While there are many qualities that make a great coach, here are a few that we feel are important that you can use as a quick guide. If you HAVE these qualities OR would love to develop them, then you have the makings of a GREAT Coach!
1) You have been a good player! Which includes being a good player in at least one of the many games of life AND/OR you have an approach to life that has proven successful for you.
When you get started as a Coach, the basis of your credibility comes from your own life accomplishments.
The games of life that you could look to include: business, career, health, romance, leadership, athletics, family. Or any of the many unique skills that are a part of these games like: sales, networking, management, eating well, dating, speaking, creating a vision, increasing speed or parenting.
Anything that can be developed as a useful skill can be coached.
An APPROACH to life could be something like: attraction, creativity, integrity, inner awareness, relationship building and MANY others that you may have learned or developed on your own.
Important: be VERY WARY of a common tendency to undervalue what you have achieved. If you feel good about your accomplishments, that is good enough.
2) You continue to LOVE the game, even if you don’t play the game anymore. You have to LOVE the thing you are coaching in order for people to want you as their coach! e.g.. you may LOVE management and coach managers even if you are now an entrepreneur in your own business.
If you are going to coach around an approach to life, then you MUST be living and loving that approach every day.
3) You LOVE helping other people play better and win on their own terms. You get great enjoyment from seeing other people develop, grow and succeed.
This is an essential quality of a Coach: the absolute JOY you feel when you help other people win.
You also have to be able to challenge people when they are not living up to their own standards – sometimes you have to be TOUGH!
You also have to be able to BE THERE when your player is facing BIG challenges without getting sucked into the story or drama.
4) You have the COURAGE to play BIG in the world.
You must be keep playing big, expanding your comfort zone – even if the game changes – in order for you to have solid integrity when you challenge your players to play big. Your past successes are important but you can’t rest on your laurels if you want to thrive.
5) You are a force in the world for good.
Coaching is leadership. As a Coach you are a LEADER in the Play BIG – in the world – Revolution. No Joke. You have to know that what you do every day as a coach plays a part in making the world a better place; this attitude is vital to sustainable success. Of course you will have your good days and bad just like your players do, but you need a solid core to keep playing and coaching in the face of your own challenges. YOU KNOW that the challenges you face are PERFECT for you as they mold you into the force you desire to be. Human Greatness only emerges in the face of challenges.