
(02:18):
And I guide my clients through the coaching relationship to make meaningful changes in how they eat, move, and live so they can achieve the weight loss they want from a place of intrinsic motivation.
And I have a bias toward animal protein.
So my bias toward consuming animal protein is so strong that I'm very upfront in even my social media posts and
(02:46):
and every aspect of my program that this is not for you if you're plant-based or trying to be more plant-based.
I just put my flag in the ground and that's what I do.
Lo and behold, a client joins my program.
We go through the entire discovery process.
She's an amazing fit.
She's very motivated.
(03:06):
She's very good at clearly articulating her values-based goals.
I'm in, she's in, it's a beautiful match made in heaven.
We sign on the dotted line.
She gets started.
She's working through the program in the early stages, having some good success, feeling really motivated, and then
Weeks later tells me, Oh, by the way, I'm vegetarian.
(03:30):
First of all, I had no idea.
I was taken completely by surprise.
Like, how did I not catch this at any point in the weeks we've been communicating?
What's interesting about this particular anecdote is that she knew I was going to be weird about it, which isn't great.
She knew I was going to be weird about it, which is why she kind of tiptoed around it and then dropped the bomb on me when she was ready.
(03:52):
Look, she's having a great time in my program.
She's having great results.
It's working.
So, right out the gate, I'm questioning my own bias.
This client had to illuminate my own bias to me, and how it's unnecessary for me to have this bias.
That's a good example of where a coach might actually feel a little mind-blown because we all do have our
(04:16):
Preferred methodology, our preferred approach, the thing we like, whatever it is.
Everybody listening has a different approach they prefer.
I'm trying not to use the word bias because I'm going to use that word a lot in this talk.
And I do too.
And on some level, we should, right?
On some level, I don't want to work with vegetarians, but I am, and it's working fine.
(04:40):
And I think what's interesting about that, as I circle back on this, is that she knew my bias.
My bias is so clear that she had to dance around it for me.
And I'm not okay with that.
Now, here's another anecdote.
And the backstory in this anecdote, you may or may not know this, is that I am on the faculty of a health coaching school.
(05:03):
I kind of teased that in the introductory moments of this talk.
I teach an advanced health coaching course.
This advanced health coaching certification qualifies you to sit the National Board of Health and Wellness Coaches board exam so you can become a board-certified health coach.
And in this advanced coaching course, there's certain methodologies and there's a rubric we have to teach and that coaches have to measure up to.
(05:29):
It's a very rigid educational standard that we must meet.
It's great.
It's amazing.
So the point being, I work
For a health coaching school, and I have for the better part of a decade.
We're a health coaching school that's been around for a while.
We've been in the trenches doing this for a long time.
And we've really evolved our teaching methodology over the years.
(05:50):
As the health coaching industry evolves and matures, we've rolled with those changes.
I'm really proud to be part of this school.
We posted an article on our blog, and the article was entitled Maximizing Results (05:57):
The Synergy of GLP One Agonists and Health Coaching.
Obviously, GLP1 agonists, these weight loss medications, are big topic right now, and a lot of health coaches are worried about them.
(06:23):
I mean, I'm in the weight loss space, that's what I do, so I should be quote unquote worried as well, I'm not.
But I think
For fairly good reason, a lot of coaches in the health and wellness and weight loss space are kind of concerned (06:30):
like, well, what's the point of me being in this industry if there's a medicine that will just do it?
So, there is a little bit of a push-pull, there's a lot of sort of
dissenting opinions, differing opinions in the world of health and wellness as it pertains to GLP ones.
We can agree on that.
(06:52):
I don't think there's one right answer.
I always think in the realm of health and wellness and weight loss and nutrition and diet and exercise, there's a ton of nuance that we have to factor in.
That nuance does get lost a lot of the time in these conversations.
So, anyway, this blog post that the school posted was in the spirit of having a nuanced conversation about
(07:14):
health coaching, GLP wants, how they can coexist in the same space.
And for whatever it's worth, we're certainly not the first organization to
Share this thinking with their audience.
It's pretty common narrative in the space.
Now
A student wrote in and said, I appreciate this blog post, but for me, it's a disconnect because we go through training and it's stress how
(07:43):
Important it is to eat clean.
Certain foods are allowed, aren't allowed.
Certain methods are encouraged, are discouraged.
This is what we learn in school.
But we're supposed to accept that taking this medication is just okay.
It just seems like everything it seems like it goes against everything we learn in health coaching school
(08:06):
I was very disappointed to see this was published.
And that's actually that comment, which was, by the way, very thoughtfully submitted to us
Is what sparked this episode.
Because, you know, I replied back internally, something to the extent of
(08:27):
It's interesting that our audience of coaches and students feel protective of the eating methodology, the type of
Health methodology that we teach.
Perhaps rightfully so.
But as a health coaching school
Our mission is to train amazing coaches, and amazing coaches are client-centered.
(08:53):
And to be a client-centered coach, you must confront your biases.
And demonstrate openness.
So you can still have your personal preferred bias.
But they must be imperceptible.
Coaches' bias is imperceptible.
I go back to this grading rubric that I use.
(09:15):
So my students have to submit.
A recorded coaching session to me, and I grade it pass or fail against this massive rubric, and they have to hit certain competencies.
And one of my absolute favorite line items on that whole ginormous rubric.
Is coaches' bias is imperceptible.
I want to hear you and your opinions fade into the background.
(09:40):
So the client is in front, really driving this relationship.
So I go back to my anecdote where my embarrassment comes in because my
Client is so hyper-aware of my bias that she had to dance around it.
That's not her job.
Her job isn't to make sure that my bias is imperceptible.
It's my job.
(10:03):
So let's talk about this.
And I'd love to know what you think, because I will reiterate, this is a topic that
Can feel countercultural to a lot of health coaches.
And I think as the health coaching industry matures, we have to grow with it.
And I'll say this as a veteran in the health coaching education space.
(10:24):
We've had to grow and evolve how we teach health coaches because the industry is changing and changing and changing.
It will continue to change.
Welcome to a relatively new industry that's new and growing.
It's going to change for the foreseeable future before it settles down into some more
routine or regulated parameters.
(10:47):
Let me tell you about my friend Carolyn.
She's an athlete with a passion for heal
She'd been health coaching friends, families, strangers, not even knowing it was a thing.
She just felt called to help other people live their healthiest lives
Then she discovered the Primal Health Coach Certification Program and she went from feeling like an imposter to belonging to an amazing community of like-minded health pros.
(11:12):
confident and finally able to enjoy a fulfilling and profitable career doing exactly what she loves.
Carolyn is one of
Thousands of certified primal health coaches living their best lives and helping their clients do the same.
The Primal Health Coach Institute offers a variety of health and fitness certifications and specializations.
(11:33):
Our graduates are practicing unique coaching specialties and changing lives in countries all over the world.
We're always growing and evolving, so come grow with us.
Visit primalhealthcoach.
com to check out our courses and offerings.
So let's start by defining bias in coaching.
(11:53):
First of all, let's just define bias.
Bias is a lens.
It's the filter through which we all see the world.
We all have one.
You really can't not have one.
I think, in my opinion, it's hard not to have one.
And it's shaped by how you were raised, what you've learned, what you've experienced, what's worked for you.
(12:18):
And ultimately, it shapes how you move through the world.
It was shaped by and shapes how you move through the world.
So maybe you really believe in low carb.
Maybe you really believe that sugar is evil.
Maybe you really believe that we should get all the toxins out of our household cleaning items.
(12:41):
Maybe you believe that we need to have an elaborate morning routine.
Maybe you believe that we all need to put our feet on the grass every day, grounding or any of the above, or anything along those lines.
Maybe you believe in macro tracking.
Maybe you believe in calorie counting.
Maybe you believe in
(13:02):
Veganism.
Maybe you believe in carnivore.
We all have a belief.
None of them are wrong.
You have your belief.
This is how you move through the world.
This is probably how you came to health coaching on some level.
I would wager a pretty strong guess that what brought you to health coaching was some personal
(13:24):
Journey transformation through health, where you anchored yourself to a set of beliefs and viewpoints, and now you want to proceed with those viewpoints in the
In the front and center, which is fine.
But if you're not aware
(13:46):
Of your own lenses.
You might end up coaching through them without realizing it.
And then, when your voice is louder than the clients, you're no longer in the coaching partnership.
You're now in the boss role.
You're now the boss of the relationship, and your client is the subordinate, and that's not our job.
(14:10):
The National Board of Health and Wellness Coaching takes this seriously, and it's baked into the educational standards.
I mentioned that.
This is a line item on the rubric that our students must meet
The demands of in order to qualify to sit the NBHWC board exam.
Are you with me?
According to the NBHWC, one of the key markers of a competent coach is this.
(14:33):
Maintain a nonjudgmental, respectful, and empathetic attitude while remaining aware of and managing one's own biases.
So hear that again.
It's not that you are deleting your biases, you're just aware of and managing them.
This is part of our ethical foundation as health coaches.
(14:55):
It's how we create a safe, non-directive, client-centered container for growth
Because coaching actually isn't about your opinion, it's about their transformation in their life.
There's some more real world examples.
Your client might say, you know, I'm actually okay with being in a bigger body.
(15:20):
You freeze because
You're not really sure whether to celebrate this or redirect it.
Maybe because you still believe that weight loss, shrinking, is a goal that everyone should have.
Maybe you yourself, as a coach,
Have a high-performing kind of body recomposition program where you help get people shredded and very lean and athletic.
(15:45):
And the client comes in, they want to work with you, they like your approach, but they don't necessarily want that.
Or the client comes into your program and says, I really like intermittent fasting and I want to keep doing it.
But you instantly launch into the research you've read or heard on Instagram how women aren't supposed to do this.
For example.
(16:06):
But did you stop to ask her why she's doing it or how she feels?
Or a client says, I don't really want to go to the gym and lift weights.
I just don't like it.
I'm cool with like taking walks and going to Pilates class.
And again, maybe your bias is Pilates isn't real strength training.
(16:27):
I'm not getting into that debate, but that's a bias that exists.
We've probably heard that on some level.
I mean, that's a fight that happens on the internet between
Warring factions, the anti-Pilates people and the pro-Pilates people.
Those are two biases arguing with each other.
That happens a lot in the wellness world, but now we're in the coach-client relationship.
We can't be argumentative, obviously.
(16:49):
But do you see what's happening?
We start strategizing how to get this person on our page instead of coaching them where they are.
We start steering them instead of exploring with them.
And that's where coaching stops being transformational and starts to become transactional.
And by that, I mean you pay me, I tell you what to do, you go do it.
(17:13):
That's how this relationship works.
We don't want that.
That's not how this relationship works.
That's the transactional model.
That's not what we're after anymore.
And the reason why I mentioned this feels like a cognitive dissonance to coaches is because that was the old model of coaching.
And quite honestly, I say this with absolute respect as myself.
I'm a personal trainer myself, but that's kind of the personal trainer model in some ways, right?
(17:34):
And I say this as a personal trainer, but also a person who has a personal trainer.
One of the
Parameters of that relationship is okay.
I'm engaging in this relationship with you because I want you to program the workouts for me, then tell me what to do.
And of course, my personal trainer is going to check in with me to make sure it's feeling good, I'm getting the results I want.
(17:55):
And I do have some say in the workout, but not that much.
And I don't really, frankly, want that much.
But I think in health coaching,
I don't think I know that in health coaching, I believe strenuously as a health coaching educator, there's a stronger partnership here in the way the analogy or the imagery I use.
Is the co-driver imagery.
(18:17):
And this comes from my history in the military, okay?
When you're in the Army, at least the Canadian Army, which is what I was in.
You do the driving course, you learn how to become a driver in the Army.
There's a whole method to how they teach drivers, and you are the driver or you're the co-driver.
There's two of you in the vehicle
If you're driving, you're doing the driving.
If you're the co-driver, you're navigating, you're keeping the driver awake, you're helping them maintain the vehicle to a certain extent, do the vehicle inspection, what have you.
(18:43):
The co-driver's job is equally as important as the driver.
It's just that the driver is literally behind the wheel pressing on the accelerator.
But the co-driver's job is a partnership, a very, very one-to-one, 50-50 partnership.
So using this analogy, stretching it out a little further, the coach is not driving the vehicle, but the client also is not driving the vehicle.
(19:04):
We are driving and co-driving, both of us.
It's a partnership.
So, I do think for sometimes for coaches, that takes a little bit of rethinking, reimagining.
And I'm here for it.
I'm here for it.
I absolutely love teaching health coaching.
For this reason, because we get to reframe what the relationship is like from transactional, I'm the boss, you're the subordinate, I tell you what to do, you do it, from that to the transformation.
(19:36):
Why does this matter, though?
Here is the impact.
Clients may accidentally begin to shape their goals around what they think you want to hear.
If you consistently put your biases on BLAST, they'll say, Well, I guess I'll
(19:58):
Try keto, or I guess I can track my macros again.
Not because it feels right to them at all, but because they sense your subtle approval.
or not so subtle, as is the case with my client who felt sheepish about mentioning that she doesn't eat animal protein.
So this isn't empowering.
(20:21):
This is now performative.
We're now performing this act of coach and client.
And that's got such an expiry date on it, this game.
Because when a client is pretending to align with your bias
Trust erodes.
(20:43):
There's no intrinsic motivator there.
They're not doing this from their own place of motivation.
They're doing it because you want them to.
And growth stalls.
And not only does it not feel good for the client, but it doesn't work.
Your client might stop showing up fully in the relationship.
(21:09):
And then they won't get the results they deserve.
So, what do we do?
First of all,
Having a bias doesn't make you a bad coach.
It makes you human.
And earlier in the conversation, I
I was thinking and talking at the same time that we all have biases.
It's impossible to imagine not having them.
(21:31):
I think about this, this is just a parenthetical
From the perspective of a specific kind of bias called confirmation bias, which is kind of what we're talking about here, to be quite honest with you.
Confirmation bias is (21:39):
I already know what I believe, I already know what I believe, I already know my bias, and I'm going to go seek out.
Material, thought leaders, podcasts, blogs, books that support my bias.
I'm going to confirm my own bias by sharing the things that confirm my bias.
And confirmation bias is pretty rampant in the health and wellness world, unfortunately.
(22:02):
It's everywhere.
And I always think to myself in my quiet moments, during my quiet scrolls,
What would it be like to not have that?
What would it be like to be able to actually consume content and in every corner of the health and wellness world without your own bias coming into play?
I think it would be amazing if we could do it.
I just want to validate that it's hard.
(22:24):
It's very human to have bias.
And your job as a coach is not to be bias-free.
Your job is to make your bias imperceptible.
Okay, how?
We tell you how.
Number one, notice your reactions.
When you're in a coaching conversation with your clients and you're guiding the conversation in a motivational interviewing, active listening sort of way.
(22:55):
With your coach who's very with your client who's very intrinsically motivated and self-determined, are you getting little pings of excitement when they say the things that you want them to say?
Or are you bristling when they do something that you wouldn't have done or had them do?
(23:16):
So, a really good place, although not as easy as I make it sound, to start.
When it comes to confronting or making imperceptible your own biases, is noticing your reactions.
And that just takes a little bit of presence, and it might slow the conversation down, which is a good thing, by the way.
(23:37):
You ask
An open-ended question, the client answers it back.
You reflect back to the client.
There's some summaries, there's some affirmations.
This is all the ingredients of active listening.
The client says something that either confirms what you believe or confronts what you believe, and then you have a feeling about it.
Just notice that feeling.
And then don't say anything about your feeling, just feel it.
(24:01):
And then ask your next question.
Start to guide and encourage the client to keep saying more about that and maybe create a goal around it.
Anytime you hone your skills of presence, it pays off.
And that's all this is.
Notice your reactions, be present with your reactions.
(24:24):
Number two, check your language.
I just think language is such a powerful tool.
And that's my bias because I used to be a writer.
And so I really, really lean into language.
So please understand that this list of ideas to help you make your own bias imperceptible is my bias.
This is coming from me.
(24:45):
And another coach in another parallel universe who's hosting another health coaching podcast might have a totally different list, right?
Isn't that crazy to think about?
But here's a really useful tool.
It's so, so simple.
It's called Reflection.
It's one of the most basic communication tools that every coach should be mastering.
And anybody who's done my advanced health coaching course
(25:07):
As one of my students knows that I hammer on this.
We have a whole exercise that we do one day in the course where every single thing your client says, you must reflect it back because you're using their language back to them.
Mirroring her words and feelings back to her.
(25:29):
That's an easy way to confront your own bias or hide them and continue the conversation moving without accidentally inserting your bias.
Third way is to stay in inquiry mode, not instruction mode.
This takes a ton of practice.
(25:50):
You'll get it.
You will get this.
But this is removing you from the teacher boss role into the co-driver seat.
Coaching is more listening than it is advising, and simply answering, advising
(26:11):
Teaching, telling, talking, your client will tune that out.
But also, then, when your voice is the predominant voice in the conversation, you are now
Running the risk of steering the whole thing down the lane of your bias.
Another thing that I just want to bring up when it pertains to these
Assessments that I grade is (26:31):
I'm actually listening to what percentage of the time, roughly, is the coach speaking versus the client.
Actually, there are tools I think that will do this online, AI tools.
I haven't used them yet.
Maybe I will.
But like, I do want to hear the client's voice 75% of the time, 60%, 75%, maybe more.
(26:56):
And I really just want that coach to be there as the guide of the conversation.
I know that feels a little
Discombobulating because I think coaches are used to being the teachers, tellers, the leaders.
I will say it one more time, that's not our role.
(27:17):
Here's a great tool as well is review your sessions.
Record them, play them back, get some peer review, ask a friend, coaching peer to listen to your session.
Get a teacher.
Learn how to do this better.
Get some grading done on your session to just see if you're getting closer to
(27:40):
A paradigm where your bias is imperceptible in the conversation.
And then, like, there's
kind of thought experiments you can do.
You know, be really honest about your biases.
Write it out, journal it out, say, here's what I believe.
What is the opposite of that?
And would I still be able to coach a client who felt the opposite?
(28:02):
Because
For the longest time, and I'm not saying that this is incorrect, but for the longest time, I had a staunch no-vegetarian rule.
You know, I don't work with men, I don't work with vegetarians, but I could.
There's no reason why I couldn't.
Now in some cases, you're going to draw lines in the sand, which I want you to do.
(28:24):
This is all in the spirit of niching or niching your business down the way you want it.
And that's cool.
That's great.
You have to that's a business conversation that you've probably heard a million times on business podcasts.
But when it comes to the coaching relationship, inside the container of that conversation, really anything goes.
(28:44):
And I tell my students this.
Once you learn how to
Let's say, construct this coaching conversation, you can literally have this type of conversation with anybody.
A client, a loved one, a stranger, the framework that we kind of follow, this motivational interviewing framework
(29:08):
Open-ended questions, reflections, summaries, the whole nine yards, it works.
And it really works because you don't have to know anything.
You don't have to know anything.
You're a blank slate.
You come into the conversation a blank slate.
The client gets to decide the intention of the session.
The client decides the intention of the session.
(29:28):
The client moves toward their own goal based on their values.
It's all them.
Your job is to move them down that continuum to get them to a goal, a process goal that feels important to them, so they can get their eventual outcome goal.
Here's the truth.
The truth is, you are an expert, but you're not the expert on the client's lived experience or the way they're going to execute health change in their life.
(29:56):
You're the expert in helping your client become the expert.
Meta.
You're like the meta expert here.
You don't have to know every nook and cranny of nutrition and fitness.
Of course, you do have your expertise there.
And quite honestly, that's probably how you'll niche your business, your practice, in terms of your expertise.
(30:18):
I work with women, I work with athletes, I work with moms, whatever it might be.
But then, in the granularity of the coaching conversation, the coaching relationship, you are now the meta expert who's training the trainer, the client to be the expert in their own life.
So let your coaching be more of a mirror rather than a microphone.
(30:43):
And let your brilliance show up in how well you hold unbiased space.
Not in how many brilliant things you say or how you blow their mind with the latest factoid you picked up on Twitter.
Because the most powerful coaching moments
Often sound like silence, and they feel more like curiosity and
(31:10):
They land with impact and respect.
And this can only happen when your bias is imperceptible.
So, this coach is something for you to work on.
And the best place to start with working on it is understanding it.
So hopefully, we've gotten a little understanding here in this conversation.
But you know, I'd always love to hear from you
(31:31):
What you think about this concept and how you'll work on it
So let me know.
You can reach out to me at any time at hello at primalhealthcoach.
com.
All right, we'll catch you next time
Thanks for listening.
This podcast was brought to you by Primal Health Coach Institute.
(31:53):
To learn more about how to become a successful health coach, get in touch with us by visiting primalhealthcoach.
com forward slash call.
Or if you're already a successful health coach, practitioner, influencer, or thought leader with a thriving business and an interesting story, we'd love to hear from you.
Connect with us at hello at primalhealthcoach.
com and let us know why we need to interview you for Health Coach Radio.
(32:16):
Thanks for listening.
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