13 Tools Every Career Coaching Client Should Use
Navigating the path to career success requires the right set of tools, and this article unveils an array of 13 essential instruments recommended by industry experts. Each tool is designed to enhance a specific aspect of professional growth, from assessing emotional intelligence to optimizing networking opportunities. Insights from seasoned career coaches transform these tools from mere concepts into practical stepping stones towards achieving personal and career aspirations.
- Emotional Intelligence Assessment Elevates Leadership Skills
- TrainingPeaks Enhances Athletic Performance
- Morning And Evening Routines Boost Success
- Comfortable Walking Shoes Inspire Creativity
- Build Personal Brand On Social Media
- Focusmate Provides Real-Time Accountability
- Workplace Personality Index Guides Career Choices
- Values Inventory Aligns Priorities And Builds Confidence
- DISC Assessment Tailors Coaching Approach
- Create Vision Statement Based On Core Values
- CliftonStrengths Assessment Reveals Natural Talents
- Mood Shift Worksheet Empowers Career Growth
- LinkedIn Optimizes Networking And Job Opportunities
Emotional Intelligence Assessment Elevates Leadership Skills
Emotional Intelligence (EQ) assessment tool is one tool that I highly recommend to career coaching clients. Emotional intelligence plays a crucial role in professional success, leadership, and effective communication. By understanding their EQ, individuals can gain deeper insights into their self-awareness, how they regulate themselves, empathy, and social skills, elevating these professionals from a good to a great leader. I find EQ assessments particularly valuable because they help clients recognize their strengths and areas for growth in managing emotions and navigating interpersonal dynamics. In today's workplace, technical skills are the threshold and alone are not enough. The ability to handle stress, resolve conflicts, and build strong connections is equally important. Many clients have found that improving their EQ leads to increased confidence, better collaboration, and stronger leadership presence. EQ development is a differentiator because it helps professionals shift toxic behaviors and create a more positive, inclusive, and productive work environment.
TrainingPeaks Enhances Athletic Performance
One resource I always recommend to my coaching clients is TrainingPeaks. This tool allows both athletes and coaches to track, analyze, and plan workouts with precision. For instance, it has enabled me to custom-tailor training plans, factoring in workout history and metrics like power and heart rate, ensuring each session aligns perfectly with an athlete's goals and current fitness level.
Having consistently communicated through TrainingPeaks, my clients appreciate the structured feedback loop it creates. This directly improves their understanding of training progress and performance, which is critical for anyone serious about improving in endurance sports. One athlete told me that using TrainingPeaks changed how they approached races, ultimately leading to a personal best.
TrainingPeaks also fosters a deeper athlete-coach relationship, which is at the core of my philosophy at Campfire Endurance Coaching. By providing a transparent platform for communication, athletes feel supported and informed, which are key elements in achieving a balance between training and life demands. In my own career, incorporating detailed analyses from this platform has been a huge 'aha' moment, emphasizing that no training approach beats clear, data-informed guidance.
Morning And Evening Routines Boost Success
The One Resource I Recommend to Every Coaching Client: Morning & Evening Routines If there's one thing I swear by, both for myself and my coaching clients, it's morning and evening routines. Not just as a habit, but as a non-negotiable foundation for success, clarity, and well-being. For years, I woke up feeling behind before the day even started. My mornings were reactive—checking emails, rushing into the day, immediately diving into everyone else's needs. And my evenings? Full of overthinking, stress, and no real unwinding. It was a recipe for burnout, not growth. So, I changed everything. And that's when my business, energy, and mindset transformed. Now, my morning routine is sacred: Meditation to set my energy before the world touches it. Movement (whether it's Kundalini yoga or walking) to activate my body and mind. Journaling to get clear on my priorities, set my focus, and anchor into gratitude. A moment of stillness—because success isn't about rushing, it's about alignment. And at night? My evening routine is what keeps me grounded: Reflection on the day—what worked, what didn't, and what I want to shift. Intentional wind-down—whether that's stretching, breathwork, or simply disconnecting from screens. Setting up tomorrow—so I wake up with clarity instead of chaos. When I finally committed to owning the way I start and end my days, everything changed. My focus improved, my stress dropped, and my ability to show up fully—for my business, my clients, and myself—skyrocketed. That's why I tell my clients: Don't underestimate the power of your daily rituals. Success isn't just about what you do during the day—it's about how you set yourself up for it. Sending you love, light, and prosperity, Prosperous Jenn
Comfortable Walking Shoes Inspire Creativity
The number one tool I recommend is something unexpected: a comfortable pair of walking shoes.
Physical movement reduces stress, inspires creativity, and sparks mental clarity. It's great for developing innovative ideas and making sound career decisions.
Shifting focus from building a résumé, I appreciate the holistic, bottom-up approach that includes physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
Build Personal Brand On Social Media
For my career coaching clients, I always recommend that they build their personal brand on social media to help them attract more clients and sales. It doesn't need to be a big presence with millions of followers - start with what you already have right now and use the platform to share helpful resources, career tips and advice, and case studies with your previous clients. Social media is also an incredible tool for telling your audience your own story. This can be a story of how you started your career, what challenges you faced, and how you opened your business. This will allow you to stand out from the competition, communicate your own values and attract the right clients for your business.
Focusmate Provides Real-Time Accountability
Hello! I'm Dennis Shirshikov, Founder and Educational Leader at itutor.com, where I direct the company's marketing and growth strategies. I also teach finance and economics at the City University of New York, examining everything from basic personal finance to advanced investment strategies in ways that help individuals-and organizations-thrive in the long term.
What is one resource or tool that you recommend to all of your career coaching clients? Why do you find it valuable?
I encourage nearly everyone I advise to experiment with Focusmate, a lesser-known but highly effective online co-working platform that pairs you with a partner for live, virtual work sessions. While some clients rely on scheduling apps or productivity journals, Focusmate breaks the pattern of isolation by introducing accountability and structure in real time. In practice, it allows you to collaborate with people who are tackling their own to-do lists-both parties feel more compelled to stay on track because there's another person, literally face-to-face, expecting progress by the end of each session. That accountability alone has helped several of my clients methodically plan career pivots, update their resumes, or finally complete certification courses they'd been putting off.
Best regards,
Dennis Shirshikov
Head of Financial Education
[itutor.com](http://itutor.com/)
Email: dennisshirshikov@itutor.com
Interview: 929-536-0604
LinkedIn: [linkedin.com/in/dennis212/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennis212/)
Workplace Personality Index Guides Career Choices
I highly recommend the Workplace Personality Index (WPI) to all career coaching clients because it provides a comprehensive, data-driven understanding of their behavioral strengths, work preferences, and leadership style. Unlike generic career assessments, the WPI offers practical, workplace-specific insights that help individuals align their careers with their natural tendencies, cognitive processing style, and motivational drivers.
This tool is valuable because it evaluates key traits such as problem-solving approach, teamwork preferences, leadership potential, adaptability, and stress tolerance—all of which impact job satisfaction and long-term career success. By using the WPI, clients gain clarity on:
Workplace environment fit (corporate, nonprofit, remote, or structured vs. flexible settings).
Ideal roles based on behavioral strengths (e.g., whether they thrive in leadership, creative, or analytical roles).
Communication and collaboration styles to enhance workplace relationships and productivity.
Career development strategies tailored to their unique personality and strengths.
By integrating behavioral profiling into career decision-making, the WPI helps clients make strategic, evidence-based choices rather than relying on guesswork or trial-and-error career moves. I've seen firsthand how clients who use the WPI experience greater job satisfaction, career stability, and confidence in their professional path—making it an essential tool in career coaching.
Values Inventory Aligns Priorities And Builds Confidence
I use a personal and professional values inventory with almost all of my coaching clients. Whether they are making decisions, in transition, or developing their leader identity, this tool provides a helpful foundation and starting place for them to align their priorities, consider context, and build confidence.
DISC Assessment Tailors Coaching Approach
When working with clients, I begin with a DISC assessment. This offers me insights into who I am coaching, but it also provides a great foundation for our time together. We discover their strengths and learn what areas need improvement. How I coach them will depend upon their DISC results so that my language works for them. We get further down the road faster, and they get the results they seek personally and professionally. It's a must!
Create Vision Statement Based On Core Values
When working with clients who are transitioning to another position or changing careers, we focus on creating a vision for their future that takes into account their core values, strengths, and passions. Before a client can begin the job search process, they must have a clear understanding of what is most important to them in all areas of life. We start by identifying their top 3 core values. The next step is identifying their top 3 strengths, which include the skills they've learned throughout their career, as well as the traits they were born with. We spend time exploring their top 3 passions in life. Reflecting on these areas, the client will see similarities in each category. These similarities will serve as the foundation for their vision statement. Their vision statement will guide them in selecting the right positions within organizations that are aligned with their core values.
CliftonStrengths Assessment Reveals Natural Talents
The Must-Have Tool for Career Success: Unlocking Your Strengths
In the ever-evolving world of business and career growth, understanding your unique strengths is a game-changer. One resource I recommend to all my career coaching clients is the CliftonStrengths Assessment (formerly StrengthsFinder by Gallup).
Why is this tool so powerful?
1. Clarity & Self-Discovery - This assessment reveals your natural talents, helping you align your career with what you do best.
2. Confidence Booster - Knowing your strengths allows you to communicate your value effectively-whether in job interviews, leadership roles, or business growth.
3. Strategic Career Growth - By leveraging your strengths, you can position yourself for success in the right roles, industries, and opportunities.
4. Stronger Team Dynamics - Entrepreneurs and leaders can use this insight to build more effective teams, improving collaboration and productivity.
When you fully understand and embrace your strengths, you don't just work-You thrive. Success isn't about fixing weaknesses; it's about mastering what you do best.
Mood Shift Worksheet Empowers Career Growth
One resource I always recommend to my career coaching clients is the Stuck to Empowered Mood Shift Worksheet. It's a simple yet powerful internal tool I use that helps professionals shift their mindset when they're feeling stuck, whether it's in their job search, career growth, or major decision-making.
I find it valuable because career challenges are often more about mindset than actual ability. When people feel empowered, they take action with more confidence and clarity. This worksheet guides them through that shift, helping them reframe obstacles and move forward with a more positive, productive approach.
LinkedIn Optimizes Networking And Job Opportunities
I always recommend LinkedIn to my career coaching clients. It's not just a networking tool-it's a personal branding platform that helps professionals showcase their skills, connect with industry leaders, and discover job opportunities. A well-optimized LinkedIn profile with a strong headline, engaging summary, and strategic content increases visibility and credibility. I also advise clients to engage with posts, join relevant groups, and leverage LinkedIn Learning to stay competitive. The platform's job search tools and recruiter access make it invaluable for career growth. Those who use it consistently see better opportunities and stronger professional connections.
