There are some traits you should have if you’re going to be a great coach. You may have been born with some of these traits, but you can work on developing the others. Nothing is going to hold you back if you’re determined to be a great coach.
Discipline
It’s very important for you to be available and consistent for your coaching clients. It’s crucial that you’re there for them when you’ve agreed to be; otherwise you could really damage the relationship.
You also have to be disciplined enough to be a little bit strict when you need to be. That means requiring your coaching client to stick to the schedule and agreement he or she made as well.
I have to be honest— coaching can sometimes be draining. You’re taking on other people’s problems on top of your own. It’s exhausting as much as it can be exhilarating. You start to feel like their success is your success and their failure is your failure. That’s why it really helps to be passionate about helping others succeed. This passion will help carry you through.
Desire to Help
Coaching pays very well, but you’re also giving back. You’ve no doubt had people help you get to where you are today. Now you’re helping a new generation get their start. It can feel very good to help people avoid mistakes and reach success more quickly.
Patience
There will be times when your coaching students try your patience. Some of them will be late with assignments or won’t agree with your methods. Some of them will become discouraged or have every excuse in the book for why they can’t or won’t do something. You’ll get better at handling these issues over time. In the meantime, it really helps to have patience.
Thick Skin
You’ll be working very intimately with people on something that really matters a great deal to them— the success of their business. There may be disagreements or differences of opinion. Remember that they are the client and their happiness comes first. You have to develop thick skin when things don’t go as planned.
One thing I’ve taught people for years is that “failure is your friend”. Make sure your client knows up front that not everything that you suggest, or that he does, will work right out of the box. You’ll both learn in the process, just make sure they realize that there might be setbacks along the way so that they aren’t upset that you’re not absolutely perfect with every recommendation.
An Open Mind
It doesn’t matter how successful you are, even your newest of the new coaching clients will teach you new things. They will show you new ways of thinking and new ways of doing things. Don’t stay so stuck in your ways that you don’t make any adjustments or accept anything other than the way you’ve always done it.
A Judgment Free Environment
Your coaching clients are going to be sharing a lot of personal information with you. You can’t judge them or they won’t open up as much as they need to. You need to provide an environment that is free from judgment so they can share freely.
Confidentiality
You can’t share anything your coaching clients share with you. Whether it’s business strategy or things in their personal life, consider it all strictly confidential. You want to develop a reputation as someone who’s extremely trustworthy.
Willingness to Learn
Never stop learning and growing. You should always be reading the latest books, studies, and blogs in your area of interest. There should be nothing new in your industry that you don’t know about. That is what your clients will expect of you and it will keep you on your toes as a coach.
Motivational
You have to be able to motivate your coaching clients. Many of them are going to come to you with a pretty poor mindset. They won’t know which end is up in their business. Many of them will have poor focus, a poor business plan, and a lack of clear goals. It’s up to you to motivate them to action. You have to help turn them around, help them find passion in their business again, and find passion in their business once and for all.
Good Listening Skills
The most important skill for any coach is to be a good listener. The secret is that the people you’re coaching already know the answers. They know what they should be doing and they know why they should be doing it. Your job is to guide them and listen to them. Listen to them more than you lecture or talk and you’ll be good to go.
Good Communication
Nothing can harm a relationship more than having poor communication skills. You have to understand what you’re hearing and convey the message you want to get across. No worries— you’ll be a master of communicating as a coach by the end of this.
Focus on these skills and you’ll become a highly sought after coach in no time. These skills are inside of you already— you just have to focus on them and draw them out. It’s extremely important that you have the best interests of the coaching client in mind, and you already do.
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