Keys to choosing a good coach

In this article you will find the keys necessary to find a good coach, being clear about what you can expect from accompaniment in the context of coaching and what qualities you should find in this kind of service.

But first of all, we must know what a coach is.

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What is a coach?

The coach is a professional who is responsible for help other people achieve the goals they have set for themselves, both personally and professionallyIt depends on the field you want to work on.

Coaching is a very important methodology in human development to be able to advance in our day to day. Many educational centers are beginning to teach this discipline to develop personal growth from childhood. During life we ​​go through different stages, in some we feel blocked, lost, we even do not see the way out of certain situations; It is therefore necessary at such times to ask a professional for help, since sometimes we do not have the appropriate tools to be able to find the solution by ourselves.

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What does a coach do?

Within the discipline of coaching there are several types, the choice will depend on the specialization of each of them.

In many situations we are clear about our objectives to meet and in others, due to our own blockade, we do not know; a coach It will help you identify what your goals are to achieve and will give you the necessary tools to achieve it..

Example: I feel very short and I would like to feel taller because I have decided so. If I tell you that you are 1.70m tall and that in the country where you live it is a good average, therefore, you are supposed to believe that you are not. No matter how much you repeat to yourself 100 times a day that you are not short, you will continue to feel it. On the other hand, if I tell you to put on heels or get on a stool, you will automatically see how your height increases.

Obviously, this example is still a basic parable, but it can be seen that if your goal is something specific, the job of the coach is give you the tools to achieve it, always without judging what you want. That is, the exercise of doing something different is what will lead you to a different resolution, the repetition will not make your reality change.

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How is the coaching process?

Some understand that coaching is the mere fact of asking open questions to the client; others understand it as mentoring or consulting classes. In my opinion this will depend on the techniques provided by each professional and the nature and characteristics of the client. Having said that, there are certain principles found within the coaching process, and these are the following.

1. Say "No" to one-sidedness

the coach should not force changes that the client is not prepared to make or chooses not to make. Our job is to challenge our clients in a practical and free way so that they reach the goals they want to achieve by themselves.

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2. Use explanations that revolve around people

Anonymously, a coach can share experiences of other clients, or their own, if they believe that these add value to the current situation in question; this can help unlock the client and strengthen the validity of their own experience.

3. Practical tasks between sessions

In my case, I propose to perform practical tasks outside the sessions which will subsequently be carefully evaluated in the following session. The mere fact of consulting once or twice a month will not make your life change if no tangible changes are produced in the process, and you are going to make these yourself.

4. Avoid Codependency Dynamics

One of the biggest keys is do not create codependency with the client, since, as we have mentioned, the objective is to give you the tools so that you yourself can face those situations that worry you. Your life is yours and no one knows it better than you. This does not mean that the coach does not take active responsibility for the process, since we certainly do.

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How to choose a professional coach?

A good coach will never push you to work with him/her, they will simply answer the questions you need to start a process or additional information on the methodology used without any commitment.

It is important that the coach has an academic degree that proves her professional development; Unfortunately within the profession there is a lot of intrusion. You would never go to a doctor without their relevant studies.

The sessions must be natural and fluid, the most important thing is the closeness and understanding between the coach and the client. As a teacher I always say that there are no difficult concepts to understand but bad ways of explaining. Something very difficult explained well can seem very simple, and something simple poorly explained can seem very difficult.

Trust your instinct deciding to start a coaching process is something intimate and profound that must be based on mutual trust. When you find the right coach you will know.