Do you want to get the best coaching experience? This is what to look for.
Posted on January 30, 2012 by Marion Coach, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
Have you ever wondered what it takes to be a great coach? The coaches I've partnered with all have these qualities and I learned so much from them.
So many people as me what I think it takes to be a great coach. In my eyes a great coach is someone who is in integrity; in other words, someone who walks the walk and talks the talk. That doesn’t mean they are perfect; no one is. I feel the more experiences a coach has had in their life, a better coach they will be. It’s much easier teaching, coaching, guiding when you have been through something yourself. I’m not saying you can’t help someone if you haven’t been through it but experience in the actual situation helps tremendously.
Most people have so much more potential than they can possibly even imagine; a coach can bring that awareness and have them use their imagination and visioning to change their life.
A great coach should be someone who engages in conversations by listening and asking questions and by paying attention to not only what is being said but what’s not being said; causing them to ask the right questions and shares personal experiences when needed.
A great coach helps the client to see themselves from a new perspective. Some clients come in with perceptions about themselves they’ve heard from others over and over again. They may not even be true but it’s what they believe to be true due to the repetitive nature in which they were said. Sometimes you just have to hear something once and it sticks.
An example is someone saying to you, “You’re so lazy, you’ll never amount to anything”, or “You’re such an idiot”. Simple words can tarnish our thoughts about ourselves. A coach will point out the good and greatness in things you are doing and also help to change your negative thoughts to positive ones thus changing your life.
Sometimes we are just stuck in a learned behavior or learned thought process. A coach can help uncover the truth and teach us to “unlearn what we have learned”, as Yoga so nicely stated. It’s not always easy but with the right coach it’s doable.
A great coach gets their client to think bigger, if that makes sense.
A great coach has a rapport with the client and is not judgmental. The coach enjoys the client through all the good and the bad, strengths and weaknesses, positive and negatives, which helps them to move forward at a quicker pace.
A great coach is a support team within itself; someone to congratulate, pat on the back, push when you need it, and ask for more – because they know you are capable and want to help expand your mind.
A great coach is someone who sees the learning experience in every situation. Someone who sees the good in the craziness of it all and can point it out. Someone who knows things happen for a reason and gets the client to see the reasons why also.
A great coach points out things the client may not even be aware of. Intuition is key in this factor. Sometimes the littlest thing a coach picks up from a client can have the greatest impact on the speed and success of the client moving forward.
A great coach encourages the client to go the extra mile and gets excited when they do and points it out so they know they are on the right track and doing their all time best. Sometimes we just need to hear it, even if we already know it.
A great coach is open to suggestions made by clients and others about how to be a better coach and is always learning and growing, finding new ways and innovations to keep it fresh and new.
A great coach respects the client. Everyone wants and deserves respect. Don’t you think so?
A great coach helps take you from where you are to where you want to be.
Let me know if you have anything you’d like to add; I’d love to hear from you. There are so many more great attributes but I had to stop somewhere.
