What 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 seen their evolution throughout the sessions.
In order to achieve 10 or excellence in work as a coach, the first step that must be taken is, logically, to train exhaustively for this in order to learn and internalize the methodology of the coaching process, as well as to acquire the attitudes and skills that allow you to work as a coach effectively.
But, in addition, there are some qualities that the coaching professional may have that will add a plus to the training and to those skills and abilities learned. We could say that They are strengths that enhance your work as a coach and that greatly help the success of the coaching processes
Although there are probably 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 do ‘a job’, and those who see it as their life mission and commit to it.
This is very clear in professions such as doctors or teachers. In these cases it is said that they are the most vocational; what you have to have that commitment and mission of wanting to help others to be a good professional in it Exactly the same thing happens with coaches.
2. Positive attitude and motivation capacity
Do not confuse a positive attitude and motivation with toxic optimism. When we talk about a positive attitude we mean that the coach must believe in the coachee’s possibilities, that he or she has the resources to achieve his or her 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 his coachee focused and encouraged despite obstacles that may arise in the achievement of your goal.
3. Respect for the coachee’s freedom and honesty
These qualities are quite linked to that of a positive attitude. The good coach knows that the coachee has what he needs to achieve what he wants and, from that position, he respects this unconditionally knowing that he should never tell or advise his client about what he has to do, but be only a means or catalyst for him to discover what his path forward is
This includes the coach being as honest as possible with himself and the coachee, accepting his own limitations and areas where he should not interfere and, of course, conveying to the client when the intervention of a professional from another country may be needed. specialized area that can help you at some point in the process.
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 you know your own weaknesses and strengths, have worked on your own beliefs and fears, or have defined your values, a coach is when can face helping others do it too
5. Active listening
Having the ability to know how to listen and interpret what is said both verbally and gesturally, and even with silences, is considered one of the most valued skills for being a coach. There is an emphasis on working on it when coaching training is carried out, but it is a quality that some seem to have more developed innately, and that makes a lot of difference when it comes to being a good coach.
6. Curiosity
Want to know more, don’t stop training, open your mind to more fields that complement coaching, it 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.
You may be interested: “17 curiosities about human perception”
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 in work as a coach
In our Master in Professional Coaching with IE and NLP Practitioner, in addition to working deeply with theoretical and practical knowledge to make our students quality professional coaches, we guide the development of these qualities so that the coaches who leave our classrooms do not They only work with ethics and rigor, but with that ‘something more’ that differentiates them and makes them perform their work in a more complete way.
