6 qualities to be a good coach

What is it that makes us say that a coach is good at his job? Logically the easiest way to measure this is to see the degree of satisfaction of your coachees or clients; that is, if they have managed to achieve the objectives for which they have approached the coaching process and how they have felt and have seen their evolution throughout the sessions.

In order to achieve 10 or excellence in the work as a coach, the first step that must be taken is, logically, to train for it exhaustively in order to to learn and internalize the methodology of the coaching process, as well as to acquire the attitudes and skills that allow working as a coach in a effective.

But, in addition, there are some qualities that the coaching professional can have that will be a plus to the training and to those skills and abilities learned. We could say that These are strengths that enhance your work as a coach and greatly help the success of coaching processes..

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The qualities that make you a better coach

Although there are surely many more, we summarize below the 6 qualities that we consider most empowering for a professional coach:

1. Vocation and commitment

Can anyone be a professional coach? As with any profession, if you train properly and carry out your work professionally and ethically, of course, you can be a professional coach. But in this profession, the vocation is very important and makes a lot of difference when it comes to seeing the results. between those who simply carry out 'a job', and those who see it as their life mission and are committed to it.

This is very clear in professions such as doctor or teacher. In these cases it is said that they are the most vocational; what to do have that commitment and mission of wanting to help others to be a good professional at it. Exactly the same thing happens with coaches.

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2. Positive attitude and ability to motivate

Don't confuse positive attitude and motivation with toxic optimism. When we talk about a positive attitude, we mean that the coach must believe in the possibilities of the coachee, that inside he has the resources to achieve his goals.

And when we talk about motivation, it is not that the coach has to have the ability to say motivational phrases to his coachee, but that knows and knows how to keep their coachee focused and upbeat despite obstacles that may arise in the achievement of his goal.

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3. Respect for the freedom of the coachee and honesty

These qualities are closely linked to that of the positive attitude. The good coach knows that the coachee has what he needs to achieve what he wants and, from that position, respects this unconditionally knowing that he should never tell or advise his client about what he has to do, otherwise be just a means or catalyst for him to discover his own way forward.

This includes the coach being as honest as possible with himself and with the coachee, accepting his own limitations and fields where he should not interfere and, of course, transmitting to the client when he may be needing, perhaps, the intervention of a professional from another specialized area who can help him at some point of the process.

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4. deep knowledge of oneself

This may be a quality that few recognize, but only by having carried out exhaustive self-knowledge of oneself can one be an excellent coach.

When your own weaknesses and strengths are known, your own beliefs and fears have been worked on, or your values ​​have been defined, a coach is when can take on helping others to do the same.

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5. Active listening

Having the ability to know how to listen and interpret what is said both verbally and gesturally, and even with silence, is considered one of the most valued skills to be a coach. People insist on working on it when training in coaching is carried out, but it is a quality that some It seems that they have more developed innately, and that makes a lot of difference when it comes to being a good coach

6. Curiosity

Wanting to know more, not stop training, open the mind to more fields that complement coaching, is an excellent quality not only to be a better coach, but for life in general. Knowledge is the best weapon to be able to face the fears and rejections caused by ignorance.

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Definitely…

Except the vocation to be a coach, which is something that emerges from the depths of the person, The rest of the qualities can be cultivated little by little to get closer to excellence at work as a coach..

In our Master in Professional Coaching with IE and Practitioner in NLP, in addition to working deeply with the theoretical and practical knowledge to make our students professional quality coaches, we guide in the development of these qualities so that the coaches who leave our classrooms not only exercise with ethics and rigor, but with that "something else" that differentiates them and makes them perform their work in a more complete.